Ud 1.4PTS Ud 3Nigrodha1 min read

The Mystic Syllable Huṁ

Huṁhuṅkasutta

A brahmin who recites the mystic syllable huṁ asks the Buddha who is the true brahmin.

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

0.1Udāna 1.4Heartfelt Sayings 1.4

0.2HuṁhuṅkasuttaThe Mystic Syllable Huṁ

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.¹1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre ajapālanigrodhe paṭhamābhisambuddho.At one time, when he was first awakened, the Buddha was staying in Uruvelā at the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River.1.3Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisinno hoti vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī.There the Buddha sat cross-legged for seven days without moving, experiencing the bliss of freedom.1.4Atha kho bhagavā tassa sattāhassa accayena tamhā samādhimhā vuṭṭhāsi.When seven days had passed, the Buddha emerged from that state of immersion.

2.1Atha kho aññataro huṁhuṅkajātiko brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi.Then a certain brahmin, one of those who murmured the mystic syllable huṁ, huṁ, went up to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him.²2.2Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho so brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he stood to one side and said,2.3“kittāvatā nu kho, bho gotama, brāhmaṇo hoti, katame ca pana brāhmaṇakaraṇā dhammā”ti?“Worthy Gotama, how do you define a brahmin? And what are the things that make one a brahmin?”

3.1Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

4.1“Yo brāhmaṇo bāhitapāpadhammo,“Any brahmin who has banished bad qualities—³4.2Nihuṁhuṅko nikkasāvo yatatto;not murmuring the mystic syllable huṁ, <j>unstained, self-controlled,⁴4.3Vedantagū vūsitabrahmacariyo,a complete knowledge master <j>who has completed the spiritual journey—⁵4.4Dhammena so brahmavādaṁ vadeyya;they may legitimately proclaim the divine doctrine;⁶4.5Yassussadā natthi kuhiñci loke”ti.who have no pretensions about anything in the world.”⁷

4.6Catutthaṁ.

Translator’s notes

This episode also appears at Kd 1:2.1.1. Sharing three distinctive terms—huṁ, brahmavāda, kāsāva—with the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, it can be read as a rebuttal of the Chāndogya’s special emphasis on the mystic power of Vedic ritual utterances (sāman).
↩ ud1.4:1.1
Huṁhuṅkajātiko brāhmaṇo is literally, “a brahmin of the huṁ, huṁ sort”. The significance of this is revealed in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.13, which lists twelve mystic syllables (stobha) that are uttered during the recitation of the sāman hymn. The thirteenth and final syllable is huṁ, said to be variable and “indistinct” (anirukta). It contains the last and most closed-off of the cardinal vowels (u), which creates an indistinct mumble, reflecting the undefined nature of the primordial divinity. Its significance is underlined by the fact that it is called it the upaniṣad, the “hidden connection” (1.14). Huṁ is found fairly often in later Hindu texts, even receiving its own Hūṅkāra Tantra; occasionally we find the redoubled form as here (eg. Bṛhatkathāślokasaṁgraha 21.146). It made its way into such Tibetan texts as the Ḍākārṇava Tantra, where it is said to be recited at the end, reflecting its phonetic quality exactly as in the Upaniṣad. It is recognizable today as the final syllable in the mantra, om mani padme hum.
↩ ud1.4:2.1
This pun is explained at MN 39:24.2.
↩ ud1.4:4.1
“Unstained” is from kasāva, which occurs in the same sense at Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.26.2 (mṛditakaṣāyāya).
↩ ud1.4:4.2
The “knowledge” in vedagū is the Vedas in Brahmanism and the three knowledges in Buddhism. It is not an attested term in Brahmanical texts.
For vūsitabrahmacariyo (“completed the spiritual journey”) compare uṣitvā brahmacaryaṁ at Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 5.2.1.
↩ ud1.4:4.3
This, the only occurrence of brahmavāda in Pali, harks back to the brahmin’s role as a reciter of the sāman. In Brahmanical texts it has the sense of “orthodox Vedic doctrine” (Atharva Veda 11.3.26a, 15.1.8a; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 14.7.3.1; Chāndogya Upaniṣad 2.24.1), comparable to the sense of Theravāda (“doctrine of the elders”). Here the Buddha, as so often, adapts the meaning to his own ends.
↩ ud1.4:4.4
“Pretensions” renders ussadā. This line is found in the earlier Aṭṭhavagga (Snp 4.3:4.4 and note), from where I suspect it has been imported. Here it dangles as the last line of the only five-line stanza in the Udāna, following a line that is already grammatically complete (the demonstrative so answers the relative yo in the opening line). Perhaps it was added to downplay the importance of the term brahmavāda.
↩ ud1.4:4.5