Three Fruits in One: Apples, Peaches and Plums of the Divine
Dating to the mid-19th century and originating in the Nepal region, "The Great White Umbrella Cover Buddha's Supreme Attainment Mother," held in the Ruben Museum, features a detail with an offering pattern called "Three Fruits in One." Also from the mid-19th century, "The Red Pine Vases and Various Offerings to the Buddha" belongs to the Rubin Museum's collection; its detail shows altar objects symbolizing the three delights of color, fragrance, and taste. In addition, the Rubin Museum of Art houses the late-17th-century piece "The Great Achiever Avalokiteshvara and Various Dakini Masters," which has a detail possibly depicting a fruit of enlightenment, either a papaya or a citrus fruit, and a note naming Avalokiteshvara (the founder of the Dakini teachings) as ཨ་ཝ་དྷཱུ་ཏི་པ།.
Profound are the truths of these fruits, whether native or foreign, real or virtual. Within them lies the hidden wisdom of the tantric masters. Songs and verses about these fruits, left behind by kings and their subjects, symbolize deep teachings. And all—humans, gods, monks, and laypeople—yearn for the fruit of wisdom, with its fragrance, color, taste, and method.
The concept of "three-in-one fruit" is connected to the three worlds, the three treasures of the Buddha, and the three realms. When the celestial maidens present this three-in-one celestial fruit platter, its fragrance lingers, its color gleams, its taste is fulfilling, and the essence of the teachings becomes evident. In Tibetan tradition iconography, typical "three fruits-one body" pairings comprise: 1 Mango-pomegranate-pear, 2 Apple-peach-pear, 3 Papaya-mango-peach, 4 Orange-pomegranate-pear, among others.
References to the Third Dalai Lama's (1589-1644) works shed further light on these combinations, which often appear in tantric texts where plants substitute for classical combinations and objects. During the Tubo Period, the "Three Masters" were represented by lotus fruit-papaya, Atisha- peaches, and Jigme-phallic fruits. The connection between trees and wisdom has been explored in earlier articles; the botanical series will continue to address related topics.
Upcoming articles will cover subjects such as flowers, fruits, herbs, vegetables, grains, teas, and hallucinogenic plants.
The cultivation history of apples and pears in Tibet spans no more than three hundred years, while that of small apples (flower red) can be traced back to the 18th century. In the "Western Pure Land" painting, dated to the late 19th century and held in the Rubin Museum collection, a detail shows Offering Goddesses, with the figure on the far right holding a fruit tray identified as Vajra Fruit Offering Goddess. From a private collection dated to the late 17th century, the "Sixteen Arhats Group Picture: The Venerable Binhead Lu" includes a detail where an attendant holds a fruit tray containing either a kumquat or a pear.
In Tibetan, apples are referred to as either "ཀུ་ཤུ་" (ku shu) or "བིམ་པ་" (bim pa). The word "bim pa" originates from the Sanskrit "बिम्ब", meaning female lips, while "ku shu" is thought to have a complicated Central Asian source. Large apples began to be widely cultivated in the early 20th century, and pears are generally believed to have been grown since the mid-18th century. However, the duration of cultivation history does not affect the cultural importance of these fruits.
In traditional Tibetan classification, apples from the classical period were grouped under the plum genus. They were categorized into three types: Gongbu apples, Weizang apples, and Kangba apples. Of these, Gongbu apples are known for being large and sweet, Weizang apples possess an appealing color yet have a sour taste, and Kangba apples, though small, are flavorful. Pears, by contrast, are termed "ལི་" (li) in Tibetan, a name with close ties to East Asia. Certain Tibetan regions also call pears "small gourds" (ཀ་བེད་ཆུང་ཆུང་). Within Tibetan culture, apples carry associations with worldly authority and the dynamics of male-female desire.
In Weizang folk literature, apples are connected to "nobility," whereas pears have traditionally been linked with longevity or good fortune, just as in Han Chinese custom. Notice the peach in the hand of the Han Buddhist monk within "Sixteen Arhats Group Sculpture: Han Buddhist Monk," dated to the late 17th century at the Great Jokhang Temple, Tibet.
At the Rubin Museum of Art, a late 18th-century piece titled "Gandenpa: A Gelugpa Lineage Master" shows peaches on the altar as a detail, with a note referencing Gandenpa Trichenpa (1038-1103). Tibet’s walnut, regarded as the ancestor of all cultivated peaches, has a smooth exterior, a smaller pit, and no grain. Tibet is also among the world’s key centers of walnut origin. In Tibetan, most fruits of the Prunus genus are termed "kham bu," while walnuts are called "star kha," and scholars generally consider these to be indigenous Tibetan words.
In classical literature, Tibetan peaches are categorized into two types: the "big peach" and the "small peach." The former denotes the Han peach (རྒྱ་ཁམ་), while the latter refers to the Tibetan peach (བོད་ཁམ་). Both are classified as flat peaches (ཀླུང་ཁམ་), with wild varieties known as mountain peaches (རི་ཁམ་). Depictions of individuals holding peaches and apricots, or offering them, frequently appear in Tibetan paintings. Within Tibetan folk tradition, these fruits are seen as symbols of prosperity, health, and longevity. Furthermore, peaches and apricots carry associations with profound wisdom and the fulfillment of spiritual practice.
Walnuts, like peaches and apricots, carry rich symbolism in Tibet. In Tubo-era historical records, walnut trees or walnuts frequently represent a bountiful harvest and political authority. Meanwhile, Tangla Zewang （ཐང་བླ་ཚེ་དབང་；1902-1989）, the master of the Karma Kagyu painting tradition, remarked that Han peaches and Tibetan peaches appear in different contexts. The shifting peach hues—white, yellow, red—can also signify varying levels of spiritual instruction.
Across different regions, the word used for fruits of the Prunus genus is not uniform. In certain places, cherries (ཅུ་ལི་; cu li) are what plums, apricots, and peaches are called. Separately, the fruits originating in Ali are referred to as "mang'ari's kham bu". As for the Gelugpa high lama Quwang Zhaba （ཆོས་དབང་གྲགས་པ་；1404-1469）, he once planted walnut trees at Zhebanci, thereby showing his resolve and personality while answering his detractors.
The note indicates that all three patterns include peaches or peach trees. The "Blessed Pattern Combination Floral Tibetan Style Wooden Table" originates from a private collection and dates to the late 18th century. In the Rubin Museum collection, meanwhile, is "Lotus Master's Eight Transformations: Sunlight Master," created in the late 19th century; its detail depicts a fruit platter piled with fruits, serving as an offering of food to the accomplished practitioners in the forest.
According to Langchenpa (1308-1364), རྒྱལ་བ་མཆོག་འོས་རིན་ཆེན་ལྗོན་ཤིང་རྣམས། "Offer the sacred tree to the victorious one, འབྲས་བུ་དུད་ནས་ནགས་ན་ལེགས་པར་འཁྲུངས། All the fruits in the forest are ripe. ལོ་མ་མེ་ཏོག་དྲི་ཞིམ་ཁ་ཕྱེ་ཞིང། Flowers and leaves blooming with a delightful fragrance, སྤོས་ཀྱི་བསུང་དང་བསིལ་བུའི་ངད་ཀྱང་ལྡང། The gentle breeze carries the scent." Our journey will proceed into the sacred fruits of the ancient Tibetan classical period. -Stay tuned- Fine offerings and sweet fruits This piece is a translation from Sorang Wangqing's blog.