Udāna, Exalted Utterances

3: Nandavaggo
“Sabbakammajahassa bhikkhuno,
“For the monk who has given up all deeds,
Dhunamānassa purekataṁ rajaṁ,
For he who is throwing off the dust of what was done before,
Amamassa ṭhitassa tādino,
For he who is unselfish, stable, such-like,
Attho natthi janaṁ lapetave” ti. 86
There is no need to speak to people.”
Evaṁ me sutaṁ:
Thus I heard:
3-2: Nandasuttaṁ (22)
The Discourse about Nanda
ekaṁ samayaṁ Bhagavā Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati,
at one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
Jetavane Anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.
in Jeta's Wood, at Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.
Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā Nando,
Then at that time venerable Nanda,
Bhagavato bhātā mātucchāputto, 87
the Gracious One's brother, his mother's sister's son,
sambahulānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ evam-āroceti:
confessed this to many monks:
“Anabhirato ahaṁ āvuso brahmacariyaṁ carāmi,
“I have no great delight, venerable friends, living the spiritual life,
na sakkomi brahmacariyaṁ sandhāretuṁ,
I am not able to endure the spiritual life,
sikkhaṁ paccakkhāya hīnāyāvattissāmī” ti.
having disavowed the training, I will return to what is inferior.”
Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena Bhagavā tenupasaṅkami,
Then a certain monk went to the Gracious One,
86 The infinitive in -tave (= Vedic -tave, tavai) is confined to the gāthā language, see Geiger, PG, §204.1.
87 Venerable Nanda’s father was King Suddhodana, the Buddha’s father; his mother however, was the
Buddha’s mother’s sister, Mahāpajāpatī (who was also, of course, the Buddha’s foster mother).
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