Udānavarga The title appears nowhere in the text, and I think Bernhard must have named it as such because Udānavarga is given as the title in the Tibetan and Chinese versions. Prof. Dharmavardhana-Jñānagarbha informs me that the Tibetan could equally well be transliterated back into Sanskrit as Udānavargīya.
The Exalted Chapters
Uddesa
Proem
Siddham!
Success!
[1.1]
[adm.]
Stīnamiddhaṁ vinodyeha, saṁpraharṣya ca mānasam,
śṛṇutemaṁ pravakṣyāmi udānaṁ Jinabhāṣitam.
Having removed sloth and torpor here, having gladdened the mind, listen to this, I will proclaim the exalted utterances This is an example of a neuter singular noun that is being used to signify a collection, as indeed we see in the title of the Pāḷi collection, Udānaṁ, Exalted Utterances (plural). We will come across many other examples in this collection. spoken by the Victor. These two verses introduce the text by stating who spoke these words. The first chapter really begins with verse 3. In Bernhard they are included in the Anityavarga.
[1.2]
[stm.]
Evam uktaṁ Bhagavatā, Sarvābhijñena tāyinā,
anukampakenarṣiṇā śarīrāntimadhāriṇā:
This was said by the Fortunate One, the All-knowing One, such a one, This is not the classical Sanskrit word meaning Protector, but = Pāḷi tādi. See Edgerton: tāyin, m. … originally Prakritic for Pali tādi(n) = Skt. tādṛś; see tādṛ(n), tādṛśa(ka). The identity of the two words can hardly be questioned. the compassionate seer, who bore his final body:
1. Anityavarga In the Dhammapada there is no chapter on impermanence, and only 12 of the 45 verses have parallels in the Dhammapada.
The Chapter about Impermanence
(40 Verses)
[1.3]
[stm.]
Anityā bata saṁskārā, utpādavyayadharmiṇaḥ,
utpadya hi nirudhyante, teṣāṁ vyupaśamaḥ sukham.
Conditioned things are indeed impermanent, their nature is arising and decaying, after arising they cease, the stilling of them is good. The verse in Pāḷi is attributed to the Buddha in SN 15.20; to Sakka in DN16; to Mahā Moggallāna at Thag 1159; to Sopāka, Dhammasavaniya, Ekadhammassavaniya and Mahāpajāpatigotamī in the Apadāna, to the Bodhisatta in Ja 95.
[1.4]
[rh.q.]
Ko nu harṣaḥ ka ānanda, evaṁ prajvalite sati? Prajvalite sati is a locative absolutive construction giving the meaning: while burning.
Andhakāraṁ praviṣṭāḥ stha, pradīpaṁ na gaveṣatha?
Why this laughter, what is this joy, while being burned thus? You have entered the darkness, do you not seek for the light?
[1.5]
[rh.q.]
Yānīmāny apaviddhāni, vikṣiptāni diśo diśam,
kāpotavarṇāny asthīni, tāni dṛṣṭveha kā ratiḥ?
These pigeon-coloured bones, thrown away, scattered in the directions, having seen them here, why is there delight?
[1.6]
[stm.]
Yām eva prathamāṁ rātriṁ garbhe vasati mānavaḥ,
aviṣṭhitaḥ sa vrajati, gataś ca na nivartate.
From the very first night The words prathamāṁ rātriṁ are in the accusative case, but seem to possess an ablative meaning, from… that a person dwells in the womb, unsteadily one goes, having gone without turning back.
[1.7]
[stm.]
Sāyam eke na dṛśyante kālyaṁ dṛṣṭā mahājanāḥ,
kālyaṁ caike na dṛṣṭante sāyaṁ dṛṣṭā mahājanāḥ.
Some of the many folk seen in the morning do not see the evening, some of the many folk seen in the evening do not see the morning.
[1.8]
[rh.q.]
Tatra ko viśvasen martyo, daharo ’smī ti jīvite?
daharāpi mriyante hi, narā nāryaś ca-n-ekaśaḥ.
Therefore, what mortal would trust in life, thinking: I am yet young? for even the young die, men and women, one by one.
