Udāna: Exclamations

From the Publisher of the Udana:

A complete translation of the book of the Udāna from the Khuddaka Nikāya collection of the Pāli Canon. The role of the Udāna within the context of the Pāli Canon is to focus on the values and principles—“meaning” in the larger sense of the term—that underlie the Buddha’s teachings.

From the Introduction:

The term udāna has two meanings, one denoting a vocal expression, the other a genre of text. As a vocal expression, it can be translated roughly as “exclamation,” and in particular an exclamation that’s spontaneous and inspired. As a genre of text, udāna means a style of narrative that developed in an effort to commit to memory the Buddha’s inspired exclamations, along with brief accounts of the events that inspired them.