SN 35.103 contains one of the very few teachings attributed to the Buddha’s former teacher Uddaka Rāmaputta, the other in the Pali canon being at DN 29:16.8. When the Bodhisatta began his study, he first learned to recite the scriptures, and in these two passages we find examples of what those scriptures were.
The DN passage is:
‘Seeing, one does not see.’ But seeing what does one not see? You can see the blade of a well-sharpened razor, but not the edge. Thus it is said: ‘Seeing, one does not see.’
This is a distorted reference to Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.7. There, the Self is said to be hidden in a body like a razor in its case. People do not see it (taṁ na paśyanti), for they only see the partial and incomplete functions of the Self, such as breathing, speaking, and so on. Seeing only the aspects, they do not see that each aspect is an expression of the one whole. This confirms that Uddaka was a Brahmanical teacher who was familiar with this passage. Similar phrases, but without the razor simile, are found at Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.23 and Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.12.1.
SN 35.103 has not been identified with a specific passage. Let’s have a closer look.
‘idaṁ jātu vedagū,
idaṁ jātu sabbajī,
idaṁ jātu apalikhataṁ
gaṇḍamūlaṁ palikhaṇiṁ’
‘Hereupon, ever the knowledge master!
Hereupon, ever the conqueror of all!
Hereupon, ever the undug
boil’s root is dug out!’
- It seems to be verse, albeit unmetrical (7 + 7 + 9 + 8 syllables).
- Repeated initial pronouns are employed as a rhetorical device in some Vedic verses (eg. Rig Veda 6.65.4–5).
Let’s sort out the vocabulary.
The initial idaṁ (neuter) is tricky from Pali perspective, as it is not a common idiom. It is an emphatic particle disconnected from the nouns (masculine). It is an idiom of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (eg. 3.6.1.5, 3.7.1.2, 3.8.2.15), where it serves to highlight a dramatic statement or gesture.
In particular, in the opening passages it announces a transformed or realized self-identity (1.1.1.4: “Hereupon I enter from untruth to truth!”; 1.1.1.6: “Hereupon I become he who I am”). And this is exactly how it is used here.
In early Sanskrit and Pali, jātu usually has the sense “ever” (or perhaps “absolutely” per the commentary’s ekaṁsena; see too Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 2.2.2.20, 14.6.8.1).
Vedagū is not attested in Brahmanical texts, but it is perhaps a contraction of Sanskrit vedapāraga in the sense “one versed in the Vedas” (such as Yājñavalkya, Mahābhārata 1.113.40). Given that Buddhist literature assumes it was a term of the brahmins, perhaps the Buddha learned it under Uddaka from this very passage.
Sabbajī is a Vedic term. But it’s too generic to be of much use in identifying the passage.
So far we can establish the following:
- Uddaka’s use of vedagū, while not standard, still shows that he was, in fact, a Vedist.
- The Buddha likely learned the term vedagū from Uddaka, and may have picked up other terms as well.
- The use of idioms found in the Śatapatha, added to the fact that his other quote is derived from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (which is just the final part of the Śatapatha) support the thesis that he was specifically in the white yajurveda tradition following Yājñavalkya, the putative author of the Śatapatha. (This is supported by a range of other evidence as well.)
Okay, so now we turn to the final couplet, which is where things get interesting.
While none of Uddaka’s teachings have been found in the Vedic corpus, chapter 23 of the Jain Isibhāsiyāiṁ—a collection of sayings of various sages, including Buddhists and Vedists—is attributed to a certain Rāmaputta, who is likely the same person.
The terms “dug” (palikhata = Ardhamāgadhī paḍighāta) and “boil” (gaṇḍa), neither of which are particularly common, occur multiple times in Isibhāsiyāiṁ 23. It is remarkable that, although so few of Uddaka’s teachings are preserved, they share this striking language. Probably these were terms used by Uddaka himself; and perhaps “boil”, like “knowledge master”, was adapted by the Buddha from this passage.
