Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Textual analysis and comparative discussion on early Buddhist sects and scriptures.
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tiltbillings
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Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by tiltbillings »

There is an other version of the Dhammapada, which is longer (and compiled latter) than the Pali version. It is called the Udanavarga. This may be of interest to some:

https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index ... w=fulltext" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Ben
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by Ben »

Outstanding!
Many thanks Tilt!

Would you or one of the other mods/admins kindly pin this thread?
Thanks again!

Ben
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Kim OHara
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by Kim OHara »

I hadn't heard of the text so I looked it up. I'll save others some time by giving the gist of the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udanavarga:
The Udānavarga has around 1100 verses in 33 chapters. The chapter titles[2] are:
Comparatively, the most common version of the Dhammapada, in Pali, has 423 verses in 26 chapters.[3] Comparing the Udānavarga, Pali Dhammapada and the Gandhari Dharmapada, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure.
The Udānavarga is attributed to the Sarvāstivādins.[5]
Hinuber suggests that a text similar to the Pali Canon's Udāna formed the original core of the Sanskrit Udānavarga, to which verses from the Dhammapada were added.[6] Brough allows for the hypothesis that the Udānavarga, the Pali Dhammapada and the Gandhari Dharmapada all have a "common ancestor" but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the "primitive Dharmapada" from which the other two evolved.
:namaste:
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vinodh
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by vinodh »

Comparative version of the various editions of the Dhammapada (which includes Udanavarga too)

http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/B ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

V
http://www.virtualvinodh.com

Buddhists Texts in Brahmi Script : http://www.virtualvinodh.com/brahmi-lipitva

yo dharmaṁ paśyati, sa buddhaṁ paśyati
One who sees the Dharma, sees the Buddha

na pudgalo na ca skandhā buddho jñānamanāsravam
sadāśāntiṁ vibhāvitvā gacchāmi śaraṇaṁ hyaham

Neither a person nor the aggregates, the Buddha, is knowledge free from [evil] outflows
Clearly perceiving [him] to be eternally serene, I go for refuge [in him]
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Not sure whomever did the Oslo translation, maybe it is based on the Tibetan only. At any rate, Gareth Sparham in 1983 also did the Udanavarga in full. He titled it The Tibetan Dhammapada, perhaps a hat tip to Rockhill's version done in 1892 or so. Rockhill's may still be in print, but Sparham's is not, I think.

Another version from the Chinese, which is not identical to the Tibetan is A Collection of Important Odes of the Law: The Chinese Udanavarga translated by Charles Willemen in 2013. Have not read this one, but will soon.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Cannot find an online copy of Sparham's version, but here is a link to the Rockhill 1883 version:

https://ia600209.us.archive.org/14/item ... kah_bw.pdf
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Ran across this while reading BDK's Buddha-Dharma. That famous verse of Buddha's is in both Dhammapada & Udanavarga, but I did not know that there was a Dhamma passage saying that the Seven Buddhas before had taught it:
“Disciples, I made Sariputta and Moggallana elder disciples, but not out of favoritism. Their station was determined by their roots of merit and aspirations from their previous lives. It is unseemly for those who left their homes in search of supreme nirvana to quarrel over positions of rank. You must purify your minds, and, with single-minded concentration, move forward.” He then set forth the Verse of Precepts Commonly Taught by the Seven Buddhas:
Do not commit evil; perform a multitude of good acts;
Purify your own mind: this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
daveblack
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Re: Dhammapada/Udanavarga

Post by daveblack »

Its interesting how much more conservative (for lack of a better words) the Udanavarga is than the Buddhism generally presented in the West. For instance,
Udanavarga, 10.14

One must not associate with him who is without faith, for he is like a dried-up well, which, if it be dug out, only gives muddy, dirty water.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

All the Dhammapada verses are within the Udanavarga, but the latter is over twice as big. There are several recensions in Tibetan, Sanskrit & Chinese, with varying verse numbers and arrangements.

I will post some samples from Sparham's version, but if anyone can find a pdf or epub version, I will appreciate a copy.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Here are verses 3 & 6 from the first chapter on Impermanence:
3) Alas, composites are impermanent,
They start to perish when they are produced.
Since having arisen they perish;
Calming them down is happiness.
6) From that same moment of the night
Humans first enter in the womb
The journey of their life to death begins.
Once gone there is no turning back.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Udanavarga

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Here is the first in a series of talks on the Udānavarga verses by a Tibetan Lama with clear English pronunciation:

Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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