Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus!”
“Venerable sir!” those Bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. Suppose, Bhikkhus, a man would cut up whatever grass, sticks, branches, and foliage there are in this Jambudīpa and collect them together into a single heap. Having done so, he would put them down, saying [for each one]: ‘This is my mother, this my mother’s mother.’ The sequence of that man’s mothers and grandmothers would not come to an end, yet the grass, wood, branches, and foliage in this Jambudīpa would be used up and exhausted. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. For such a long time, Bhikkhus, you have experienced suffering, anguish, and disaster, and swelled the cemetery. It is enough to experience revulsion towards all formations, enough to become dispassionate towards them, enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. “Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. Suppose, Bhikkhus, a man would reduce this great earth to balls of clay the size of jujube kernels and put them down, saying [for each one]: ‘This is my father, this my father’s father.’ The sequence of that man’s fathers and grandfathers would not come to an end, yet this great earth would be used up and exhausted. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. For such a long time, Bhikkhus, you have experienced suffering, anguish, and disaster, and swelled the cemetery. It is enough to experience revulsion towards all formations, enough to become dispassionate towards them, enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. “Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. What do you think, Bhikkhus, which is more: the stream of tears that you have shed as you roamed and wandered on through this long course, weeping and wailing because of being united with the disagreeable and separated from the agreeable — this or the water in the four great oceans?”
“As we understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, venerable sir, the stream of tears that we have shed as we roamed and wandered through this long course, weeping and wailing because of being united with the disagreeable and separated from the agreeable — this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans.”
“Good, good, Bhikkhus! It is good that you understand the Dhamma taught by me in such a way. The stream of tears that you have shed as you roamed and wandered through this long course, weeping and wailing because of being united with the disagreeable and separated from the agreeable — this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans. For a long time, Bhikkhus, you have experienced the death of a mother; as you have experienced this, weeping and wailing because of being united with the disagreeable and separated from the agreeable, the stream of tears that you have shed is more than the water in the four great oceans.
“For a long time, Bhikkhus, you have experienced the death of a father … the death of a brother … the death of a sister … the death of a son … the death of a daughter … the loss of relatives … the loss of wealth … loss through illness; as you have experienced this, weeping and wailing because of being united with the disagreeable and separated from the agreeable, the stream of tears that you have shed is more than the water in the four great oceans. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to experience revulsion towards all formations, enough to become dispassionate towards them, enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. “Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. What do you think, Bhikkhus, which is more: the mother’s milk that you have drunk as you roamed and wandered on through this long course — this or the water in the four great oceans?”
“As we understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, venerable sir, the mother’s milk that we have drunk as we roamed and wandered on through this long course — this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans.”
“Good, good, Bhikkhus! It is good that you understand the Dhamma taught by me in such a way. The mother’s milk that you have drunk as you roamed and wandered through this long course — this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. Then a certain Bhikkhu approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, how long is an aeon?”
“An aeon is long, Bhikkhu. It is not easy to count it and say it is so many years, or so many hundreds of years, or so many thousands of years, or so many hundreds of thousands of years.”
“Then is it possible to give a simile, venerable sir?”
“It is possible, Bhikkhu,” the Blessed One said. “Suppose, Bhikkhu, there was a great stone mountain a yojana long, a yojana wide, and a yojana high, without holes or crevices, one solid mass of rock. At the end of every hundred years a man would stroke it once with a piece of Kāsian cloth. That great stone mountain might by this effort be worn away and eliminated but the aeon would still not have come to an end. So long is an aeon, Bhikkhu.
And of aeons of such length, we have wandered through so many aeons, so many hundreds of aeons, so many thousands of aeons, so many hundreds of thousands of aeons. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhu, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. Then a certain Bhikkhu approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, how long is an aeon?”
“An aeon is long, Bhikkhu. It is not easy to count it and say it is so many years, or so many hundreds of years, or so many thousands of years, or so many hundreds of thousands of years.”
“Then is it possible to give a simile, venerable sir?”
“It is possible, Bhikkhu,” the Blessed One said. “Suppose, Bhikkhu, there was a city with iron walls a yojana long, a yojana wide, and a yojana high, filled with mustard seeds as dense as a topknot. At the end of every hundred years a man would remove one mustard seed from there. The great heap of mustard seeds might by this effort be depleted and eliminated but the aeon would still not have come to an end. So long is an aeon, Bhikkhu. And of aeons of such length, we have wandered through so many aeons, so many hundreds of aeons, so many thousands of aeons, so many hundreds of thousands of aeons. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhu, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
At Sāvatthi. Then a number of Bhikkhus approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, how many aeons have elapsed and gone by?”
“Bhikkhus, many aeons have elapsed and gone by. It is not easy to count them and say they are so many aeons, or so many hundreds of aeons, or so many thousands of aeons, or so many hundreds of thousands of aeons.”
“But is it possible to give a simile, venerable sir?”
“It is possible, Bhikkhus,” the Blessed One said. “Suppose, Bhikkhus, there were four disciples here each with a life span of a hundred years, living a hundred years, and each day they were each to recollect a hundred thousand aeons. There would still be aeons not yet recollected by them when those four disciples each with a life span of a hundred years, living a hundred years, would pass away at the end of a hundred years. It is not easy to count them and say that they are so many aeons, or so many hundreds of aeons, or so many thousands of aeons, or so many hundreds of thousands of aeons. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. Then a certain brahmin approached the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to him: “Master Gotama, how many aeons have elapsed and gone by?”
“Brahmin, many aeons have elapsed and gone by. It is not easy to count them and say they are so many aeons, or so many hundreds of aeons, or so many thousands of aeons, or so many hundreds of thousands of aeons.”
“But is it possible to give a simile, Master Gotama?”
“It is possible, brahmin,” the Blessed One said. “Suppose, brahmin, the grains of sand between the point where the river Ganges originates and the point where it enters the great ocean: it is not easy to count these and say there are so many grains of sand, or so many hundreds of grains, or so many thousands of grains, or so many hundreds of thousands of grains. Brahmin, the aeons that have elapsed and gone by are even more numerous than that. It is not easy to count them and say that they are so many aeons, or so many hundreds of aeons, or so many thousands of aeons, or so many hundreds of thousands of aeons. For what reason? Because, brahmin, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
When this was said, that brahmin said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama!… From today let Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
At Sāvatthi. “Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. Just as a stick thrown up into the air falls now on its bottom, now on its side, and now on its top, so too as beings roam and wander on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, now they go from this world to the other world, now they come from the other world to this world. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak. There the Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus!”
“Venerable sir!” those Bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. One person, roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, would leave behind a stack of bones, a heap of bones, a pile of bones as large as this Mount Vepulla, if there were someone to collect them and what is collected would not perish. For what reason? Because, Bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning…. It is enough to be liberated from them.”
This is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Fortunate One, the Teacher, further said this:
“The heap of bones one person leaves behind
With the passing of a single aeon
Would form a heap as high as a mountain:
So said the Great Sage.
This is declared to be as massive
As the tall Vepulla Mountain
Standing north of Vulture Peak
In the Magadhan mountain range.
“But when one sees with correct wisdom
The truths of the noble ones —
Suffering and its origin,
The overcoming of suffering,
And the Noble Eightfold Path
That leads to suffering’s appeasement —
Then that person, having wandered on
For seven more times at most,
Makes an end to suffering
By destroying all the fetters.”