Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 46.30

With Udāyī

Udāyisutta — Udāyivagga

Setting
The land of the Sumbhas, the town of Sedaka
Speakers
Venerable Udāyī, in extended first-person testimony, with the Buddha's own brief confirmation
Form
A personal narrative tracing Udāyī's own conversion, realization, and acquisition of the path, followed by the Buddha's own approval
Length
3-4 minutes to read, plus a described (not translated) colophon and uddāna
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — closes this vagga's own ten discourses with its own most personal and extended testimony

Why this discourse

Venerable Udāyī, who has appeared twice already in this vagga as a questioner (SN 46.26, 46.28), now speaks in his own extended first-person voice — describing how his own fondness and respect for the Buddha moved him to renounce lay life, how the Buddha's own teaching on the five aggregates set him meditating, how he came to understand the four noble truths for himself, and how he acquired the seven awakening factors as the very path that will bring him to full awakening.

Reading guide

A conversion narrative, not a doctrinal exposition

Unlike every other discourse in this vagga, this one is told entirely in Udāyī's own voice as personal history: his own admission that lay life offered him little benefit from the teaching or the Saṅgha, his own decision to go forth prompted by fondness, respect, conscience, and prudence rather than doctrinal argument, and his own gradual unfolding of insight while “staying in an empty hut.”

A layered acquisition: aggregates, truths, then awakening factors

Udāyī's own account moves through three distinct stages: first the Buddha's own teaching on the five aggregates (“such is form, such is its origin, such is its disappearance”); then his own direct realization of the four noble truths while observing “the churning of the five grasping aggregates”; and finally his own acquisition of the seven awakening factors themselves as “the path” that will bring him all the way to full awakening's own classic declaration.

A vagga named for its own closing voice

This discourse's own significance as the source of the vagga's own name (“Udāyivagga,” “With Udāyī”) is confirmed by the closing colophon (“Udāyivaggo tatiyo,” “the Udāyī chapter, the third”) and uddāna, which together name all ten discourses of this vagga while giving Udāyī's own testimony the honor of closing and naming the whole sequence.

Key terms

sumbhesu... setakaṁ — “the land of the Sumbhas... Sedaka” — this discourse's own specific geographic setting, among the more precisely located discourses in this vagga
pemañca gāravo ca hirī ca ottappañca — “fondness and respect... conscience and prudence” — the four qualities Udāyī names as what moved him from lay life to ordination, rather than doctrinal conviction alone
iti rūpaṁ, iti rūpassa samudayo, iti rūpassa atthaṅgamo — “such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the disappearance of form” — the Buddha's own teaching on the five aggregates that set Udāyī's own meditation in motion
pañcupādānakkhandhānaṁ ukkujjāvakujjaṁ samparivattento — “following the churning of the five grasping aggregates” — Udāyī's own description of his own solitary meditative investigation, leading to his own direct realization of the four noble truths
khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyāti — “rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place” — the canon's own classic freedom declaration, here anticipated by Udāyī as the outcome his own acquired path will bring

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment of this discourse, closing the Udāyivagga. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1-2 — the setting and Udāyī's own conversionAt one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sumbhas, near the town of the Sumbhas named Sedaka. Then Venerable Udāyī went up to the Buddha … and said to him: “It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing! How helpful my fondness and respect for the Buddha have been, and my sense of conscience and prudence. For when I was still a layman, I wasn’t helped much by the teaching or the Saṅgha. But when I considered my fondness and respect for the Buddha, and my sense of conscience and prudence, I went forth from the lay life to homelessness. The Buddha taught me the Dhamma: ‘Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the disappearance of form. Such is feeling … Such is perception … Such are choices … Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the disappearance of consciousness.’

§3 — realizing the four truths in solitudeThen, while staying in an empty hut, I followed the churning of the five grasping aggregates. I truly understood: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. I comprehended the teaching, sir, I acquired the path. This, when developed and cultivated by me meditating in just such a way, will bring me to such a state that I will understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’

§4 — acquiring the seven awakening factors as the pathI acquired the awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity. Each of these, when developed and cultivated by me meditating in just such a way, will bring me to such a state that I will understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’ This is the path that I acquired which, when developed and cultivated by me meditating in just such a way, will bring me to such a state that I will understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’”

§5 — the Buddha's own approval“Good, good, Udāyī! For that is indeed the path that you acquired which, when developed and cultivated by you meditating in just such a way, will bring you to such a state that you will understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’”

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Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
How does this discourse's own form differ from every other discourse in this vagga?
Correct: A. A genuine conversion narrative, distinct from the more abstract or repeated formulas making up the rest of this vagga.
Question 2 of 3
What four qualities does Udāyī name as what moved him from lay life to ordination?
Correct: A. Personal and emotional grounds for renunciation, rather than doctrinal argument alone.
Question 3 of 3
What three stages does Udāyī's own account move through?
Correct: A. A layered progression from received teaching to personal realization to acquired practice.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

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