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Product Details
Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: Buddhist Publication Society; 1ST edition (1997)
One of the first authenticated mentions of the blind men and the elephant and their difficulty in describing one is in the Udana as told by the Buddha.
These are largely short discourses arousing faith and vigour. Strong, entertaining stuff, with graphic descriptions of Nibbana and the fruits of the good life.
The Ittivuttaka was according to tradition preserved by a little known female disciple of the Buddha who happened to be however, his chief female lay disciple - Khujjuttara. She walked with a limp and this is her contribution to civilisation.
These two books of the Kuddaka Nikaya have been well translated by the late J. Ireland and come together in a volume independent of the PTS. It is one of Ireland's last works of translation. I'd put this on my wish list, for when I'm down or when I'm really happy.
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I'm not sure what it says about our world when such a beautiful collection as this is so obscure. Nothing good, I wager.
This volume consists of two sutta collections, the Udana, or "Inspired Utterances," and the Itivuttaka, or "So It Was Said." Both are part of the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya, a heterogeneous collection of works representing some of the earliest materials in the Pali Canon as well as some of the latest.
The Udana, probably the better known of the two collections, consists of eighty discourses. The title refers to the verses at the end of each discourse where the Buddha, upon realizing the significance of some event or observation, makes a pronouncement about it. The stock phrase used is "Then, on realizing its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance..." The Pali word udâna means "utterance," or "pronouncement."
This is definitely one of my favorite Buddhist scriptures. It is not only very readable (particularly in Ireland's mellifluous and careful translation), but often quite profound; some of the most critical passages concerning the nature of nibbana are found here. It also contains no small measure of humor-the story of Nanda and the pink-footed nymphs (at 3.2) is priceless! There is also a definitely personal element to the Udana. Such stories as Bahiya of the Bark-Cloth (1.10)-an ascetic who interrupted the Buddha on his almsround, got a terse, cryptic dharma talk from the Master and instantaneously became an arhant, only to be gored to death by a mother cow an hour later-have the ring of historical authenticity, so unique are they. I also like the story of Visakha (8.8), who comes to the Buddha weeping and sobbing because her beloved grandchild has died.Read more ›
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Though these are short talks by the Buddha some are very deep in meaning. The translation is good. The Itivuttaka is unique in Buddha's teaching since it was talks given to a lay lady who had attained the first level of the spiritual Liberation of Nibbana (Nirvana) the Stream-enterer. So for lay people who do insight mindfulness meditation this books is an ideal one for inspiration.
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