A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.39

v2.c19.s3.t2.39

The book of the Udānas contains only a selection of the "pithy sayings" ascribed to Buddha. In other books of the Tipiṭaka also, there are utterances of this kind, called "Udāna," which are not always attributed to Buddha, but sometimes to a king, a deity or some other personage.¹ Quite a number of Suttas as well as of separate Udānas (without the Suttas belonging to them) are common to the Udāna and other collections.² In particular, it contains several Suttas relating to the life of Buddha, which are in agreement with the biographical texts of the Vinayapiṭaka and the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta. However, they were probably not borrowed from these collections, but were based on earlier traditions on which the various collections have drawn.