3 Udāna Pāḷi

An udāna is an utterance mostly in verse form inspired by a particularly intense emotion. This treatise is a collection of eighty joyful utterances made by the Buddha on unique occasions of sheer bliss; each udāna in verse is accompanied by an account in prose of the circumstances that led to its being uttered.

For example in the first Bodhivagga Sutta are recorded the first words spoken aloud by the newly enlightened Buddha in three stanzas beginning with the famous opening lines: "yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā, ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa."

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 samāpatti (sustained absorption in fruition-mind), to deliberate upon the principle of Dependent Origination: When this is, that is (imasmiṃ sati, idaṃ hoti); this having arisen, that arises (imassuppāda, idaṃ uppajjati); when this is not, that is not (imasmiṃ asati, idaṃ na hoti); this having ceased, that ceases (imassa nirodhā, idaṃ 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 manner in the order of arising, the Buddha uttered this first stanza of joy:

"When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardently meditating recluse, then all his doubts vanish, because he understands 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 a second stanza of jubilation:

"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 māra."