[334] When his mind (citta) is thus concentrated (samādhi) … attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge (ñāṇa) of the recollection of past abodes (pubbenivāsānussatiñāṇa). He recollects his manifold past abodes, that is: one birth (jāti), 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 eons of world-contraction (saṃvaṭṭakappa), many eons of world-expansion (vivaṭṭakappa), many eons of world-contraction and expansion: "There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a limit of life span; passing away from there, I arose in such another place; there too I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such an appearance, with such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a limit of life span; passing away from there, I was reborn here." Thus he recollects his manifold past abodes together with their aspects and particulars.
Just as, student, a man might go from his own village to another village, and from that village might go to yet another village, and from that village might return again to his very own village; it would occur to him: "I went from my own village to that village; there I stood thus, sat thus, spoke thus, kept silent thus. From that village I went to that other village; there too I stood thus, sat thus, spoke thus, kept silent thus. From that village I have returned again to my very own village." Even so, student, a bhikkhu … Insofar, student, as a bhikkhu, when his mind is thus concentrated … attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the recollection of past abodes, and he recollects his manifold past abodes, that is: one birth, two births … thus he recollects his manifold past abodes together with their aspects and particulars — this too pertains to his wisdom.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.