[11] Then in the evening the Blessed One, having emerged from seclusion, approached the Kareri Pavilion (kareri-maṇḍalamāḷa); having approached, he sat down on the seat that had been prepared. Having sat down, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus, for what talk are you now sitting gathered here? And what conversation of yours was left unfinished?"
When this was said, those bhikkhus said this to the Blessed One: "Here, venerable sir, soon after the Blessed One had departed, this conversation arose among us: 'It is marvellous, friends, it is astonishing, friends—the great power and great might of the Tathāgata—in that the Tathāgata is able to recollect the Buddhas of the past who have attained final Nibbāna (parinibbuta), who have cut off proliferation (papañca), cut off the track, exhausted the round, and passed beyond all suffering (dukkha)—recollect them by birth, by name, by clan, by the measure of their lifespan, by their pair of disciples, and by their assemblies of disciples, thus: "Of such birth were those Blessed Ones … of such liberation were those Blessed Ones." How is it, friends: is it that this element of Dhamma (dhammadhātu) has been well penetrated by the Tathāgata himself, so that through the element of Dhamma being well penetrated the Tathāgata recollects the Buddhas of the past who have attained final Nibbāna, who have cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and passed beyond all suffering—recollects them by birth, recollects them by name, recollects them by clan, recollects them by the measure of their lifespan, recollects them by their pair of disciples, recollects them by their assemblies of disciples, thus: "Of such birth were those Blessed Ones, of such names, of such clans, of such virtue, of such qualities, of such wisdom, of such abiding; of such liberation were those Blessed Ones"? Or did deities inform the Tathāgata of this matter, whereby the Tathāgata recollects the Buddhas of the past who have attained final Nibbāna, who have cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and passed beyond all suffering—recollects them by birth, by name … recollects them by their assemblies of disciples, thus: "Of such birth were those Blessed Ones, of such names … of such liberation were those Blessed Ones"?' This, venerable sir, was our conversation left unfinished—and then the Blessed One arrived."
"It is, bhikkhus, because this element of Dhamma has been well penetrated by the Tathāgata that, through the element of Dhamma being well penetrated, the Tathāgata recollects the Buddhas of the past who have attained final Nibbāna, who have cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and passed beyond all suffering—recollects them by birth, recollects them by name, recollects them by clan, recollects them by the measure of their lifespan, recollects them by their pair of disciples, recollects them by their assemblies of disciples, thus: 'Of such birth were those Blessed Ones, of such names … of such liberation were those Blessed Ones.' And deities too have informed the Tathāgata of this matter, whereby the Tathāgata recollects the Buddhas of the past who have attained final Nibbāna, who have cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and passed beyond all suffering—recollects them by birth, by name … recollects them by their assemblies of disciples, thus: 'Of such birth were those Blessed Ones, of such names … of such liberation were those Blessed Ones.' Would you wish, bhikkhus, to hear a talk on the Dhamma connected with past abodes to a still greater extent?"
"It is the time for that, Blessed One! It is the time for that, Sublime One (Sugata)—that the Blessed One should give a talk on the Dhamma connected with past abodes to a still greater extent. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the bhikkhus will bear it in mind."
"Then, bhikkhus, listen and attend well; I will speak." "Yes, venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"Bhikkhus, ninety-one eons ago from now the Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, arose in the world. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, was a khattiya by birth; he arose in a khattiya family. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, was a Koṇḍañña by clan. The lifespan of the Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, was eighty thousand years. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, was fully awakened at the root of a pāṭali tree. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, had a pair of disciples named Khaṇḍa and Tissa, a chief and auspicious pair. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, had three assemblies of disciples: one assembly of disciples was of six million eight hundred thousand bhikkhus, one assembly of disciples was of one hundred thousand bhikkhus, one assembly of disciples was of eighty thousand bhikkhus. These three assemblies of disciples of the Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, were all of bhikkhus whose taints (āsava) were destroyed. The Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, had as attendant a bhikkhu named Asoka, his chief attendant. The father of the Blessed One Vipassī, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, was King Bandhumā; his mother, who gave him birth, was Queen Bandhumatī; and King Bandhumā's royal capital was the city named Bandhumatī."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.