The Udāna is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. The title might be translated "inspired utterances". The book comprises 80 such utterances, most in verse, each preceded by a narrative giving the context in which the Buddha uttered it.
The Udana is composed of eight chapters (vagga) of ten discourses each. The chapter titles are:
Bodhivagga (Awakening chapter)
Mucalindavagga (King Mucalinda chapter)
Nandavagga (Ven. Nanda chapter)
Meghiyavagga (Ven. Meghiya chapter)
Soṇavagga (Lay Follower Sona chapter)
Jaccandhavagga (Blind From Birth chapter)
Cullavagga (Minor chapter)
Pāṭaligāmiyavagga (Pataligamiya chapter)
Each discourse includes a prose portion followed by a verse. At the end of each prose section, as prelude to the verse, the following formulaic text is included:
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:[2]
An alternate translation could be: Then, upon realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed this inspired utterance (udāna):
It is from such "exclamations" (udāna) that the collection derives its name.
Dating of text
This is one of the earlier Buddhist scriptures,[4] A recent analysis concludes that the text of the Pali discourses, including the Udāna, was largely fixed in its current form, with only small differences from the modern text, by the first century B.C.E.[5]
Hinüber identifies this type of discourse (although not necessarily the existing collection itself) as being part of the pre-canonical navaṅga (Pali for "nine-fold") which classified discourses according to their form and style, such as geyya (mixed prose and verse), gāthā (four-lined couplets), udāna (utterances) and jātaka (birth story).[6]
Relationship to other sacred texts
Within Buddhist literature, about a fourth of the Udana's prose sections correspond to text elsewhere in the Pali Canon, particularly in the Vinaya. In addition, in regards to Tibetan Buddhist literature, von Hinüber suggests that the Udana formed the original core of the Sanskrit Udānavarga, to which verses from the Dhammapada were added.[7]
In terms of non-Buddhist texts, some Udana concepts can be found in the VedanticUpanishads and in Jain texts.[8]
Translations
Tr Major-General D. M. Strong, 1902
"Verses of uplift", in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, volume II, tr F. L. Woodward, 1935, Pali Text Society[2], Bristol
Tr John D. Ireland, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1990; later reprinted in 1 volume with his translation of the Itivuttaka
Tr Peter Masefield, 1994, Pali Text Society, Bristol; the PTS's preferred translation; its declared aim is to translate in accordance with the commentary's interpretation
^von Hinüber (2000), pp. 7 (§10), 46 (§91); and, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–1925), p. 348, entry for "Nava" at [1] (retrieved 2007-10-12). In particular, von Hinüber (2000, p. 46, §91) states: "The Udāna ... belongs to those old texts mentioned already as one of the navaṅga.... [I]t does not seem to be impossible that there once was an Ud having only verses such as those in the Udānavarga...."
Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN3-11-016738-7.
Nakamura (1980). Indian Buddhism. Japan; reprinted Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi
Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
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