Upavana, Upavāna, Upavāṇa: 15 definitions
Introduction
Introduction:
Upavana means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper Names1. Upavana - A thera. He belonged to a very rich brahmin family of Savatthi, and having seen the Buddhas majesty at the dedication of Jetavana, he entered the Order and became an arahant with sixfold anna. For some time, before Ananda was appointed upatthaka, Upavana waited on the Buddha. Once when the Buddha was attacked by cramp, Upavana, with the help of his lay friend Devahita, obtained hot water and suitable medicines, with which the ailment was healed; the Buddha, thereupon, expressed his gratitude. ThagA.i.308ff; this ailment does not seem to be mentioned in Milinda 134f. where several others are given. This incident is given at greater length in S.i.174f; see also DhA.iv.232f.
When the Buddha lay on his death bed at Kusinara, Upavana was by his side fanning him; the Buddha, seeing that he obstructed the vision of the devas who had come to pay their last homage to the Teacher, asked Upavana to move away (D.ii.138f).
Two occasions are mentioned on which Upavana consulted the Buddha on matters of doctrine, once regarding the arising of suffering (S.ii.41-2) and once on the immediate and practical use of the Dhamma (sanditthikadhamma) (S.iv.41). There is also recorded a visit of Upavana to Sariputta when they were both staying in the Ghositarama at Kosambi. Sariputta asks him about the bojjhangas as being conducive to a happy life and Upavana explains (S.v.76). On another occasion Upavana is the enquirer, and he asks Sariputta about the end maker (antakara); Sariputta explains that the end maker is the one who knows and sees things as they really are (A.ii.163).
When an unpleasant interview took place between Sariputta and Laludayi (q.v.) and no one was found to support Sariputta, the matter is reported to the Buddha, who declares that Ananda should have taken Sariputtas side. Soon afterwards Ananda seeks Upavana and tells him that he was too timid to interfere, and if the Buddha referred to the matter again, would Upavana undertake to answer? In the evening the Buddha engages Upavana in conversation and asks him to explain the five qualities which make a monk esteemed and loved by his colleagues. At the end of the discourse the Buddha applauds Upavana (A.iii.195f).
In Padumuttaras time Upavana had been a poor man. Seeing people making great offerings at the Buddhas Thupa, he was much touched, and having washed his upper garment, he hung it as a flag over the Thupa. A yakkha named Abhisammataka, who was the guardian of the cetiya, took the flag three times round the cetiya, he himself remaining invisible.
A monk whom the man consulted after this miracle foretold that for thirty thousand kappas he would be in the deva worlds and that he would be deva king eighty times. One thousand times he was Cakkavatti. In his last life his wealth was eighty crores.
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraUpavāna (उपवान) is the name of a disciple of the Buddha, as mentioned in an appendix of the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter XLI. Ānanda fulfilled his mission with the greatest devotion for the last twenty-five years of the Teacher’s life. Before Ānanda took charge, other disciples functioned temporarily. The commtary of the Theragāthā and that of the Udāna record seven of them and the old canonical sources confirm this. Viz., Upavāna (Dīgha, II, p. 139, l. 1; Saṃyutta, I, p. 174, l. 25).

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
Source: BuddhaSasana: Concise Pali-English Dictionaryupavana : (nt.) a forest which is near by.
Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English DictionaryUpavana, (nt.) (upa + vana, see upa 5) a kind of wood, miniature wood, park J. IV, 431; V, 249; Miln. 1; VvA. 170 (= vana), 344; ThA. 201; PvA. 102 (ārām°), 177 (mahā°). (Page 146)

Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryupavana (उपवन).—n (S A minor or diminutive wood.) A garden; a plantation; an orchard; a grove.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishupavana (उपवन).—n A garden, a plantation, an or- chard.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryUpavana (उपवन).—[upamitaṃ vanena] A garden, grave, a planted forest; पाण्डुच्छायोपवनवृतयः केतकैः सूचिभिन्नैः (pāṇḍucchāyopavanavṛtayaḥ ketakaiḥ sūcibhinnaiḥ) Me.23; R.8.73. 13.79; °लता (latā) a garden creeper.
Derivable forms: upavanam (उपवनम्).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryUpavana (उपवन).—n.
(-naṃ) A garden, a grove. E. upa like, and vana a wood.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryUpavana (उपवन).—[upa-vana], n. A grove, [Rāmāyaṇa] 3, 52, 38.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryUpavana (उपवन).—[neuter] a small wood, grove.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Upavana (उपवन):—[=upa-vana] n. a small forest or wood, grove, garden, [Mahābhārata; Manu-smṛti; Meghadūta] etc.
2) [v.s. ...] a planted forest, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
[Sanskrit to German] (Deutsch Wörterbuch)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Sanskrit-Wörterbuch in kürzerer FassungUpavana (उपवन):—n. (adj. Comp. f. ā) Wäldchen , Hain.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Upavana Sutta, Upavanam, Upavanata, Upavanavinoda.
Ends with: Aupavana, Gaupavana, Madhupavana, Rupavana.
Full-text (+2): Upavanavinoda, Upavana Sutta, Upamana, Devahita, Kanana, Pavana, Supatittha, Abhisammataka, Aupavana, Apavana, Upa, Nirodha Sutta, Utsava, Suyamuna, Padumuttara, Apadana, Kassapa, Gopi, Anomadassi, Ananda.
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Search found 8 books and stories containing Upavana, Upavāna, Upavāṇa, Upa-vana; (plurals include: Upavanas, Upavānas, Upavāṇas, vanas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
The Great Chronicle of Buddhas (by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw)
Part 38 - Story of Venerable Upavāṇa < [Chapter 40 - The Buddha Declared the Seven Factors of Non-Decline for Rulers]
Buddha Chronicle 7: Anomadassī Buddhavaṃsa < [Chapter 9 - The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas]
Chapter 34d - The Buddha’s Twentieth Vassa at Rājagaha < [Volume 4]
Apadana commentary (Atthakatha) (by U Lu Pe Win)
Commentary on Biography of the thera Upavāna < [Chapter 3 - Subhūtivagga (section on Subhūti)]
Commentary on the Biography of the thera Ānanda < [Chapter 1 - Buddhavagga (Buddha section)]
Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary) (by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja)
Verse 2.1.194-195 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Appendix 7 - The Buddha’s assistants (upasthāyaka) < [Chapter XLI - The Eighteen Special Attributes of the Buddha]
Part 4 - Bodily and mental exertion < [Chapter XXVII - The Virtue of Exertion]
The Jataka tales [English], Volume 1-6 (by Robert Chalmers)
Jataka 456: Juṇha-jātaka < [Volume 4]
The Buddha and His Disciples (by Venerable S. Dhammika)