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at the root of a royal sal tree. While I, bhikkhus, was alone and secluded, this thought arose in my mind: “That realm of beings is not easy to find, where one might This has never been inhabited before for a long, long time, except by the Suddhāvāsa devas. "What if I were to approach the Suddhāvāsa devas?" Then, monks, just as a strong man might extend a flexed arm, or flex an extended arm, even so, I vanished from the Sālarāja tree in the excellent Subhaga Grove, and appeared among the Aviha devas. In that assembly of devas, monks, many thousands of devas, many hundreds of thousands of devas, approached me. Having approached me, and paid homage to me, they stood to one side. Standing to one side, monks, those devas said to me: "It was ninety-one aeons ago, good sir, that Vipassī the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, arose in the world. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, was of the warrior caste by birth, he arose in a warrior family. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, was of the Koṇḍañña clan. The lifespan of Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, was eighty thousand years. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, became fully awakened at the foot of a Pāṭalī tree. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, had a pair of chief disciples named Khaṇḍa and Tissa, an excellent and auspicious pair. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, had three assemblies of disciples. One assembly of disciples consisted of sixty-eight hundred thousand monks. One assembly of disciples consisted of one hundred thousand monks. One assembly of disciples consisted of eighty thousand monks. These three assemblies of disciples, good sir, of Vipassī the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, all consisted of monks whose defilements were destroyed. Vipassī, good sir, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, had Asoka What was the name of the bhikkhu who was the attendant, the chief attendant? Of Vipassī, good sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, King Bandhuma was the father. Queen Bandhumatī was the mother, the genetrix. Of King Bandhuma, Bandhumatī was the city, the capital. Of Vipassī, good sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, thus was the going forth, thus the renunciation, thus the striving, thus the perfect enlightenment, thus the setting in motion of the Wheel of Dhamma. We, good sirs, having lived the holy life under the Blessed Vipassī, having dispelled desire for sensual pleasures, are reborn here… “In that very divine assembly, monks, many thousands of deities, many hundreds of thousands of deities approached me; having approached me, they saluted me and stood to one side. Standing to one side, monks, those deities said to me: ‘In this very auspicious eon, good sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, has now arisen in the world. The Blessed One, good sirs, is a Khattiya by birth, born into a Khattiya family. The Blessed One, good sirs, is Gotama by clan. The Blessed One’s, good sirs, lifespan is short, little, fleeting; whoever lives long, lives a hundred years or a little more. The Blessed One, good sirs, attained perfect enlightenment at the root of an Assattha tree. The Blessed One, good sirs, had a pair of chief disciples named Sāriputta and Moggallāna, an excellent pair. The Blessed One, good sirs, had one assembly of disciples, twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus. The Blessed One, good sirs, this one assembly of disciples consisted entirely of those whose taints were destroyed. The Blessed One, good sirs, had a bhikkhu named Ānanda as attendant, the chief attendant. The Blessed One, good sirs, had King Suddhodana as father. Queen Māyā was the mother, the genetrix. Kapilavatthu was the city, the capital. The Blessed One’s, good sirs, thus was the going forth…” Such was his course, such his going forth, such his striving, such his enlightenment, such his turning the wheel of Dhamma. We, sirs, having led the holy life under the Blessed One, having removed desire for sensual pleasures, have arisen here. 92. Then I, monks, together with the Avihā devas, approached where the Atappā devas were... ... Then I, monks, together with the Avihā devas and the Atappā devas, approached where the Sudassā devas were. Then I, monks, together with the Avihā devas, the Atappā devas, and the Sudassā devas, approached where the Sudassī devas were. Then I, monks, together with the Avihā devas, the Atappā devas, the Sudassā devas, and the Sudassī devas, approached where the Akaniṭṭhā devas were. In that assembly of devas, monks, many thousands of devas, many hundreds of thousands of devas, approached where I was, having approached and saluted me, stood to one side. Standing to one side, monks, those devas said this to me: ‘It was ninety-one aeons ago, sirs, that Vipassī, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, arose in the world. Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, was a Khattiya by birth. He arose in a Khattiya family. Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, was of the Koṇḍañña clan. The life-span of Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, was eighty thousand years. Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, became enlightened at the foot of a Pāṭalī tree. Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, had a pair of chief disciples named Khaṇḍa and Tissa, an excellent and auspicious pair. Vipassī, sirs, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, had three assemblies of disciples. One assembly of disciples was sixty-eight hundred thousand monks. One assembly of disciples was a hundred thousand monks... There was one assembly of disciples, eighty thousand monks. For Vipassī, venerable sir, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One, these three assemblies of disciples took place, all of them with defilements destroyed. For Vipassī, venerable sir, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One, a monk named Asoka was his attendant, his chief attendant. For Vipassī, venerable sir, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One, King Bandhumā was his father, Queen Bandhumatī was his mother, his begetter. For King Bandhumā, the city named Bandhumatī was the capital. For Vipassī, venerable sir, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One, thus was his going forth, thus his renunciation, thus his striving, thus his full enlightenment, thus the turning of the Wheel of Dhamma. "We, venerable sir, having led the holy life under the Blessed Vipassī, having dispassion for sensual desires, have been reborn here." And in that very divine assembly, monks, many thousands of deities, many hundreds of thousands of deities, approached me; having approached me, they paid homage to me and stood to one side. Standing to one side, monks, those deities said this to me: "From here, venerable sir, in the thirty-first eon, the Blessed Sikhī… (and so on)… We, venerable sir, having led the holy life under the Blessed Sikhī, and in that very, venerable sir, thirty-first eon, the Blessed Vessabhū… (and so on)… We, venerable sir, having led the holy life under the Blessed Vessabhū… (and so on)… And in this very, venerable sir, auspicious eon, the Blessed Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa… (and so on)… We, venerable sir, having led the holy life under the Blessed Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa, having dispassion for sensual desires, have been reborn here." 93. And in that very divine assembly, monks, many thousands of deities, many hundreds of thousands of deities, approached me; having approached me, they paid homage to me and stood to one side. Standing to one side, monks, those deities said this to me: ‘Indeed, dear sirs, in this very auspicious eon, the Blessed One, Arahant, Perfectly Self-Awakened One, has now arisen in the world. The Blessed One, dear sirs, is a Khattiya by birth, born into a Khattiya family. The Blessed One, dear sirs, is Gotama by clan. The Blessed One's, dear sirs, lifespan is short, brief, light; whoever lives long, lives a hundred years, or a little more. The Blessed One, dear sirs, was fully awakened at the root of an Assattha tree. The Blessed One, dear sirs, had a pair of chief disciples named Sāriputta and Moggallāna, a foremost, excellent pair. The Blessed One, dear sirs, had one assembly of disciples, twelve hundred and fifty monks. The Blessed One, dear sirs, this one assembly of disciples was composed entirely of those whose taints were destroyed. The Blessed One, dear sirs, had a monk named Ānanda as his attendant, his chief attendant. The Blessed One, dear sirs, had a king named Suddhodana as his father. Queen Māyā was his mother, his birth-giver. The city of Kapilavatthu was his capital. The Blessed One, dear sirs, thus was his going forth, thus his renunciation, thus his striving, thus his full awakening, thus his turning of the Wheel of Dhamma. We, dear sirs, having lived the holy life under the Blessed One, having dispassionately abandoned sensual desire for sensual pleasures, have arisen here.’ 94. ‘‘Thus, monks, this Dhamma-element is well-penetrated by the Tathāgata, because of the well-penetration of this Dhamma-element, the Tathāgata recollects the Buddhas of the past, who have attained final Nibbāna, whose proliferation has been cut off, whose path of rebirth has been cut off, whose cycle of rebirth has been exhausted, who have transcended all suffering. He recollects them by birth, by name, by clan, by lifespan, by their pair of disciples,