‹ Back to the text

udāno

udāna

masc nom sg of udāna (noun)

1. inspired saying; exclamation; one of the nine kinds of suttas; lit. breathing up
2. Book 3 of the Khuddaka Nikāya; lit. breathing up

Built from

• ud — prefix · up, out
  Upward and outward motion; makes abstract speech concrete as rising breath.
• ā — prefix · toward (speaker)
  Reverses or directs motion; here emphasizes the drawing-forth of the utterance.
• nā — root · breathe, blow
  From Indo-European *sne-; cognate with English 'nose', Latin 'nāre'. The breath as the physical image underlying spontaneous utterance.
• na — stem · (stem form)
  Verbal abstract noun; the action of breathing becomes an inspired speech-act.
• o — ending · nom sg masc
  Nominative singular masculine; marks the word as a noun in direct speech.

Analysis. ud + ānā: ud (up, out) + ā (toward) + √nā (breathe), literally 'breathing up and out'; an utterance that wells up spontaneously from deep realization.

Etymology. From ud- (up, out) + ā- (toward) + √nā (breathe, < Indo-European *sne- 'breathe, blow'). The spatial imagery is concrete: breath or speech rising upward and outward. Related to English 'nose' (< *sne-) and Latin 'nāre' (swim, originally 'breathe through water'). The term captures utterances emerging unbidden from a Buddha or enlightened being—words that 'breathe forth' spontaneously.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version