Udanavarga

Udānavarga (T. ched du brjod pa'i tshoms; C. Chuyao jing 出曜經) is an early Buddhist text that consists of a collection of "inspired utterances" (Sanskrit: udāna), or aphorisms, from the Buddha and his disciples. The Udānavarga is considered to be a Sanskrit parallel of the more well-known Dhammapada of the Pali Canon. It contains many of the same verses as the Dhammapada, as well as many additional verses. It is attributed to the North Indian Sarvāstivādin school.

Translations of the text are included in both the Chinese and Tibetan canons. There is one extant Sanskrit recension.

Content

The Princeton Dictionary states:

The Udānavarga collects some 1,050 verses in thirty-three groups, or vargas, and is therefore more than twice as long as the Pāli Dhammapada, which includes 423 verses in twenty-six vaggas. Approximately 360 verses appear to be shared by the two texts.

Comparing the Udānavarga, the Pali Dhammapada and the Gandhari Dharmapada, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure.

Chapter titles

The Udānavarga has 33 chapters (or vaggas). The chapter titles are:

1. Anityavarga
2. Kāmavarga
3. Tṛṣṇāvarga
4. Apramādavarga
5. Priyavarga
6. Śīlavarga
7. Sucaritavarga
8. Vācavarga
9. Karmavarga
10. Śraddhāvargas
11. Śramaṇavarga
12. Mārgavarga
13. Satkāravarga
14. Drohavarga
15. Smṛtivarga
16. Prakirṇakavarga
17. Udakavarga
18. Puṣpavarga
19. Aśvavarga
20. Krodhavarga
21. Tathāgatavarga
22. Śrutavarga
23. Ātmavarga
24. Peyālavarga
25. Mitravarga
26. Nirvāṇavarga
27. Paśyavarga
28. Pāpavarga
29. Yugavarga
30. Sukhavarga
31. Cittavarga
32. Bhikṣuvarga
33. Brāhmaṇavarga

History

The Udānavarga is attributed by Brough to the Sarvāstivādins.

Hinüber suggests that a text similar to the Pali Canon's Udāna formed the original core of the Sanskrit Udānavarga, to which verses from the Dhammapada were added. Brough allows for the hypothesis that the Udānavarga, the Pali Dhammapada and the Gandhari Dharmapada all have a "common ancestor" but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the "primitive Dharmapada" from which the other two evolved.

The Tibetan Buddhist and Chinese Buddhist canons' recensions are traditionally said to have been compiled by Dharmatrāta. (While acknowledging the traditional view, Brough also refers to a statement by Nāgārjuna that might suggest that this work was initially collected at "the time of the original compilation of the canon ... immediately after the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha" while Dharmatrāta contributed the commentaries.)

Traditional translations

Chinese translations

There are four translations of different recensions of the Udānavarga made into Chinese. The earliest Chinese translation was produced in 374 CE by Zhu Fonian.

Tibetan translation

The Tibetan translation (c. 900) of the Udānavarga is of an anthology compiled by Dharmatrāta. This translation is included in both the Kangyur and Tengyur of the Tibetan Canon.

There is also a Tibetan translation of a commentary by Prajñāvarman.

The Udānavarga was one of the six basic texts of the Kadampa school.

English translations

Translations into English:

• Willemen, Charles (2013), A Collection of Important Odes of the Law: The Chinese Udanavarga, Institute of Buddhist Studies
• William Rockhill; (Trubner's Oriental Series), London, 1883, 1892. Translated from the Tibetan of the Kangyur with notes and extracts from the commentary of Prajnavarman.
  • This English translation is included in: Udānavarga (multi-lingual edition), Bibliotheca Polyglotta
• Chapters of Utterances on Specific Topics, translation in progress

Comparisons to related texts

For comparisons to related texts, see:

• Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (2nd rev., 2007). A Comparative Edition of the Dhammapada, Pali text with parallels from Sanskritised Prakrit
• Willemen, Charles (1974), Dharmapada: a concordance to Udānavarga, Dhammapada, and the Chinese Dharmapada literature, Publications de l'Institut Belge des hautes etudes bouddhiques, Bruxelles [1]

The following page at SuttaCentral shows parallel verses in other texts. (English translation not included).

• Handbook of Heartfelt Sayings, SuttaCentral

See also

• Dhammapada
• Udana

Sources

• Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (2nd rev., 2007). A Comparative Edition of the Dhammapada, Pali text with parallels from Sanskritised Prakrit
• Bernhard, Franz (ed.) (1965). Udānavarga. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht. Retrieved 2008-09-18 in an expanded format by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (version 2.1, January 2006) from "Ancient Buddhist Texts" at http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/S1-Udanavarga/index.htm.
• Brough, John (2001). The Gandhari Dharmapada. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. 
• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016738-7.
• Chapters of Utterances on Specific Topics

Further reading

• Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, trans. (2008). Udāna (Khuddakanikāya 3) Exalted Utterances, 2nd rev.
• Rockhill, William Woodville, trans. (1883). Udānavarga: a collection of verses from the Buddhist canon compiled by Dharmatrāta being the Northern Buddhist version of Dhammapada / transl. from the Tibetan of the Bkah-hgyur, with notes and extracts from the commentary of Pradjnāvarman. London: Trübner

External links

• "The Udanavarga". Sanskrit edition of the text
• Udānavarga (multi-lingual edition), Bibliotheca Polyglotta