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'an unconcentrated mind' he understands. Or a liberated mind, 'a liberated mind' he understands. Or an unliberated mind, 'an unliberated mind' he understands. This too, O great king, is a visible fruit of recluseship, more excellent and more sublime than the previous visible fruits of recluseship. Knowledge of the recollection of past lives 244. He, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilements, malleable, wieldy, steady, attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is to say – one birth, 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 cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction and expansion. 'There I was, such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such a food, such an experience of pleasure and pain, such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose yonder. There too I was, such a name, such a clan, such a complexion, such a food, such an experience of pleasure and pain, such a lifespan. Having passed away from there, I arose here.' Thus, with all its modes and details, he recollects his manifold past lives. 245. Just as, O great king, a man might go from his own village to another village, and from that village to another village. Then he might return from that village to his own village. He would think thus: 'Indeed, I went from my own village to that village, and there I stood thus, I sat thus, I spoke thus, I was silent thus. And from that village to that other vi... I went there, and there I stood thus, thus I sat, thus I spoke, thus I was silent, and I returned from that village to my own village. Even so, great king, a monk, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of defilements, pliable, workable, firm, and unshakable, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of recollecting past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, namely – one birth, 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, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion, 'There I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a complexion, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan; having passed away from there, I arose yonder; there too I was of such a name, of such a clan, of such a complexion, eating such food, experiencing such pleasure and pain, with such a lifespan; having passed away from there, I arose here,' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives, with their details and features. This too, great king, is a visible fruit of recluseship, more excellent and sublime than the former visible fruits of recluseship. The Divine Eye Knowledge He, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, cleansed, unblemished, rid of defilements, pliable, workable, firm, and unshakable, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearing of beings. With the divine eye, purified and surpassing that of humans, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands beings according to their karma – 'Indeed, these good beings were endowed with misconduct of body, misconduct of speech, misconduct of mind, revilers of noble ones, holding wrong views, acting according to wrong views. wrong view, undertaking actions based on wrong view. They, with the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a state of woe, a bad destination, a downfall, in hell. Or again, these beings, venerable sirs, are endowed with good conduct in body, endowed with good conduct in speech, endowed with good conduct in mind, not revilers of the Noble Ones, of right view, undertaking actions based on right view. They, with the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, in the heavenly world.’ Thus, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in good destinations and in bad destinations, and he understands beings according to their deeds. 247. “Just as, great king, there is a palace in the middle of a crossroads. A clear-sighted man standing there might see people entering a house and leaving, walking along a road or a street, and sitting in the middle of the crossroads. He would think: ‘These people are entering a house, these are leaving, these are walking along a road or a street, these are sitting in the middle of the crossroads.’ Even so, great king, a monk, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, free from blemish, rid of defilements, malleable, workable, steadfast, attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings. He, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in good destinations and in bad destinations, and he understands beings according to their deeds: ‘Indeed, these beings, venerable sirs, are endowed with bad conduct in body, endowed with bad conduct in speech, endowed with bad conduct in mind, reilers of the Noble Ones, of wrong view, undertaking actions based on wrong view. They, with the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a state of woe, a bad destination, a downfall, in hell. Or again, these beings, venerable sirs, are endowed with good conduct in body, endowed with good conduct in speech, endowed with good conduct in mind, of the Noble Ones not reviling, with right view, undertaking actions with right view. They, at the breaking up of the body, after death, are reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world. Thus, with the divine eye, purified and surpassing human sight, he sees beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, well-faring and ill-faring; he understands beings according to their deeds. ‘This too, great king, is a visible fruit of recluseship, more excellent and sublime than the former visible fruits of recluseship. Knowledge of the Destruction of the Taints 248. He, with his mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, devoid of defilements, pliable, workable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands ‘This is suffering’ as it actually is. He understands ‘This is the origin of suffering’ as it actually is. He understands ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ as it actually is. He understands ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering’ as it actually is. He understands ‘These are the taints’ as they actually are. He understands ‘This is the origin of the taints’ as it actually is. He understands ‘This is the cessation of the taints’ as it actually is. He understands ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of the taints’ as it actually is. For him, thus knowing, thus seeing, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, his mind is liberated from the taint of existence, his mind is liberated from the taint of ignorance. With liberation, the knowledge ‘I am liberated’ arises. He understands: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.’ 249. Just as, great king, in a mountain cleft, there might be a pond of water, clear, limpid, and undisturbed. A man with good sight, standing on the bank, might see the mussels and shells, the gravel and pebbles, and the shoals of fish, moving about and staying still. He would think: ‘This pond of water is clear, limpid, and undisturbed. And in it are these mussels and shells, gravel and pebbles, and shoals of fish, moving about and staying still.’ Even so, great king, a bhikkhu, with his mind thus concentrated... When his mind is pure, bright, without blemish, free from defilement, soft, workable, firm, unshakable, he directs and inclines his mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands, as it really is: 'This is suffering.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering.' He understands, as it really is: 'These are the taints.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the origin of the taints.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the cessation of the taints.' He understands, as it really is: 'This is the path leading to the cessation of the taints.' For him, thus knowing, thus seeing, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, his mind is liberated from the taint of becoming, his mind is liberated from the taint of ignorance. The knowledge arises: 'I am liberated.' He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of being.' This, great king, is a visible fruit of recluseship, more excellent and more sublime than the former visible fruits of recluseship. And, great king, there is no other visible fruit of recluseship more excellent or more sublime than this visible fruit of recluseship. **Ajātasattu's Declaration of Lay Followership** 250. When this was said, King Ajātasattu, son of Videhī, the Magadhan king, said to the Blessed One: "Excellent, venerable sir! Excellent, venerable sir! Just as, venerable sir, one might set upright what was overturned, or reveal what was hidden,