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Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was, named thus, of such a clan, of such a colour, with such a food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose here.' Thus I recollect my manifold past lives, with their modes and details. By this I know this: that the self and the world are eternal, barren... fixed, like a pillar firmly planted. And those beings run on, wander on, pass away, and reappear. It exists just so, eternally. This, monks, is the third ground, by relying on which, by taking which as a basis, some recluses and brahmins, eternalists, declare the self and the world to be eternal. 34. And how, good sirs, do some recluses and brahmins, eternalists, by relying on what, by taking what as a basis, declare the self and the world to be eternal? Here, monks, some recluse or brahmin is a reasoner, an investigator. He, struck by reasoning, followed by investigation, speaks his own spontaneous thought thus: 'The self and the world are eternal, barren, fixed, like a pillar firmly planted; and those beings run on, wander on, pass away, and reappear; it exists just so, eternally.' This, monks, is the fourth ground, by relying on which, by taking which as a basis, some recluses and brahmins, eternalists, declare the self and the world to be eternal. 35. By these four grounds, monks, do those recluses and brahmins, eternalists, declare the self and the world to be eternal. For any recluses or brahmins, monks, who declare the self and the world to be eternal, all of them do so by these four grounds, or by one of them; there is nothing outside of these. 36. This, monks, the Tathagata knows: 'These grounds for views, thus grasped, thus clung to, lead to such a destiny, to such a future state.' And that the Tathagata knows, and he knows what is higher than that; and that knowing he does not cling to. And for him, unattached, liberation is known personally. Having known as they really are the origin and the passing away of feelings, their gratification, their danger, and the escape from them, the Tathagata, monks, is liberated without clinging. 37. These, monks, are those teachings: profound, difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful, excellent, beyond the sphere of reasoning, subtle, for the wise. These are which the Tathāgata, having directly known and realized, declares, by which, speaking rightly, one would speak the true praise of the Tathāgata. First Recitation Section. Partial-Eternity View 38. There are, bhikkhus, some ascetics and brahmins who are partial-eternalist, partial-non-eternalist, who declare the self and the world to be partly eternal and partly non-eternal, on four grounds. And these venerable ascetics and brahmins, based on what, starting from what, declare the self and the world to be partly eternal and partly non-eternal, on four grounds? 39. There comes a time, bhikkhus, when, sooner or later, after a long period, this world contracts. When the world contracts, beings for the most part are reborn in the Ābhassara realm. They are there mind-made, feeding on joy, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory, and they remain for a very long time. 40. There comes a time, bhikkhus, when, sooner or later, after a long period, this world expands. When the world expands, an empty Brahma-palace appears. Then a certain being, either due to the exhaustion of life-span or the exhaustion of merit, falls from the Ābhassara realm and is reborn in the empty Brahma-palace. He is there mind-made, feeding on joy, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory, and he remains for a very long time. 41. For him, dwelling there alone for a long time, discontent and agitation arise, thinking: 'Oh, if only other beings would come to this state!' Then other beings, either due to the exhaustion of life-span or the exhaustion of merit, fall from the Ābhassara realm and are reborn in the Brahma-palace, as companions to that being. They too are there mind-made, feeding on joy, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory, and they remain for a very long time. 42. There, bhikkhus, the being who was reborn first thinks thus: 'I am Brahmā, the Great Brahmā...' He is the Overlord, the Unovercome, the All-seeing, the Wielder of Power, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Best, the Arranger, the Master, the Father of all that has been and will be. By me these beings were created. For what reason? For it occurred to me formerly: "Oh, if only other beings would come to this state!" Thus, by my mental aspiration, these beings came to this state. "And those beings who were born later, it occurs to them thus: 'This venerable Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, is the Overlord, the Unovercome, the All-seeing, the Wielder of Power, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Best, the Arranger, the Master, the Father of all that has been and will be. By this venerable Brahmā were we created. For what reason? For we saw him born here first, and we were born later.'" 43. "There, monks, that being who was born first, is longer-lived, more beautiful, and more powerful. But those beings who were born later, are shorter-lived, less beautiful, and less powerful." 44. "It is possible, monks, that a certain being, departing from that realm, comes to this state. Having come to this state, he goes forth from home to homelessness. Having gone forth from home to homelessness, by means of ardent effort, by means of exertion, by means of application, by means of heedfulness, by means of right attention, he attains such a concentration of mind that with his mind thus concentrated, he recollects that former existence, but he does not recollect beyond that." "He says thus: 'That venerable Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Overlord, the Unovercome, the All-seeing, the Wielder of Power, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Best, the Arranger, the Master, the Father of all that has been and will be, by whom we were created, he is permanent, stable, eternal, of a nature not to change, he will remain just so for all eternity. But we, who were created by that venerable Brahmā, we are impermanent, unstable, short-lived, of a nature to pass away, here..." came to this state. This, monks, is the first ground, by relying on which, by taking which as a basis, some recluses and brahmins are partly eternalists, partly non-eternalists, proclaiming the self and the world to be partly eternal, partly non-eternal. 45. “And on what ground, on what basis, do those venerable recluses and brahmins proclaim the self and the world to be partly eternal, partly non-eternal? There are, monks, gods called ‘addicted to play’. They dwell excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement. As they dwell excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement, their mindfulness becomes confused. From the confusion of mindfulness, those gods fall from that realm. 46. “And it is possible, monks, that a certain being, having fallen from that realm, comes to this state. Having come to this state, he goes forth from home to homelessness. Having gone forth from home to homelessness, by striving, by exertion, by application, by diligence, by right attention, he attains such a concentration of mind that with his mind thus concentrated, he recollects that former dwelling, but not beyond that. “He says this: ‘Those venerable gods who are not addicted to play, they do not dwell excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement. As they do not dwell excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement, their mindfulness does not become confused. From the non-confusion of mindfulness, those gods do not fall from that realm; they are permanent, stable, eternal, unchanging, they will remain just so for eternity. But we, who were addicted to play, we dwelt excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement. As we dwelt excessively given to laughter, play, and amusement, our mindfulness became confused. From the confusion of mindfulness, having fallen from that realm, we are impermanent, unstable, short-lived, subject to falling, and have come to this state.’ This, monks, is the second ground, relying on which, concerning which, some recluses and brahmins are partly eternalists, partly non-eternalists, proclaiming some things eternal, some things non-eternal, the self and the world. 47. “And on what, good sirs, do some recluses and brahmins, relying on what, concerning what, proclaim some things eternal, some things non-eternal, the self and the world? There are, monks, gods called Mind-Corrupted. They gaze at each other excessively. Gazing at each other excessively, they corrupt their minds towards each other. With minds corrupted towards each other, their bodies are weary, their minds are weary. Those gods pass away from that realm. 48. “And it is possible, monks, that a certain being, having passed away from that realm, comes to this state of being. Having come to this state of being, he goes forth from home to homelessness. Having gone forth from home to homelessness, by means of ardour, by means of exertion, by means of application, by means of heedfulness, by means of right attention, he attains such a concentration of mind, that with his mind thus concentrated, he recollects that former dwelling, but does not recollect beyond that. “So he says this: ‘Those good sirs, the gods who are not Mind-Corrupted, they do not gaze at each other excessively. Not gazing at each other excessively, they do not corrupt their minds towards each other. With minds uncorrupted towards each other, their bodies are not weary, their minds are not weary. Those gods do not pass away from that realm, they are permanent, stable, eternal, of an unchanging nature, they will remain just so for all eternity. But we, who were Mind-Corrupted, we gazed at each other excessively. Gazing at each other excessively, we corrupted our minds towards each other. With minds corrupted towards each other,