[1.9]
[stm.]
Garbhe hy eke This reading is from manuscript EU1. Bernhard read garbha eke, but this is problematic on a number of counts: 1) Nowhere else do I find the nominative used as a locative in this text. 2) If it is a nominative, it is singular, which is different in number from the plural eke, meaning: some. 3) The reading garbhe hy eke is also parallel to the second part of the verse: tathaike sūtikākule. vinaśyante, tathaike sūtikākule,
parisṛptās tathā hy eke, tathaike paridhāvinaḥ.
Some perish in the womb, also some in the place of birth, also some while crawling, and some while running around.
[1.10]
[stm. + sim.]
Ye ca vṛddhā, ye ca dahrā, ye ca madhyamapuruṣāḥ,
anupūrvaṁ pravrajanti, phalaṁ pakvaṁ va bandhanāt.
Those people who are old, those who are young, and those who are middle-aged, they depart in due order, like a ripe fruit from its stalk.
[1.11]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathā phalānāṁ pakvānāṁ nityaṁ patanato bhayam,
evaṁ jātasya martyasya nityaṁ maraṇato bhayam.
Just as for ripe fruits there is always a fear from falling, so for mortals who are born there is always a fear from death.
[1.12]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathāpi kumbhakāreṇa mṛttikābhājanaṁ kṛtam,
sarvaṁ bhedanaparyantam evaṁ martyasya jīvitam.
Just as with an earthenware bowl made by a potter, so does the life of every mortal end by breaking up.
[1.13]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathāpi tantre vitate yad yad utaṁ samupyate,
alpaṁ bhavati vātavyam, evaṁ martyasya jīvitam.
Just as when stretched out on a loom whatever is woven is used up, and there is but little left to be woven, so with the life of a mortal.
[1.15]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathā nadī pārvatīyā gacchate na nivartate,
evam āyur manuṣyāṇāṁ gacchate na nivartate.
Just as a river from a mountain goes on and does not turn back, so does the life of humans go on and does not turn back.
[1.16]
[stm. + sim.]
Kisaraṁ ca parittaṁ ca, tac ca duḥkhena saṁyutam,
udake daṇḍarājīva, kṣipram eva vinaśyati.
Miserable and short, and it is joined with suffering, like a line drawn by a stick in water, quickly indeed it perishes. With this line compare the prose line in the Jātakaṭṭhakathā (PTS 1.48): udake daṇḍarāji viya khippaṁ vigacchati.
[1.17]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathā daṇḍena gopālo gāḥ prāpayati gocaram,
evaṁ rogair jarāmṛtyuḥ āyuḥ prāpayate nṛṇām.
Just as a cowherd drives cattle to pasture with a stick, so through sickness, We might have expected three instrumentals here, through sickness, old age and death…, but in this verse the subjects are old age and death (in the nominative case) and the means (in the instrumental case) they use is: through sickness. do old age and death drive the life out of humans.
[1.18]
[stm. + sim.]
Atiyānti hy ahorātrā, jīvitaṁ coparudhyate,
āyuḥ kṣīyati martyānāṁ, kunadīṣu yathaudakam.
Days and nights pass by, life is being consumed, the life of mortals wastes away, like water in shallow streams.
[1.19]
[stm. + ana.]
Dīrghā jāgarato rātrir, dīrghaṁ śrāntasya yojanam,
dīrgho bālasya saṁsāraḥ Saddharmam avijānataḥ.
Long is the night for one awake, long is a league for one tired, long is transmigration for a fool who knows not the True Dharma.
[1.20]
[rh.q.]
“Putro me ’sti, dhanaṁ me ’stī,” ty evaṁ bālo vihanyate,
ātmaiva hy ātmano nāsti, kasya putraḥ, kuto dhanam?
“A child is mine, and wealth is mine,” so the fool suffers vexation, when even his self is not his own, how then a child, how then wealth?
[1.21]
[stm.]
Anekāni sahasrāṇi naranārīśatāni ca
bhogāṁ vai samudānīya: vaśaṁ gacchanti mṛtyunaḥ.
