The Second Discourse about Dabba (UD8.10)

Thus I heard: At one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Wood, at Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There it was that the Gracious One addressed the monks, saying:

“Monks!”

“Reverend Sir!” those monks replied to the Gracious One. And the Gracious One said this:

“While venerable Dabba Mallaputta, monks—after going up into the sky, and sitting in cross-legged posture in the air, in the firmament, entering the fire-element, and emerging—was attaining Complete Emancipation, his body burning and being consumed, there was no charcoal and no ash evident. Just as while ghee or oil is burning and being consumed there is no charcoal and no ash evident, so also while venerable Dabba Mallaputta—after going up into the sky, and sitting in cross-legged posture in the air, in the firmament, entering the fire-element, and emerging—was attaining Complete Emancipation, his body burning and being consumed, there was no charcoal and no ash evident.”

Then the Gracious One, having understood the significance of it, on that occasion uttered this exalted utterance:

“Just as for an iron bar, which is struck by fire and heat,
And gradually cooling, the destiny of that heat is not known,
So it is for those perfectly free, who have crossed over
the flood of bondage to sense pleasures:
There is no known destiny for those who have attained unagitated happiness.”

The Text of the Udāna is Complete

Translated by Bhikkhu Ānandajoti from the Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka text. Version 2.2, revised February 2008.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.