Restless

Ud 4.2 · Uddhatasutta

Small white alpine flowers bloom in a sheltered crevice of green-gray rock.

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the sal forest of the Mallas at Upavattana near Kusinārā. Now at that time several mendicants were staying not far from the Buddha in a wilderness hut. They were haughty, insolent, fickle, scurrilous, loose-tongued, unmindful, lacking situational awareness and immersion, with straying minds and undisciplined faculties.

The Buddha saw those mendicants staying nearby.

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

“Unguarded in body, ruined by wrong view, overcome with dullness and drowsiness, you fall under Māra’s sway.
That’s why you should guard the mind, with right thoughts your habitat, and right view at the fore. Having understood rise and fall, a mendicant who has overcome dullness and drowsiness would abandon all bad destinies.”

Connections

Collection & context

UdānaThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

Books

Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.