Uddaka Rāmaputta (

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhi ...

; sa, Udraka Rāmaputra) was a sage and teacher of meditation identified by the Buddhist tradition as one of the teachers of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. 'Rāmaputta' means 'son of Rāma', who may have been his father or spiritual teacher. Uddaka Rāmaputta taught refined states of meditation known as the dhyanic formless attainments ('' arūpa

samāpatti ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

'').

Relationship with Gautama Buddha

After his departure from his father's court, Gautama Buddha first went to

Āḷāra Kālāma Alara Kalama ( Pāḷi & Sanskrit ', was a hermit and a teacher of ancient meditation. He was a teacher of Śramaṇa thought and, according to the Pāli Canon scriptures, the first teacher of Gautama Buddha. History After Siddhartha Gautama ...

and after following his method was recognized as having equalled his master. Gautama was eager to learn more, and chose to depart to search for another teacher rather than accept a position as co-leader of Āḷāra Kālāma's community. He found Uddaka Rāmaputta and accepted him as teacher. While Āḷāra Kālāma accepted the Buddha as an equal and asked him to lead his community alongside him, Uddaka Rāmaputta acknowledged the Buddha as his superior and equal to his predecessor, Uddaka Rāma, who had actually attained the " sphere of neither perception nor non-perception" ('), which Rāmaputta had not reached. Uddaka Rāmaputta asked the Buddha to take sole leadership of his students and community, but the Buddha preferred to travel on. Following his awakening, the Buddha first thought of Uddaka Rāmaputta as someone who would be able to understand and realize his

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

, but later learned that Uddaka Rāmaputta had already died by that time.Dictionary of Pali Names - Uddaka-Rāmaputta
/ref> Despite this confidence, in other texts the Buddha disparaged Uddaka Rāmaputta as someone who claimed attainments and understanding without having achieved them for himself.

Sources and historicity

Several suttas in the Majjhima Nikaya contain stories about the Bodhisattva's visits to the two teachers, with the Ariyapariyesana Sutta (MN 26) identified as the likely source of subsequent

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

versions. Parallel stories from several different

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools are those schools into which the Buddhist monastic saṅgha split early in the history of Buddhism. The divisions were originally due to differences in Vinaya and later also due to doctrinal differences and geogra ...

are preserved in Sanskrit and Chinese, including within the Mahāvastu. Other references to Uddaka Rāmaputta are scattered through the four Nikayas, with additional mentions in the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...

and the commentaries to the

Dhammapada The Dhammapada ( Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddak ...

. While Andre Bareau argued that both Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma were fictional creations, later scholars have accepted the possibility that they may have been real historical figures. The surviving sources all agree in placing Uddaka Rāmaputta in

Rajagriha Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the ...

during the Buddha's lifetime, despite being drawn from different schools' translations.Wynne, Alexander. “The Historical Authenticity of Early Buddhist Literature: A Critical Evaluation.” Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Südasiens / Vienna Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 49, 2005, pp. 35–70. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24007653. Accessed 13 Apr. 2020.

Hsuan Tsang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

also recorded legends in his era that associated Uddaka Rāmaputta with the vicinity of Rajagriha. Most traditions have also preserved the distinction between Uddaka Rāmaputta and his father or teacher Uddaka Rāma, but in a few recensions the two figures have been combined.

References

Gautama Buddha {{India-reli-bio-stub