#edit: cleaned up a little bit and added quote from Ansem's Report 12

[symposiumxiv]

The Significance of the Paopu Fruit

Before KH3 came out I became very worried about what might happen next, so a few months before release I tried to gain some foresight by digging into some of the mysteries and symbolisms of KH. One of the first places I wanted to begin was the Paopu fruit. Its importance was a given, but yet we know so little about it. Its star shape stood out to me and seemed to be a good place to start, and it felt obvious that it was based on the real life "star fruit".

Apparently another name for star fruit is "carambola".

According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carambola:

History and Etymology for carambola

"borrowed from Portuguese, probably borrowed from a Konkani equivalent of Marathi karambala, going back to a derivative of Sanskrit karmara- "the fruit or tree Averrhoa carambola" (as karmaraṅga- or karmaphala- —with phalaṃ "fruit"), of uncertain origin"

Now, what does "karmaphala" mean?

From https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/karmaphala:

Karmaphala (कर्मफल) refers to the “fruits of actions”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.2.41.—Accordingly, as Viṣṇu and others eulogized Śiva:—“[...] O lord, the activities of auspicious nature result in happiness to the doer whereas inauspicious activities end in adverse, or in partially good and bad results. You alone are the bestower of the fruits of all actions (i.e., sarva-karmaphala). You are the lord of glorious things according to the Vedas”.

Marathi-English dictionary

karmaphala (कर्मफल).—n (S) The allotment of destiny; the good and evil to be experienced as the consequence or fruit of merit and demerit in former stages of existence.

Sanskrit dictionary

Karmaphala (कर्मफल).—

1) fruit or reward of actions done in a former life; (pain, pleasure); [etc.]

2) the fruit of Averrhoa Carambola (Mar. karmara); also कर्मरङ्ग (karmaraṅga).

The fruits of one's labours, budding on Destiny Island! How appropriate.

To me, it all must be true. The Paopu fruit represents the fruits of one's labours, obtained through the life struggle. On the topic of and in keeping with karmic themes, we can view such a struggle through the lens of "samsara".

From wikipedia:

Saṃsāra (Devanagari: संसार) means "wandering", as well as "world" wherein the term connotes "cyclic change". Saṃsāra, a fundamental concept in all Indian religions, is linked to the karma theory and refers to the belief that all living beings cyclically go through births and rebirths. The term is related to phrases such as "the cycle of successive existence", "transmigration", "karmic cycle", "the wheel of life", and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence".

The Saṃsāra doctrine is tied to the karma theory of Hinduism, and the liberation from Saṃsāra has been at the core of the spiritual quest of Indian traditions, as well as their internal disagreements. The liberation from Saṃsāra is called Moksha, Nirvana, Mukti or Kaivalya.

There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about.

The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light.

And the world in between. Wherein lies true nirvana?

-- From Ansem's Report 12

Young Xehanort to Sora in DDD:

You've been here many times. Your first journey...your voyage through memories...in the datascape...in your dreams. Relived again and again...like déjà vu.

So what is this enlightenment? Let's have a look at "moksha" for some clues.

From wikipedia:

Moksha is derived from the root, muc, which means to free, let go, release, liberate.

Moksha has been defined not merely as absence of suffering and release from bondage to saṃsāra, various schools of Hinduism also explain the concept as presence of the state of paripurna-brahmanubhava (the experience of oneness with Brahman, the One Supreme Self), a state of knowledge, peace and bliss.

A lot more could be said about Moksha and Nirvana but in the case of KH I don't think we really need to dig into all the esoteric details of these concepts, and a general sense of "enlightenment", or even better an "awakening" as Destati implores us, will suffice. Awakening sleeping memories to realize a greater truth...

I believe that this ultimate knowledge, and reward, is true love -- the highest form of love. A love that could only be forged through the life struggle. For Sora, there is really only one person who has undertaken this journey as his equal and that is Riku. This higher love is cultivated between eachother, within themselves, and against outside forces, and this development of theirs is the main focus of Kingdom Hearts.