Countless hundreds of thousands of men and women have indeed gathered riches: still they come under the influence of death.
[1.22]
[stm.]
Sarve kṣayāntā nicayāḥ, patanāntāḥ samucchrayāḥ,
saṁyogā viprayogāntā, maraṇāntaṁ hi jīvitam.
Everything accumulated ends in destruction, what is elevated ends in a fall, what is joined ends in separation, life indeed ends in death.
[1.23]
[stm.]
Sarve satvā mariṣyanti, maraṇāntaṁ hi jīvitam,
yathākarma gamiṣyanti, puṇyapāpaphalopagāḥ.
All beings will die, life indeed ends in death, according to their deeds This is a good example where the neuter singular is used with a collective sense, where we have to use the English plural to represent the meaning. they will go on, experiencing the fruits of merit and demerit.
[1.24]
[adm.]
Narakaṁ pāpakarmāṇaḥ, kṛtapuṇyās tu sadgatim,
anye tu mārgaṁ bhāvyeha, Nirvāsyanti nirāsravāḥ.
Those who do demerit go to purgatory, Everywhere the Pāḷi has niraya, the underworld, the Udānavarga uses its near synonym, naraka. but those who have done merit go a good destination, but others should cultivate the path here, the ones without pollutants will attain Nirvāṇa.
[1.25]
[stm.]
Naivāntarīkṣe, na samudramadhye,
na parvatānāṁ vivaraṁ praviśya:
na vidyate ’sau pṛthivīpradeśo
yatra sthitaṁ na prasaheta mṛtyuḥ.
Neither in the firmament, nor in the middle of the ocean, nor after entering a cleft in the mountains: there is no place found on this earth where standing death would not overpower one.
[1.26]
[adm.]
Ye ceha bhūtā, bhaviṣyanti vā punaḥ,
sarve gamiṣyanti, prahāya deham,
tāṁ sarvahāniṁ kuśalo viditvā,
Dharme sthito, brahmacaryaṁ Brahmacarya implies both the celibate life and the highest life. To cover both meanings I use the spiritual life in this translation. careta.
Whatever beings exist here, or those who will come to be again, they will all go on, having abandoned the body, having understood that is a complete loss, the skilful one, established in the Dharma, should live the spiritual life.
[1.27]
[stm.]
Jīrṇaṁ ca dṛṣṭveha, tathaiva rogiṇaṁ,
mṛtaṁ ca dṛṣṭvā, vyapayātacetasam,
jahau sa dhīro gṛhabandhanāni,
kāmā hi lokasya na supraheyāḥ.
Seeing the aged here, and the sick, seeing the dead, one whose mind has departed, the steadfast one has abandoned ties to the household, desires for the world are surely not easy to abandon.
[1.28]
[stm. + ana.]
Jīryanti vai rājarathāḥ sucitrā,
hy atho śarīram api jarām upaiti,
satāṁ tu Dharmo na jarām upaiti,
santo hi taṁ satsu nivedayanti.
Well-adorned royal chariots will surely wear out, and even the body undergoes decay, but the Dharma of the good does not undergo decay, the good indeed proclaim it among the good.
[1.29]
[stm.]
Dhik tvām astu, jare grāmye, virūpakaraṇī hy asi,
tathā manoramaṁ bimbaṁ jarayā hy abhimarditam.
Let there be shame on you, vulgar old age, for you are a maker of the ugly, so are the manikins that delight the mind destroyed by decay.
[1.30]
[stm.]
Yo ’pi varṣaśataṁ jīvet so ’pi mṛtyuparāyaṇaḥ,
anu hy enaṁ jarā hanti, vyādhir vā yadi vāntakaḥ.
Even the one who might live for a hundred years, even he has death as the final goal, for, following him along, old age strikes him down, or disease, or the End-Maker.
[1.31]
[stm. + sim.]
Sadā vrajanti, hy anivartamānā,
divā ca rātrau ca vilujyamānāḥ,
matsyā ivātīva hi tapyamānā,
duḥkhena jātīmaraṇena yuktāḥ.
