In Buddhism, ' (Pali, Sanskrit; ) refers to the tree, flower and fruit of the Ficus racemosa (syn. Ficus glomerata). In Buddhist literature, this tree or its fruit may carry the connotation of rarity and parasitism. It is also mentioned in Vedic texts as the source of wood for rituals and amulets.
The uá¸Âumbara is also used to refer to the flower of the blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea Sav.).
In some Buddhist texts, the flowers of the uá¸Âumbara are enclosed within its fruit, as in all figs (see fig pollination and fig fruit). Because the flower is hidden inside the fruit, a legend developed to explain the absence (and supposed rarity) of the visual flower: in Buddhism, the flower was said to bloom only once every 3000 years and thus came to symbolize events of rare occurrence, such as the advent of a wheel-turning king or a Buddha. In early medieval Japan and possibly elsewhere this flower is believed to be capable of saving the lives of those dying from disease. It is mentioned in the Heian Japanese classic Utsubo Monogatari.
Allusions to this symbolism can be found in texts such as Theravada Buddhism's Uraga Sutta (Sn 1.1, v. 5) and Mahayana Buddhism's Lotus Sutra, both described further below.
A recent sighting of this flower in 2010 was reported by a Chinese nun, who could distinguish them from assuming it to be lacewing eggs because they omitted fragrance of sandalwood.
The uá¸Âumbara is one of several trees known as "strangler figs" due to their often developing as seeds dropped on the branches of a host tree (by animals eating the fig tree's fruit) and, as the branch-borne fig tree grows, it envelops its host tree with its own roots and branches, at times crushing and replacing the host tree. Based on this life cycle, the MahÃÂrukkha Sutta (SN 46.39) likens "sensual pleasures" (kÃÂma) to such fig trees, causing their human hosts to become "bent, twisted, and split" (obhaggavibhaggo vipatito seti).
According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, Vedic sacrifices used uá¸Âumbara wood for many different ritual purposes such as a ladle and post, as well as amulets made of uá¸Âumbara wood are mentioned in Vedic texts.
It is mentioned as the name for the Ficus racemosa in the Atharvaveda, Taittiriya Samhita, Aitareya Brahmana, Shatapatha Brahmana and the Mahabharata. In the Hindu medical text, Sushruta Samhita, uá¸Âumbara is a name given to a type of leprosy with coppery spots. In other texts, it is a measure that equals "two tolas".
In the Pali literature, the uá¸Âumbara tree and its flowers are used concretely (as the tree beneath which a former Buddha gained enlightenment), metaphorically (as representative of a caste) and symbolically (evoking the insubstantiality of things and self).
In both the Digha Nikaya and Buddhavamsa, the uá¸Âumbara tree is identified as the tree under which the Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha attained enlightenment.
In the Majjhima Nikaya's Kaakatthala Sutta (MN 90), the Buddha uses the uá¸Âumbara tree in a metaphor to describe how the member of any of the four castes is able to achieve the same quality of spiritual "emancipation" or "release" (vimutti) as a member of another caste:
In the PÃÂli Canon's Sutta Nipata, the uá¸Âumbara fig tree is used as a metaphor for existence's ultimate insubstantiality (in English and in Pali):
In the post-canonical Visuddhimagga (XXI, 56), the uá¸Âumbara tree is again used to symbolize the "emptiness of all formations" (sabbe sakhÃÂràsuññÃÂti, Vsm XXI,53):
The uá¸Âumbara flower of the Ficus racemosa tree appears in chapters 2 and 27 of the 3rd century Lotus Sutra, an important Mahayana Buddhist text. The symbolic nature of the uá¸Âumbara is used in the Lotus Sutra to compare the unique occurrence of its bloom with the uncommon appearance of the Buddha and its doctrine in the world:
ThÃÂch Nhất Hạnh places the flower in the context of enlightenment:
The Japanese word udonge (åªæÂÂè¯) was used by Dà Âgen to refer to the flower of the uá¸Âumbara tree in chapter 68 of the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  ("Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma"). Dà Âgen places the context of the udonge flower in the Flower Sermon given by Gautama Buddha on Vulture Peak. The udonge flower may be symbolic of mind to mind transmission between the teacher and the student, in this case, Gautama Buddha and MahÃÂkÃÂà Âyapa.
Udonge is also used to refer to the eggs of the lacewing insect. The eggs are laid in a pattern similar to a flower, and its shape is used for divination in Asian fortune-telling.