Papaya, pomegranate, orange, etc | Hidden metaphors of Himalayan fruits (2)

"Yellow Jambhala / Yellow Wealth God"
Early 20th century, in the collection of the TH Museum in New York
Detail: The citrus fruit (specifically a pomelo) held in the deity's right hand
Similar offerings substitutes include pomelo and citrus fruits
A variant known in East Asian Buddhism as Buddha's hand

 

"Blue Lapis Tibetan Medicine Thangka: Classification of Herbal Medicines" excerpt
In the first half of the 20th century, the Menzikang (Tibetan hospital) in Lhasa
On the far left is the sea buckthorn fruit (སྟར་བུ་) that is found all over Tibet
And on the far right is the pomegranate (སེ་འབྲུ་) which is highly auspicious in meaning

 

"Nyingma Medicine Buddha Enthroned"
From the mid-15th century, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago
Detail: the Medicine Buddha holding the root and stem of the myrobalan fruit
Myrobalan (Tib: ཨ་རུ་ར་；Skt: हरीतकी) symbolizes the power to heal body and mind
It is a symbol of "good medicinal herbs and skilled medical practices" in the Tibetan medical system

 

The Buddhist scriptures refer to the land where we live as the Southern Jambudvipa (འཛམ་བུ་གླིང་), which is a land full of Jambu trees (जम्बु—འཛམ་བུ་). The fruit of the Jambu tree, also known as the rose apple, is said to make people "immortal and flawless," and almost all sacred fruits have this quality. The nectar of the fruit preserves the physical body, while the wisdom of the fruit keeps the mind clear.

In addition to the apples, pears, and peaches previously mentioned, there are also some fruits in Tibetan culture that have special significance. Some of these fruits originate from the Buddhist lands of South Asia, while others are related to the East Asian cultural sphere. Sugarcane groves, coconut trees, citron orchards, and papaya groves all produce fruits with auspicious meanings.

Sugarcane, called བུ་རམ་ཤིང་ (sugarcane tree) in Tibetan, is often associated with the Buddha's family, known as the "sugarcane clan" (བུ་རམ་ཤིང་པ་). Observing sugarcane and drinking its juice helps one understand the immortality of the true dharma. Tibetan monks often use red sugar pills as a substitute for sugarcane juice, symbolizing the origins of the teachings and the lineage of the patriarchs.

Coconuts, known as བེ་ཏ་ or བེ་ཏུ་ in Tibetan, are believed to have originated from the place name बेदर (Bedar), the birthplace of the Bodhisattva Nagadeepa, which was full of coconut trees. Some early great yogis used coconut shells as utensils, and Tibetan monasteries often keep coconut shell relics brought by pilgrims.

In conclusion, the fruits and trees mentioned in Tibetan culture carry deep spiritual meanings and are often associated with the teachings of the Buddha and the journey of practitioners.

 

"Biography of Losang Thamphel"
The content of the biography depicts the enlightenment bestowed upon Losang Thamphel by the Buddha and the celestial maiden, Melodious Sound. In the late 19th century, this manuscript was found in the Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Detail: Receiving divine fruits from the Melodious Sound maiden. The fruit plate contained seven sacred fruits such as peaches, papayas, and pomegranates.
Losang Thamphel (1819-1871) was a renowned Gelugpa scholar from the Amdo region.

 

"The Transmission of Tsampa Kaga: Four-Armed Mahakala and His Retinue"
Late 18th century, private collection
Detail: The deity's right hand holding a fruit symbolizing a coconut
In later iconographic depictions, the coconut is often omitted or replaced
Some texts refer to him as "Mahakala Holding a Coconut"
(མགོན་པོ་བེ་ཏ་འཛིན་ཅན་)

 

The citrus fruit resembling a lemon in Tibetan is called བི་ཛ་པུ་ར་, with its core word source being the Sanskrit term बीजपूर. The citrus has long been seen as a symbol of wealth and fertility. The fruit in the hands of the god of wealth and the mongoose form a complete cycle of gathering and releasing, representing prosperity. Another word in Tibetan derived from Sanskrit is the term for betel nut, either གོ་ཡུ་ or གོ་ཡེ་ (गुवाक; commonly used in the southern Tibetan regions). Betel nut has always been controversial in Buddhist cultural circles, with bans being issued in various Himalayan kingdoms such as Sikkim and Bhutan. Papayas and oranges are two sacred fruits often confused by people or seen as one entity in spiritual texts. In Tibetan, papayas are called བསེ་ཡབ་ or སེ་ཡབ་, while oranges are referred to as བིལ་བ་ or བིལྦ་, with the latter directly derived from the Sanskrit word बिल्व. Papayas symbolize asceticism and great achievements, as Buddha meditated in a papaya grove for six years, while oranges are part of the traditional combination of the Eight Auspicious Symbols and symbolize the nature of enlightenment. The quote "བིལ་བ་རྒྱུ་རྐྱེན་འབྲས་བུར་བཅས་པའི་ཆོས།" signifies that all mundane or transcendent endeavors are perfected through the interdependence of cause and effect.

 

"Blue Lapis Tibetan Medicine Thangka: Wood Essence and Plancha Medicinal Materials"
In the first half of the 20th century, the Tibetan Medicine Hospital in Lhasa
Part: Trees and fruits of the papaya family
It can be divided into superior papaya, ordinary papaya, and inferior papaya.

 

"The Accomplished One, Vajra Lotus"
Mid-19th century, Rubin Museum of Art
Detail: The accomplished one enjoying sugarcane juice and fruits

 

Pomegranate symbolizes prosperity and power in Tibet, blending the imagery of pomegranate from East Asia and South Asia. The rare Nepalese pomegranate was popular among the upper nobility and scholars in ancient times. In Lhasa, the three major temples have songs that correspond to the pomegranate, representing a plethora of knowledge. Oranges from Sikkim and Ladakh are also famous in the Tibetan region. Most citrus fruits are called "tsalum" or "tsalum" in Tibetan, emphasizing the color of the fruit. Bananas or plantains are known as "ཀེ་ར་" or "ཀེ་ལ་" in Tibetan areas, derived from the Nepalese word "केरा". The scriptures instruct people to overcome illusions like "dreaming under a banana tree". The common name for a banana tree in Tibetan is "ཆུ་ཤིང་" (water + tree). The names for mangoes and persimmons in Tibetan are similar, derived from the Sanskrit word "आम्र" which symbolizes sacredness and completeness. Since ancient times, the people in Tibet have loved persimmon cakes, which are known as "ཨ་མྲ་འཁུར་བ་" or "མི་རྒན་ཨམ་ཆོག་", symbolizing the desire for longevity.