Always they go on, without turning back, by day and by night they are being destroyed, like fish boiling excessively, they are yoked together with suffering, by birth and death. The instrumentals here have different scope, duḥkhena is an accompanying circumstance, whereas jātīmaraṇena (-ī- is m.c.) is the instrumental of means.
[1.32]
[stm. + sim.]
Āyur divā ca rātrau ca, caratas tiṣṭhatas tathā,
nadīnāṁ vā One of the characteristics of Sankritized Prakrit texts is that vā can equal iva, especially in verse texts. Edgerton (BHSD, s.v.) gives many examples, and they are found throughout this work. yathā sroto, gacchate na nivartate.
Life, by day and by night, for one moving and standing still, like the current of rivers, goes on and does not turn back.
[1.33]
[stm. + sim.]
Yeṣāṁ rātridivāpāye, hy āyur alpataraṁ bhavet,
alpodake va matsyānāṁ, kā nu teṣāṁ ratir bhavet?
For those in declining nights and days, life would become shorter, like for fish in but little water, what delight can there be for them?
[1.34]
[stm.]
Parijīrṇam idaṁ rūpaṁ, roganīḍaṁ prabhaṅguram,
bhetsyate pūty asaṁdehaṁ, maraṇāntaṁ hi jīvitam.
This body is worn out, a nest of sicknesses, and fragile, it will undoubtedly break up and become foul, for life surely ends in death.
[1.35]
[stm. + sim.]
Aciraṁ bata kāyo ’yaṁ pṛthivīm adhiśeṣyate,
śunyo vyapetavijñāno, nirastaṁ vā kaḍaṅgaram.
In no long time, alas, this body upon the earth will lie, empty, without consciousness, cast away like a piece of wood.
[1.36]
[rh.q.]
Kim anena śarīreṇa, sravatā pūtinā sadā?
Nityaṁ rogābhibhūtena, jarāmaraṇabhīruṇā.
What is it with this body, oozing and foul always? It is constantly overcome by sickness, terrified of old age and death.
[1.37]
[adm.]
Anena pūtikāyena hy ātureṇa prabhaṅguṇā,
nigacchatha parāṁ śāntiṁ, yogakṣemam anuttaram.
Through this foul body which is sick and fragile, you must go to the peace beyond, the unsurpassed safety.
[1.38]
[stm.]
“Iha varṣaṁ kariṣyāmi, hemantaṁ grīṣmam eva ca,”
bālo vicintayaty evam, antarāyaṁ na paśyati.
“Here I will spend the rains, the winter and the summer,” a fool thinks thus, he does not see the danger.
[1.39]
[stm. + sim.]
Taṁ putrapaśusaṁmattaṁ, vyāsaktamanasaṁ naram,
suptaṁ grāmaṁ mahaughaiva, mṛtyur ādāya gacchati.
That person whose mind is attached, besotted by cattle and children, death takes up and carries off, like a flood carries off a sleeping village. In both lines to make a smooth translation we have to read the second half of the line first.
[1.40]
[stm.]
Na santi putrās trāṇāya, na pitā nāpi bāndhavāḥ,
Antakenābhibhūtasya, na hi trāṇā bhavanti te.
Children are not a refuge, nor a father, not even relatives, for one overcome by the End-Maker, there are indeed no refuges for you.
[1.41]
[stm.]
“Idaṁ kṛtaṁ me kartavyam, idaṁ kṛtvā bhaviṣyati,”
ity evaṁ spondato martyāṁ jarā mṛtyuś ca mardati.
“This is to be done by me, this I will have done in the future,” thinking thus, a mortal who is striving is crushed by decay and death.
[1.42]
[adm.]
Tasmāt sadā dhyānaratāḥ samāhitā,
hy ātāpino jātijarāntadarśinaḥ,
Māraṁ sasainyaṁ hy abhibhūya bhikṣavo,
bhaveta jātīmaraṇasya pāragāḥ!
Therefore always delighting in meditation, composed, ardent, seeing the end of birth and old age, overcome Māra and his army, monastics, one should be one of those who cross beyond birth and death!
Anityavargaḥ, 1
The Chapter on Impermanence, the First