Discourse on Past Lives

‘Well, monks, would you like to hear a proper discourse on past lives?’ ‘Lord, it is the time for that! Well-Farer, it is time for that! If the Lord were to give a proper discourse on past lives, the monks would listen and remember it!’ ‘Well then, monks, listen, pay close attention, and I will speak.’

‘Yes, Lord’, the minks replied, and the Lord said:

‘Monks, ninety-one aeons ago the Lord, the Arahant, the fully-enlightened Buddha Vipassi arose in the world. Thirty-one aeons ago the Lord Buddha Sikhi arose; in the same thirty-first aeon before this Lord Buddha Vessabhu arose. And in this present fortunate aeon the Lords Buddhas Kakusandha, Konagamana and Kassapa arose in the world. And, monks, in this present fortunate aeon I too have now arisen in the world as a fully-enlightened Buddha.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi was born of Khattiya race, and arose in a Khattiya family; the Lord Buddha Sikhi likewise; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu likewise; the Lord Buddha Kakusandha was born of Brahmin race, and arose in a Brahmin family; the Lord Buddha Konagamana likewise; the Lord Buddha Kassapa likewise; and I, monks, who am now the Arahant and fully-enlightened Buddha, was born of Khattiya race, and arose in a Khattiya family.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi was of the Kondanna clan; the Lord Buddha Sikhi likewise; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu likewise; the Lord Buddha Kakusandha was of the Kassapa clan; the Lord ‘Buddha Konagamana likewise; the Lord Buddha Kassapa likewise; I who am now the Arahant and fully-enlightened Buddha, am of the Gotama clan.

‘In the time of the Lord Buddha Vipassi the life-span was eighty thousand years; in the time of the Lord Buddha Sikhi seventy thousand; in the time of the Lord Buddha Vessabhu sixty thousand; in the time of the Lord Buddha Kakusandhy forty thousand; in the time of the Lord Buddha Konagamana thirty thousand; in the time of the Lord Buddha Kassapa it was twenty thousand years. In my time the life-span is short, limited and quick to pass; it is seldom that anybody lives to be a hundred.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi gained his full enlightenment at the foot of a trumpet tree; the Lord Buddha Sikhi under a white-mango tree; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu under a sal-tree; the Lord Buddha Kakusandha under an acacia-tree; the Lord Buddha Konagamana under a fig-tree; the Lord Buddha Kassapa under a banyan-tree; and I became a fully enlightened at the foot of an assattha-tree.

The Lord Buddha Vipassi had the pair of noble disciples Khanda and Tissa; the Lord Buddha Sikhi had Abhibhu and Sambhava; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu had Sona and Uttara; the Lord Buddha Kakusandha had Vidhura and Sanjiva; the Lord Buddha Konagamana had ‘Bhiyyosa and Uttara; the Lord Buddha Kassapa has Tissa and Bharadvaja; I myself now have the pair of disciples Sariputta and Moggallana.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi had three assemblies of disciples; one of six million eight hundred thousand, one of a hundred thousand, and one of eighty thousand monks, and of these three assemblies all were Arahants; the Lord Buddha Sikhi had three assemblies of disciples: one of a hundred thousand, one of eighty thousand, and one of seventy thousand monks – all Arahants; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu had three assemblies: one of eighty thousand, one of seventy thousand, and one of sixty thousand monks – all Arahannts; the Lord ‘Buddha Kakusandha had one assembly: forty thousand monks – all Arahants; the Lord Buddha Konagamana had one assembly: thirty thousand monks – all Arahants; the Lord Buddha Kassapa had one assembly: twenty thousand monks – all Arahants; I, monks, have one assembly of disciples, one thousand two hundred and fifty monks, and this one assembly consists only of Arahants.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi’s personal attendant was the monk Asoka; the Lord Buddha Sikhi’s was Khemankara; the Lord Buddha Vessabhu’s was Upasannaka; the Lord Buddha Kakusandhu’s was Vuddhija; the Lord Buddha Konagamana’s was Sotthija; the Lord Buddha Kassapa’s was Sabbamitta; my chief personal attendant now is Ananda.

‘The Lord Buddha Vipassi’s father was King Bandhuma, his mother was Queen Bandhumati, and King Bandhuma’s capital was Bandhumati. The Lord Buddha Sikhi’s father was King Aruna, his mother was Queen Pabhavati; King Aruna’s capital was Arunavati. The Lord Buddha Vessabhu’s father was King Supatita, his mother was Queen Yasavati; King Suppatita’s capital was Anopama. The Lord Buddha Kkakusandha’s father was the Brahmin Aggidatta, his mother was the Brahmin lady Visakha. The king at that time was called Khema; his capital was Khemavati. The Lord Buddha Konagamana’s father was the Brahmin Yannadatta, his mother was Brahmin lady uttara. The king at that time was Sobha; his capital was Sobhavati. The Lord Buddha Kassapa’s father was Brahmin Brahmadatta, his mother was the Brahmin lady Dhanavati. The king at that time was Kiki; his capital was Varanasi. And now monks, my father was King Suddhona, my mother was Queen Maya, and the royal capital was Kapilavatthu.’

The source for the above material:
DN 14 Mahapadana Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Lineage. Copyright © Maurice Walshe 1987, 1995. Adapted from The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya. With permission from Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144 U.S.A.