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SN 35.103PTS SN 4.832 min read

About Uddaka

Udakasutta

The Buddha’s former teacher Uddaka Rāmaputta claimed to be a knowledge master, a universal victor, who had excised the tumor. But a true knowledge master understands the senses, a victor is freed from them, and excising the tumor is being free from attachment to the body.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 35.103Linked Discourses 35.103
  • 0.210. Saḷavagga10. The Sixes

0.3UdakasuttaAbout Uddaka

1.1PTS 4.83“Udako sudaṁ, bhikkhave, rāmaputto evaṁ vācaṁ bhāsati:“Mendicants, Uddaka son of Rāma used to say:1

1.2‘idaṁ jātu vedagū,‘Hereupon, ever the knowledge master!21.3idaṁ jātu sabbajī,Hereupon, ever the conqueror of all!1.4idaṁ jātu apalikhataṁHereupon, ever the undug31.5gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhaṇin’ti.boil’s root was dug out by me!’4

1.6Taṁ kho panetaṁ, bhikkhave, udako rāmaputto avedagūyeva samāno ‘vedagūsmī’ti bhāsati, asabbajīyeva samāno ‘sabbajīsmī’ti bhāsati, apalikhataṁyeva gaṇḍamūlaṁ ‘palikhataṁ me gaṇḍamūlan’ti bhāsati.Even though Uddaka son of Rāma was no knowledge master, he said ‘I’m a knowledge master.’ Though he was no conqueror of all, he said ‘I’m conqueror of all.’ And though the boil’s root was not dug out, he said ‘I’ve dug out the boil’s root.’5

1.7Idha kho taṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sammā vadamāno vadeyya:A mendicant might rightly say here:

1.8‘idaṁ jātu vedagū,‘Hereupon, ever the knowledge master!1.9idaṁ jātu sabbajī,Hereupon, ever the conqueror of all!1.10idaṁ jātu apalikhataṁHereupon, ever the undug1.11gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhaṇin’ti.boil’s root is dug out!’

2.1Kathañca, bhikkhave, vedagū hoti?And how is someone a knowledge master?2.2Yato kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti;It’s when a mendicant truly understands the six fields of contact’s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape.2.3evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vedagū hoti.That’s how a mendicant is a knowledge master.

3.1Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbajī hoti?And how is a mendicant a conqueror of all?3.2Yato kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ samudayañca atthaṅgamañca assādañca ādīnavañca nissaraṇañca yathābhūtaṁ viditvā anupādāvimutto hoti;It’s when a mendicant comes to be freed by not grasping after truly understanding the six fields of contact’s origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape.3.3evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sabbajī hoti.That’s how a mendicant is a conqueror of all.

4.1PTS 4.84Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno apalikhataṁ gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhataṁ hoti?And how has a mendicant dug out the undug boil’s root?4.2Gaṇḍoti kho, bhikkhave, imassetaṁ cātumahābhūtikassa kāyassa adhivacanaṁ mātāpettikasambhavassa odanakummāsūpacayassa aniccucchādanaparimaddanabhedanaviddhaṁsanadhammassa.‘Boil’ is a term for this body made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction.64.3Gaṇḍamūlanti kho, bhikkhave, taṇhāyetaṁ adhivacanaṁ.‘Boil’s root’ is a term for craving.4.4Yato kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno taṇhā pahīnā hoti ucchinnamūlā tālāvatthukatā anabhāvaṅkatā āyatiṁ anuppādadhammā;It’s when a mendicant has given up craving, cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, obliterated it, so it’s unable to arise in the future.4.5evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno apalikhataṁ gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhataṁ hoti.That’s how a mendicant has dug out the undug boil’s root.

5.1Udako sudaṁ, bhikkhave, rāmaputto evaṁ vācaṁ bhāsati:Uddaka son of Rāma used to say:

5.2‘idaṁ jātu vedagū,‘Hereupon, ever the knowledge master!5.3idaṁ jātu sabbajī,Hereupon, ever the conqueror of all!5.4idaṁ jātu apalikhataṁHereupon, ever the undug5.5gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhaṇin’ti.boil’s root is dug out!’

5.6Taṁ kho panetaṁ, bhikkhave, udako rāmaputto avedagūyeva samāno ‘vedagūsmī’ti bhāsati, asabbajīyeva samāno ‘sabbajīsmī’ti bhāsati; apalikhataṁyeva gaṇḍamūlaṁ ‘palikhataṁ me gaṇḍamūlan’ti bhāsati.Even though Uddaka son of Rāma was no knowledge master, he said ‘I’m a knowledge master.’ Though he was no conqueror of all, he said ‘I’m conqueror of all.’ And though the boil’s root was not dug out, he said ‘I’ve dug out the boil’s root.’

