[f. Singhalese bo, corruption of Pāli bodhi (Skr. bodhi) the bo-tree, more fully called bodhi-taru, f. bodhi ‘perfect knowledge,’ taru ‘tree’; it having been under such a tree that Gautama attained the enlightenment which constituted him ‘the Buddha.’ In Singhalese Bogaha (gaha a tree).] The ficus religiosa or pīpal tree, specifically allied to the Banyan.
[1681. R. Knox, Hist. Ceylon, 18. This tree they call Bogahah; we the God-Tree.]
1862. Mrs. Speid, Last Years Ind., 276. The Banyan, par excellence, sometimes called the Bo-tree, is the specially sacred tree of the Bhuddhists.
1871. Alabaster, Wheel of Law, 20, note. This Bo or Bodhi tree is the tree under … which Buddha attained to omniscience.
