Uddaka RÃÂmaputta (PÃÂli; ) was a sage and teacher of meditation identified by the Buddhist tradition as one of the teachers of Gautama Buddha. 'RÃÂmaputta' means 'son of RÃÂma', who may have been his father or spiritual teacher. Uddaka RÃÂmaputta taught refined states of meditation known as the jhÃÂna formless attainments (arà «pa samÃÂpatti).
After his departure from his father's court, Gotama Buddha first went to ÃÂḷÃÂra KÃÂlÃÂma and after following his method was recognized as having equalled his master. Realizing that the methods he had learned so far would not lead to enlightenment, Gotama chose to leave in search of another teacher rather than accept a position as co-leader of ÃÂḷÃÂra KÃÂlÃÂma's community. He found Uddaka RÃÂmaputta and accepted him as his teacher.
While ÃÂḷÃÂra KÃÂlÃÂma accepted the Buddha as an equal and asked him to lead his community alongside him, Uddaka RÃÂmaputta acknowledged the Buddha as his superior and equal to his predecessor, Uddaka RÃÂma, who had actually attained the "sphere of neither perception nor non-perception" ('), which RÃÂmaputta had not reached. Uddaka RÃÂmaputta asked the Buddha to take sole leadership of his students and community, but the Buddha, realizing that this method would not lead to complete enlightenment, was not satisfied. He chose not to stay with Uddaka and resumed his wandering to deepen his search.
Following his awakening, the Buddha first thought of Uddaka RÃÂmaputta as someone who would be able to understand and realize his Dhamma, but later learned that Uddaka RÃÂmaputta had already died by that time.
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 versions. Parallel stories from several different early Buddhist schools are preserved in Sanskrit and Chinese, including within the MahÃÂvastu. Other references to Uddaka RÃÂmaputta are scattered through the four Nikayas, with additional mentions in the Vinaya and the commentaries to the Dhammapada.
While Andre Bareau argued that both Uddaka RÃÂmaputta and ÃÂḷÃÂra KÃÂlÃÂma 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 RÃÂmaputta in Rajagriha during the Buddha's lifetime, despite being drawn from different schools' translations. Hsuan Tsang also recorded legends in his era that associated Uddaka RÃÂmaputta with the vicinity of Rajagriha. Most traditions have also preserved the distinction between Uddaka RÃÂmaputta and his father or teacher Uddaka RÃÂma, but in a few recensions the two figures have been combined.