5.7Idha kho taṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sammā vadamāno vadeyya:A mendicant might rightly say here:

5.8‘idaṁ jātu vedagū,‘Hereupon, ever the knowledge master!5.9idaṁ jātu sabbajī,Hereupon, ever the conqueror of all!5.10idaṁ jātu apalikhataṁHereupon, ever the undug5.11gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhaṇin’ti.boil’s root is dug out!’”

5.12Dasamaṁ.

5.13Saḷavaggo pañcamo.

6.0Tassuddānaṁ

6.1Dve saṅgayhā parihānaṁ,6.2Pamādavihārī ca saṁvaro;6.3Samādhi paṭisallānaṁ,6.4Dve natumhākena uddakoti.

6.5Saḷāyatanavagge dutiyapaṇṇāsako samatto.

7.0Tassa vagguddānaṁ

7.1Avijjā migajālañca,7.2Gilānaṁ channaṁ catutthakaṁ;7.3Saḷavaggena paññāsaṁ,7.4Dutiyo paṇṇāsako ayanti.

7.5Paṭhamasatakaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Uddaka was the second Brahmanical sage under whom the Bodhisatta practiced before awakening (MN 26:16.1). Another of his enigmatic sayings is found at DN 29:16.8. When the Bodhisatta began his study, he first learned to recite the scriptures, and in these two passages we find examples of what those scriptures were. While no teachings attributed to Uddaka have been found in the Vedic corpus, chapter 23 of the Jain Isibhāsiyāiṁ—a collection of sayings of various sages, including Buddhists and Vedists—is attributed to a certain Rāmaputta, who is likely the same person.

    ↩ sn35.103:1.1

  2. I have not been able to trace this quote. It is verse, albeit unmetrical.

    The initial idaṁ (neuter) is an excalamtory particle disconnected from the nouns (masculine). It is an idiom of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (eg. 3.6.1.5, 3.7.1.2, 3.8.2.15), where it serves to highlight a dramatic statement or gesture; the text’s opening uses this idiom to announce a transformed or realized self-identity (1.1.1.4: “Hereupon, I enter from untruth to truth!”; 1.1.1.6: “Hereupon, I become he who I am”). Compare the use of ayaṁ (“here”) at MN 77:4.8 or idaṁ at SN 16.8:3.2, DN 9:5.6. Repeated initial pronouns are employed as a rhetorical device in some Vedic verses (eg. Rig Veda 6.65.4–5).

    A similar phrasing is employed by Brahmā Sahampati at SN 6.13:5.1, where it emphasizes direct experience.

    In early Sanskrit and Pali, jātu usually has the sense “ever” (or perhaps “absolutely” per the commentary’s ekaṁsena; see too Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 2.2.2.20, 14.6.8.1).

    Vedagū is not attested in Brahmanical texts, but it is perhaps a contraction of Sanskrit vedapāraga in the sense “one versed in the Vedas” (such as Yājñavalkya, Mahābhārata 1.113.40). Given that Buddhist literature assumes it was a term of the brahmins, the Buddha may have learned it from this very passage.

    ↩ sn35.103:1.2

  3. The terms “dug” (palikhata = Ardhamāgadhī paḍighāta) and “boil” (gaṇḍa), neither of which are particularly common, are used by Uddaka multiple times in Isibhāsiyāiṁ 23. It is remarkable that, although so few of Uddaka’s teachings are preserved, they share this striking language. Probably these were terms used by Uddaka himself; and perhaps “boil”, like “knowledge master”, was adapted by the Buddha from this passage.

    ↩ sn35.103:1.4

  4. Gaṇḍamūla (“boil’s root”) is also at Thag 4.10:4.1.

    Palikhaṇiṁ is first person aorist. In a characteristic touch of Vedic subtlety, Uddaka conceals the subject of the verse, only revealing that he is speaking of himself with the very final letter of the verse.

    ↩ sn35.103:1.5

  5. Isibhāsiyāiṁ 23 has rather a different tenor, as there Uddaka is depicted as lamenting the presence of the boils etc., and determining to practice “knowledge, vision, and good conduct” to bring an end to the beginningless course of transmigration (SN 15.1:1.7 and note). The story of the Bodhisatta’s studentship implies that Uddaka knew he was yet to attain the highest meditation that he taught (MN 26:16.9, etc.).

    ↩ sn35.103:1.6

  6. Also at AN 9.15:2.1. Elsewhere, “boil” is a term for sensual pleasures (AN 6.23) or for suffering (SN 22.122:1.4).

    ↩ sn35.103:4.2