[87] "Moreover, venerable sir, this too is unsurpassed (anuttariya): the way the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma with regard to eternalist doctrines (sassatavāda). Venerable sir, there are these three eternalist doctrines.
Here, venerable sir, some ascetic or brahmin, by means of ardor … attains a concentration of mind (cetosamādhi) of such a kind that, when the mind (citta) is thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past abodes (pubbenivāsa), that is: one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many hundreds of births, many thousands of births, many hundreds of thousands of births: 'There I was so named, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a span of life; passing away from there, I arose in another place; there too I was so named, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a span of life; passing away from there, I was reborn here.' Thus, with its aspects and particulars, he recollects his manifold past abodes. He says: 'I know the past period: the world contracted or expanded. And I know the future period: the world will contract or expand. The self and the world are eternal, barren, steadfast as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar; and those beings run on, wander in the round, pass away, and rearise, yet there is that which exists eternally the same.' This is the first eternalist doctrine.
Again, venerable sir, here some ascetic or brahmin, by means of ardor … attains a concentration of mind of such a kind that, when the mind is thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past abodes, that is: one eon of contraction and expansion (saṃvaṭṭavivaṭṭa), two eons of contraction and expansion, three eons of contraction and expansion, four eons of contraction and expansion, five eons of contraction and expansion, ten eons of contraction and expansion: 'There I was so named, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a span of life; passing away from there, I arose in another place; there too I was so named, of such a clan, … with such a span of life; passing away from there, I was reborn here.' Thus, with its aspects and particulars, he recollects his manifold past abodes. He says: 'Indeed, I know the past period: the world contracted or expanded. And indeed I know the future period: the world will contract or expand. The self and the world are eternal, barren, steadfast as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar; and those beings run on, wander in the round, pass away, and rearise, yet there is that which exists eternally the same.' This is the second eternalist doctrine.
Again, venerable sir, here some ascetic or brahmin, by means of ardor … attains a concentration of mind of such a kind that, when the mind is thus concentrated, he recollects his manifold past abodes, that is: ten eons of contraction and expansion, twenty eons of contraction and expansion, thirty eons of contraction and expansion, forty eons of contraction and expansion: 'There I was so named, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a span of life; passing away from there, I arose in another place; there too I was so named …' Thus, with its aspects and particulars, he recollects his manifold past abodes. He says: 'I know the past period: the world both contracted and expanded. And I know the future period: the world will both contract and expand. The self and the world are eternal, barren, steadfast as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar; and those beings run on, wander in the round, pass away, and rearise, yet there is that which exists eternally the same.' This, venerable sir, is the third eternalist doctrine.
This, venerable sir, is unsurpassed with regard to eternalist doctrines."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.