[426] "Good, good, bhikkhus! It is good that you understand the Dhamma taught by me thus. This indeed, bhikkhus, is the greater: the flood of tears you have shed and poured forth—weeping and wailing from union with the disagreeable and separation from the agreeable—as you have run on and wandered in the round (saṃsāra) through this long course; and not the water in the four great oceans.
For a long time, bhikkhus, you have experienced the death of a mother; as you experienced the death of a mother—weeping and wailing from union with the disagreeable and separation from the agreeable—the flood of tears you have shed and poured forth is the greater; and not the water in the four great oceans. For a long time, bhikkhus, you have experienced the death of a father ... experienced the death of a brother ... experienced the death of a sister ... experienced the death of a son ... experienced the death of a daughter ... experienced the loss of relatives ... experienced the loss of wealth ... For a long time, bhikkhus, you have experienced loss through illness; as you experienced loss through illness—weeping and wailing from union with the disagreeable and separation from the agreeable—the flood of tears you have shed and poured forth is the greater; and not the water in the four great oceans. Why is that? Because, bhikkhus, this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning … So much so, bhikkhus, that it is enough to become disenchanted with all formations (saṅkhārā), enough to become dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them."
The third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.