The text of Udānavarga as presented here is a reproduction of the edition of that work prepared by Dr. Franz Bernhard, and published under the auspices of Abhandlungen Der Akadamie Der Wissenschaften In Göttingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse, by Vandenhoek & Ruprecht (Gottingen, 1965). Permission to use the text for this purpose has been kindly given by Dr. Bernhard’s sister and literary heir Mrs. Sobotzik.

I have made some small changes to the presentation of the text of the Udānavarga, to bring it into line with other documents presented on this website, which can be enumerated as follows:

1. The vowel r sign in Sanskrit is written with a ring underneath, not with a dot e.g. dṣṭvā (not dṛṣṭvā or dṛiṣṭvā).
2. Uncertain readings are marked with red coloured text (not italicized).
3. Lacunae are marked by square brackets, not by a hyphen (upa[  ]nāni; not upa – nāni).
4. Verses which had 2 irreconcilable versions have been given separate numbering (as 98.i, 98.ii), rather than printed side by side.
5. The numbering of the chapter titles has been changed from Roman to Arabic numerals (e.g. 33: Brāhmaṇavarga, not XXXIII: Brāhmaṇavarga), which is the way the numbers appear at the end of the chapters, in the printed text itself.

I have also added in the metrical markings above the lines, identified the metres, and added a commentary on the metre noting any deviations from the normal form of the metre that I am aware of, and giving quotations from the Pāḷi parallels wherever possible.

The text of Udānavarga was first published on this website in November 2004. Since then I have written 2 studies to accompany the text, and compiled an index. While engaged in this work I made a number of changes to the analysis and commentary that accompanies the text, and this constitutes therefore a revised edition of the material.

In the studies I first consider certain matters to do with the written form of the text, and how that relates to the way it was pronounced; and then I consider the shape the metres used in the text, and their relationship to the Pāḷi metres.

In 2025, while working on a translation of the text of the Udānavarga, I also made a translation of the Foreword and Preface, which are now included in this edition.