[63] On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Vesālī, in Ambapālī's Grove. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus!" "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"Bhikkhus, conditioned things (saṅkhārā) are impermanent; conditioned things, bhikkhus, are unstable; conditioned things, bhikkhus, are unreliable, affording no solace. So much so, bhikkhus, that this is enough for one to become disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to become dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them.
"Bhikkhus, Sineru, king of mountains, is eighty-four thousand yojanas in length and eighty-four thousand yojanas in breadth; it is submerged eighty-four thousand yojanas in the great ocean and rises eighty-four thousand yojanas above the great ocean. There comes a time, bhikkhus, when for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, many hundreds of thousands of years, the sky does not rain. And when the sky does not rain, bhikkhus, whatever seed-life and plant-life, medicinal herbs, grasses, and great forest trees there are — they all wither, dry up, and are no more. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things; so unstable, bhikkhus, are conditioned things; so unreliable, bhikkhus, are conditioned things. So much so, bhikkhus, that this is enough for one to become disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to become dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a second sun appears. With the appearance of the second sun, bhikkhus, whatever small rivers and ponds there are — they all wither, dry up, and are no more. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things ... enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a third sun appears. With the appearance of the third sun, bhikkhus, the great rivers — that is, the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, the Aciravatī, the Sarabhū, and the Mahī — all wither, dry up, and are no more. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things ... enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a fourth sun appears. With the appearance of the fourth sun, bhikkhus, the great lakes from which these great rivers take their rise — that is, the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, the Aciravatī, the Sarabhū, and the Mahī — all wither, dry up, and are no more. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things ... enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a fifth sun appears. With the appearance of the fifth sun, bhikkhus, the waters in the great ocean recede by a hundred yojanas; the waters in the great ocean recede by two hundred yojanas, three hundred yojanas, four hundred yojanas, five hundred yojanas, six hundred yojanas, seven hundred yojanas. The water in the great ocean stands at the depth of seven palm trees; the water in the great ocean stands at the depth of six palm trees, five palm trees, four palm trees, three palm trees, two palm trees, a single palm tree. The water in the great ocean stands at the depth of seven fathoms; the water in the great ocean stands at the depth of six fathoms, five fathoms, four fathoms, three fathoms, two fathoms, a single fathom, half a fathom; waist-deep, knee-deep, ankle-deep. Just as in the autumn season, bhikkhus, when the sky rains down in thick drops, the waters stand here and there in cow's hoofprints, so too, bhikkhus, the waters in the great ocean stand here and there in pools the mere size of a cow's hoofprint. With the appearance of the fifth sun, bhikkhus, there is no water in the great ocean even the depth of a finger-joint. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things ... enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a sixth sun appears. With the appearance of the sixth sun, bhikkhus, this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, fume, smoke, and smolder. Just as a potter's kiln, when it has been lit, fumes, smokes, and smolders, so too, bhikkhus, with the appearance of the sixth sun, this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, fume and smoke. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things ... enough to be liberated from them.
"There comes a time, bhikkhus, when at some point or other, after the lapse of a long period, a seventh sun appears. With the appearance of the seventh sun, bhikkhus, this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, catch fire, blaze up, and become a single mass of flame. As this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, burn and blaze, bhikkhus, the flame, flung by the wind, rises even as far as the Brahma world. As Sineru, king of mountains, burns and blazes, bhikkhus, collapsing in destruction, overcome by the great mass of fire, peaks even a hundred yojanas high crumble away; peaks two hundred yojanas, three hundred yojanas, four hundred yojanas, five hundred yojanas high crumble away. And as this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, burn and blaze, bhikkhus, neither ash nor soot is discerned. Just as, when ghee or oil burns and blazes, neither ash nor soot is discerned, so too, bhikkhus, as this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, burn and blaze, neither ash nor soot is discerned. So impermanent, bhikkhus, are conditioned things; so unstable, bhikkhus, are conditioned things; so unreliable, bhikkhus, are conditioned things. So much so, bhikkhus, that this is enough for one to become disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to become dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them. Herein, bhikkhus, who would ponder, who would believe: 'This earth and Sineru, king of mountains, will burn, will be destroyed, will be no more' — except those who have seen the truth (diṭṭhapadā)?
"Once in the past, bhikkhus, there was a teacher named Sunetta, a founder of a religious order (titthakara), devoid of lust for sensual pleasures. The teacher Sunetta had many hundreds of disciples. The teacher Sunetta taught his disciples the Dhamma for companionship with the Brahma world. Those who, while the teacher Sunetta was teaching the Dhamma for companionship with the Brahma world, understood his teaching completely, in every respect, were reborn, with the breakup of the body, after death, in a good destination, in the Brahma world. But those who did not understand his teaching completely, in every respect, were, with the breakup of the body, after death, some reborn in companionship with the gods who lord over the creation of others (Paranimmitavasavattī); some reborn in companionship with the gods who rejoice in their own creations (Nimmānaratī); some reborn in companionship with the Tusita gods; some reborn in companionship with the Yāma gods; some reborn in companionship with the Tāvatiṃsa gods; some reborn in companionship with the gods of the Four Great Kings (Cātummahārājikā); some reborn in companionship with affluent khattiyas; some reborn in companionship with affluent brahmins; some reborn in companionship with affluent householders.
"Then, bhikkhus, it occurred to the teacher Sunetta: 'It is not fitting that I should have exactly the same destination as my disciples in the life to come. Let me develop loving-kindness still further.' Then, bhikkhus, the teacher Sunetta developed a mind of loving-kindness for seven years. Having developed a mind of loving-kindness for seven years, for seven eons of world-contraction and world-expansion he did not come back again to this world. When the world was contracting, bhikkhus, he went to the realm of the Radiant gods (Ābhassarā); when the world was expanding, he arose in an empty Brahma mansion. There, bhikkhus, he was Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the vanquisher, the unvanquished, the universal seer, the wielder of power. Thirty-six times, bhikkhus, he was Sakka, lord of the gods. Many hundreds of times he was a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a righteous king of Dhamma, conqueror of the four quarters, one who had attained stability in his realm, possessed of the seven treasures. He had more than a thousand sons — heroes, of heroic stature, crushers of enemy armies. He dwelt having conquered this earth bounded by the ocean — without rod, without sword, by Dhamma. Yet, bhikkhus, though the teacher Sunetta was so long-lived, lasting so long, he was not freed from birth, aging, death (jāti, jarā, maraṇa), from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair (soka, parideva, dukkha, domanassa, upāyāsa) — he was not freed from suffering (dukkha), I say. For what reason? Because of not awakening to, not penetrating, four things. Which four? Because of not awakening to, not penetrating, noble virtue; because of not awakening to, not penetrating, noble concentration (samādhi); because of not awakening to, not penetrating, noble wisdom; because of not awakening to, not penetrating, noble liberation. But now, bhikkhus, this noble virtue has been awakened to and penetrated; noble concentration has been awakened to and penetrated; noble wisdom has been awakened to and penetrated; noble liberation has been awakened to and penetrated. Craving for existence (bhavataṇhā) has been cut off; the conduit to existence has been destroyed; now there is no renewed existence."
This is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Fortunate One, the Teacher, further said this:
"Virtue, concentration, and wisdom,
and liberation unsurpassed —
these things have been awakened to
by Gotama the renowned.
Thus the Buddha, having directly known,
declared the Dhamma to the bhikkhus;
the Teacher, the maker of an end of suffering (dukkha),
the One with Vision, has attained final Nibbāna."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.