There is a translation of the Isibhāsiyāiṁ from the Hindi of Mahopadhyay Vinaysagar by Kalanath Shastri and Dinesh Chandra Sharma. It is, unfortunately, not particularly precise, and my Ardhamāgadhī is nonexistent. Nonetheless, here is the text and translation, with a few corrections of my own.
duve maraṇā assiṃ loe evam āhijjanti, taṃ-jahā:
two kinds of death may end human life
suha-mataṃ c’ eva duha-mataṃ c’ eva.
a happy one or a miserable one
rāmaputteṇa arahatā isiṇā buitaṃ. etthaṃ viṇṇattiṃ bemi
This chapter will delineate the two, said Ramaputta the seer
imassa khalu mamāissa asamāhiya-lesassa gaṇḍa-palighāiyassa.
I am accursed with distractions and mundane traits. I suffer from the carbuncles of attachment-aversion
gaṇḍa-bandhaṇa-paliyassa gaṇḍa-bandhaṇa-paḍighātaṃ karessāmi.
I resolve to avail of a remedy for this malaise
alaṃ pure-maeṇaṃ.
(enough of this misfortune of death???)
tamhā gaṇḍa-bandhaṇa-paḍighātaṃ karettā
therefore I will dig out the boils and bonds
ṇāṇa-daṃsaṇa-carittāiṃ paḍisevissāmi.
I will practice knowledge, vision, and conduct
ṇāṇeṇaṃ jāṇiya daṃsaṇeṇaṃ pāsittā saṃjameṇaṃ saṃjamiya
I will cultivate righteous knowledge, witness truth, restrain myself with austerity
taveṇa aṭṭhaviha-kamma-raya-malaṃ vidhuṇita visohiya
practice penances to pruify my soul from all kammic smear
aṇādīyaṃ aṇavadaggaṃ dīha-m-addhaṃ cāuranta-saṃsāra-kantāraṃ vītivatittā
transcend the beginningless timeless course the (four-sided? thorn?) of transmigration.
sivam ayalam aruyam akkhayam avvābāham apuṇar-āvattiyaṃ siddhi-gati-ṇāmadhijjaṃ ṭhāṇaṃ saṃpatte
and attain the place pinnacle of the blissful, perennial existence without return even once
aṇāgat’ addhaṃ sāsataṃ kālaṃ ciṭṭhissāmi tti.
the permanent future course time will ???
evaṃ se siddhe buddhe … ṇo puṇar-avi icc-atthaṃ havvam āgacchati tti bemi.
|| rāmaputtīy’ ajjhayaṇaṃ. ||23||
The whole passage seems to be remarkably sutta-like in its form. The opening seems almost exactly like a standard Anguttara opening. It also uses the same kind of repetitive prose structure we are familiar with from the suttas. I can’t help wonder if these are not stylistic methods the Buddha learned from Uddaka.
Notice also some very Buddhist-sounding vocabulary, particularly the description of samsara as aṇādīyaṃ aṇavadaggaṃ, “without beginning or first point”.
But for our purposes the crucial detail is the use of the terms gaṇḍa and paḍighāta, which correspond to gaṇḍa and palikhata in the Pali, i.e. “boil” and “dug out”. These are not common terms, and their use here points to a shared origin in the vocabulary of Uddaka himself. “Boil” is used in the suttas as a term for the body, sensuality, or suffering, and it may well be that this is another term he picked up from Uddaka.
Isibhāsiyāiṁ 23 has rather a different tenor than the Sutta passage. While the Buddha respected Uddaka as one who had little dust in his eyes, in this Sutta, the Buddha condemns Uddaka for making claims that were not true. But Isibhāsiyāiṁ depicts Uddaka as lamenting the presence of the boils etc., and determining to practice “knowledge, vision, and good conduct” to bring an end to the beginningless course of transmigration. The story of the Bodhisatta’s studentship implies that Uddaka knew he was yet to attain the highest meditation that he taught (MN 26:16.9).
It would be great to see a detailed analysis of the language of Isibhāsiyāiṁ 23. The connections we’ve seen already, however, support the detail that both the Buddhist and Jain passages are referring to the same individual, whose teaching influenced Buddhist terms and vocabulary. While Uddaka survives only, it seems, in these few quotes from his religious rivals, he nonetheless comes through as a dedicated and sincere practitioner who, while perhaps still flawed, left a positive legacy in Buddhist terms and ideas.
Though for this topic, I can’t find Isi 23…
