Part 3 - Udana Pali

An udana is an utterance mostly in matrical form inspired by a particularly intense emotion. This treatise is a collection of eighty joy- ful utterances made by the Buddha on unique occasions of sheer bliss, each udana in verse is accompanied by an account in prose of the circumstances that led to their being uttered.

For example, in the first Bodhivagga Sutta are recorded the first words spoken aloud by the newly Enlightened Buddha in three stan- zas beginning with the famous opening lines

"Yada have patubhavanti dhamma, Atapino jhayato brahmanassa "

For seven days after his Enlightenment, the Buddha sat at the foot of the Bodhi tree feeling the bliss of liberation At the end of seven days, he emerged from this (Phala Samdpatti) sustained absorption in Fruition-Mind, to deliberate upon the principle of Dependent Origination: When this is, that is (Imasmivh sati, idam hoti}\ this having arisen, that arises (Imassuppada, idam uppajjati), when this is not, that is not (Imasmirh asati, idarh na hott); this having ceased, that ceases (Imassa nirodha, idafn nirujjhati)

In the first watch of the night, when the principle of the origin of the whole mass of suffering was thoroughly grasped in a detailed man- ner in the order of arising, the Buddha uttered the first stanza of joy.

"When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardently meditating recluse, then all his doubts vanish, because he under- stands what that nature is as well as its cause "

In the second watch of the night, his mind was occupied with the principle of Dependent Origination in the order of ceasing. When the manner of cessation of suffering was thoroughly understood, the Buddha was moved again to utter the second stanza of jubilation:

"When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardently meditating recluse, then all his doubts vanish, because he perceives the cessation of causes "

In the third watch of the night, the Buddha went over the detail- ed formula of the principle of Dependent Origination, Paticca Samup- pada, in both the orders of arising and ceasing Then having master- ed the doctrine of Dependent Origination very thoroughly, the Buddha uttered the third stanza of solemn utterance

"When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardently meditating recluse, then like the sun that illumines the sky, he stands repelling the dark hosts of Mara "