The Udàna is a small book in the Khuddaka Nikaya, the fifth part of the Sutta Pitaka, the first division of the Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Buddhism. The Udàna consists of eighty discourses which tell circumstances and reasons why the Buddha uttered the short verse at the end of each. The word udàna means ‘inspired utterance’ or ‘uplifting utterance’ and refers to the fact that the Buddha uttered each verse spontaneously.