Udana

The Udāna is a Buddhist script from the Short Texts ( Khuddaka-Nikaya ) of the Palikanon . Udana literally means “to breathe easy”. In these aphorisms, mostly in verse form, and the accompanying explanations for the respective occasion, the teachings of the Buddha are presented in condensed form.

The well-known parable of the " blind men and the elephant " appears here in Udana VI, 4-6.

In Sanskrit , Udāna also refers to the upwardly moving prana stream, a certain form of prana that connects the physical with the metaphysical essence in humans, the activation of which promotes spiritual development and through which the soul leaves the body at death.

Structure of the Udana

The Udana is divided into 8 chapters (vagga) with 10 doctrinal presentations each. A prose exposition of the occasion is followed by verses as a conclusion.

1. Bodhivagga (awakening)
2. Mucalindavagga (Mucalinda)
3. Nandavagga (Nanda)
4. Meghiyavagga (Meghiya)
5. Soṇavagga (Sona)
6. Jaccandhavagga (The Born Blind)
7. Cullavagga (The Short Chapter)
8. Pāṭaligāmiyavagga (The Village of Pātali)

Translations

In addition to the first complete translation by Karl Seidenstücker (1913), there is a translation of the verses by Kurt Schmidt (1954) and by Fritz Schäfer (1998).

Web links

• Palikanon, Khuddaka Nikaya, Udana (Pali and three German versions)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Kurt Friedrich: Lexicon of Eastern Wisdom Teachings: Buddhism - Hinduism - Taoism - Zen. Scherz Verlag Bern, Munich, Vienna 1994. p. 414.