At one time the Blessed One was staying in the city of Vesālī, in Ambapālī’s Mango Forest. There, the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Monks!”
“Venerable Bhante,” they replied. Then the Blessed One said this:
“Monks, all conditioned things (things that have arisen due to causes) are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, Sineru, the king of mountains, is 84,000 yojanas (ten kilometers is equal to one yojana) long and 84,000 yojanas wide. It sinks 84,000 yojanas below the great ocean, and rises 84,000 yojanas above it.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, rain does not fall. For many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, many hundred thousands of years, no rain falls. When rain ceases to fall, the plants and seedlife, the herbs, grass, and big trees wither away, dry up and no longer exist.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a second sun appears. Monks, when this happens, the small streams and pools evaporate, dry up, and no longer exist.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a third sun appears. Monks, when this happens, the great rivers — Ganges, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhū, and Mahī— evaporate, dry up, and no longer exist.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a fourth sun appears. Monks, when this happens, the great lakes from which the rivers originate such as Lake Anotatta, Lake Sīhapapāta, Lake Rathakāra, Lake Kaṇṇamuṇḍa, Lake Kuṇāla, Lake Chaddanta, and the Lake Mandākini evaporate, dry up, and and no longer exist.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a fifth sun appears. Monks, when this happens, the water in the ocean sinks by a hundred yojanas, sinks by two hundred yojanas, sinks by three hundred yojanas, sinks by four hundred yojanas, sinks by five hundred yojanas, sinks by six hundred yojanas, and sinks even by seven hundred yojanas.
The water that remains in the ocean is only seven palm trees deep, six palm trees deep, five palm trees deep, four palm trees deep, three palm trees deep, two palm trees deep, and only one palm tree deep of water remains in the ocean.
The water that remains in the ocean is only the height of seven men, the height of six men, the height of five men, the height of four men, the height of three men, the height of two men, the height of one or even half a man. The water in the ocean is only waist-high, knee-high, or even ankle-high.
Monks, it’s like the time during the autumn season, when the rain falls heavily and water remains here and there in the hoofprint of a cow. In the same way, monks, water in the ocean remains here and there in puddles like cows’ hoofprints. Monks, when the fifth sun appears, there’s not even enough water in the great ocean to reach the joint of one’s finger.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a sixth sun appears. Monks, when this happens, this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains smoke, smolder and give off fumes. Monks, it is just as when a potter’s oven is first kindled, and it smokes, smolders and gives off fumes. In the same way, monks, when the sixth sun appears, this great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains smoke, smolder, and give off fumes.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, there comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, a seventh sun appears. Monks, when this happens, this great earth and Sineru the king of mountains erupt in one burning mass of fire. Monks, as they blaze and burn, the flames are swept by the wind as far as the Brahmā realm.
Monks, Sineru, the king of mountains blazes and burns, crumbling as it’s overcome by the great fire. Meanwhile, mountain peaks a hundred yojanas high, two hundred yojanas high, three hundred yojanas high, four hundred yojanas high, and five hundred yojanas high disintegrate as they burn.
Monks, when the great earth and Sineru, the king of mountains blaze and burn, no ash or soot is seen. Monks, it’s like when ghee or oil blazes and burns, and neither ash nor soot are seen. In the same way, when the great earth and Sineru the king of mountains blaze and burn, no ash or soot is seen.
Monks, in this way, all conditioned things are impermanent. Monks, all conditioned things are unstable. Monks, all conditioned things are unreliable. Monks, this is quite enough for you to become displeased with all conditioned things. It is enough to become dispassionate with all conditioned things. It is enough to be freed from all conditioned things.
Monks, who would ever think or believe that this earth and Sineru, king of mountains, would burn and crumble and be no more, except for those who have understood the noble truths?
Monks, in the past, there was a teacher of a religious sect called Sunetta who was free of sense desire. Monks, he had many hundreds of disciples and he taught them the path to be reborn in the Brahma world. Monks, those who fully understood the Teacher Sunetta’s teachings were—upon passing away—reborn in the Brahma world. Of those who didn’t fully understand the Teacher Sunetta’s Dhamma, upon passing away, some were reborn among the Devas Who Control what is Imagined by Others (Paranimmita Vasavati), some were reborn among the Devas Who Love to Imagine (Nimmanarati), some were reborn among the Joyful Devas (Tusitha), some were reborn among the Devas of Yāma (Yama), some were reborn among the Devas of the Thirty-Three (Tavathimsa), and some were reborn among the Devas of the Four Great Kings (Chatummaharajika). Some were reborn in rich brahmin families or rich royal families.
Then monks, the Teacher Sunetta thought: ‘It’s not proper for me to be reborn in the next life in exactly the same place as my disciples. Why don’t I further develop the meditation of loving-kindness?’
Then, the Teacher Sunetta developed the meditation of loving-kindness for seven years. Having done so he did not return to this world for seven eons of cosmic destruction and reformation. During the destruction of the cosmos, he went to the realm of streaming radiance. During the reformation of the cosmos, he was reborn in an empty Brahma mansion.
Monks, there he was Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the vanquisher, the unvanquished, the universal seer, the wielder of power. Monks, he was also born as Sakka, ruler of devas, thirty-six times. Many hundreds of times he was a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a righteous king who ruled by the Dhamma. His dominion extended across the whole Earth, with all four boundaries of the four great oceans, he achieved stability in his kingdom, and he possessed the seven treasures. He had over a thousand sons who were valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of his enemies. After conquering this earth as far as its ocean boundaries, he reigned by the Dhamma, not by force and weapons.
Monks, even though the Teacher Sunetta lived so long, he was not freed from rebirth, from old age, and death. He was not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. He was not freed from suffering, I say.
For what reason? Because of not understanding and not comprehending four things. What four? Noble virtue, noble concentration, noble wisdom, and noble liberation.
Monks, this noble virtue has been fully understood and comprehended by me. This noble concentration has been fully understood and comprehended by me. This noble wisdom has been fully understood and comprehended by me. This noble liberation has been understood and comprehended by me. Craving for continued existence has been cut off; the conduit to rebirth is destroyed; now there will be no more rebirth.”
That is what the Blessed One taught. Having taught this, the Fortunate One, the Buddha, spoke these verses:
“Virtue, concentration, wisdom,
and the supreme liberation:
these things have been understood
by Gotama Buddha the renowned.
And so, the Buddha, having directly known,
explained this Dhamma to the monks.
The Blessed One who ends suffering
and with the vision of Dhamma,
attained final passing away.”
