THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
35. When human beings and earth deities hear their words, they mostly
are filled with a sense of urgency. They become kind to each other and
make merit with lovingkindness, etc., and so they are reborn in the
divine world. There they eat divine food, and they do the preliminary
work on the air kasina and acquire jhana. Others, however, are reborn in
a [sense-sphere] divine world through kamma to be experienced in a
future life. For there is no being traversing the round of rebirths who is
destitute of kamma to be experienced in a future life. They too acquire
jhana there in the same way. [416] All are eventually reborn in the
Brahma-world by acquiring jhana in a [sense-sphere] divine world in
this way.
36. However, at the end of a long period after the withholding of the
rain, a second sun appears. And this is described by the Blessed One in
the way beginning, 'Bhikkhus, there is the occasion when ...' (A.iv,100),
and the Sattasuriya Sutta should be given in full. Now when that has ap-
peared, there is no more telling night from day. As one sun sets the other
rises. The world is uninterruptedly scorched by the suns. But there is no
sun deity in the aeon-destruction sun as there is in the ordinary sun.
11
Now when the ordinary sun is present, thunder clouds and mare's-tail
vapours cross the skies. But when the aeon-destruction sun is present,
the sky is as blank as the disk of a looking-glass and destitute of clouds
and vapour. Beginning with the rivulets, the water in all the rivers except
the five great rivers
12
dries up.
37. After that, at the end of a long period, a third sun appears. And
when that has appeared, the great rivers dry up too.
38. After that, at the end of a long period, a fifth sun appears. And when
that has appeared, the seven great lakes in Himalaya, the sources of the
great rivers, dry up, that is to say, Sihapapata, Harftsapatana,
13
Kan-
namundaka, Rathakara Anotatta, Chaddanta, and Kunala.
39. After that, at the end of a long period, a fifth sun appears, and when
that has appeared, there eventually comes to be not enough water left in
the great ocean to wet one finger joint.
40. After that, at the end of a long period, a sixth sun appears, and when
that has appeared, the whole world-sphere becomes nothing but vapour,
all its moisture being evaporated.
And the hundred thousand million world-spheres are the same as
this one.
41. After that, at the end of a long period, a seventh sun appears. And
when that has appeared, the whole world-sphere together with the hundred
thousand million other world-spheres catches fire. Even the summits of
Sineru, a hundred leagues and more high, crumble and vanish into space.
The conflagration mounts up and invades the realm of the Four Kings.
When it has burnt up all the golden palaces, the jewelled palaces and the
crystal palaces there, it invades the Realm of the Thirty-three. And so it
goes right on up to the plane of the first jhana. When it has burnt three
[lower] Brahma-worlds, it stops there at the Abhassara-world. [417]
As long as any formed thing (formation) the size of an atom still exists
it does not go out; but it goes out when all formed things have
been consumed. And like the flame that burns ghee and oil, it leaves
no ash.
42. The upper space is now all one with the lower space in a vast
gloomy darkness. Then at the end of a long period a great cloud arises,
and at first it rains gently, and then it rains with ever heavier deluges,
like lotus stems, like rods, like pestles, like palm trunks, more and more.
And so it pours down upon all the burnt areas in the hundred thousand
million world-spheres till they disappear. Then the winds (forces) be-
neath and all around that water rise up and compact it and round it, like
water drops on a lotus leaf. How do they compact the great mass of
water? By making gaps; for the wind makes gaps in it here and there.
43. Being thus compressed by the air, compacted and reduced, it gradu-
ally subsides. As it sinks, the [lower] BrahmA-world reappears in its
place, and worlds divine reappear in the places of the four upper divine
worlds of the sensual sphere.
14
But when it has sunk to the former earth's
level, strong winds (forces) arise and they stop it and hold it stationary,
like the water in a water pot when the outlet is plugged. As the fresh
water gets used up, the essential humus makes its appearance on it. That
possesses colour, smell and taste, like the surface film on milk rice when
it dries up.
44. Then the beings that were reborn first in the Brahma-world of Stream-
ing-radiance (Abhassara) fall from there with the exhaustion of their life
span, or when their merit is exhausted, and they reappear here. They are
self-luminous and wander in the sky. On eating the essential humus, as is
told in the Agganna Sutta (D.iii,85), they are overcome by craving, and
they busy themselves in making lumps of it to eat. Then their self-
luminosity vanishes, and it is dark. They are frightened when they see
the darkness.
45. Then in order to remove their fears and give them courage, the sun's
disk appears full fifty leagues across. They are delighted to see it, think-
ing 'We have light', and they say, 'It has appeared in order to allay our
fears and give us courage (siirabhdva), so let it be called "sun" (suriya)\
So they give it the name 'sun' (suriya). Now when the sun has given
light for a day, it sets. Then they are frightened again, thinking 'We have
lost the light we had', and they think, 'How good if we had another
light!'. [418]
46. As if knowing their thought, the moon's disk appears, forty-nine
leagues across. On seeing it they are still more delighted, and they say,
'It has appeared, seeming as if it knew our desire (chanda), so let it be
called "moon" (canda)\ So they give it the name 'moon' (canda).
47. After the appearance of the moon and sun in this way, the stars
appear in their constellations. After that, night and day are made known,
and in due course, the month and half month, the season, and the year.
48. On the day the moon and sun appear, the mountains of Sineru, of
the World-sphere and of Himalaya appear too. And they appear on the
full-moon day of the month of Phagguna (March), neither before nor
after. How? Just as, when millet is cooking and bubbles arise, then si-
multaneously, some parts are domes, some hollow, and some flat, so too,
there are mountains in the domed places, seas in the hollow places, and
continents (islands) in the flat places.
49. Then as these beings make use of the essential humus, gradually
some become handsome and some ugly. The handsome ones despise the
ugly ones. Owing to their contempt the essential humus vanishes and an
outgrowth from the soil appears. Then that vanishes in the same way and
the baddlatd creeper appears. That too vanishes in the same way and the
rice without red powder or husk that ripens without tilling appears, a
clean sweet-smelling rice fruit.
50. Then vessels appear. They put the rice into the vessels, which they
put on the tops of stones. A flame appears spontaneously and cooks it.
The cooked rice resembles jasmine flowers. It has no need of sauces and
curries, since it has whatever flavour they want to taste.
51. As soon as they eat this gross food, urine and excrement appear in
them. Then wound orifices break open in them to let these things out.
The male sex appears in the male, and the female sex in the female.
Then the females brood over the males, and the males over the females
for a long time. Owing to this long period of brooding, the fever of sense
desires arises. After that they practise sexual intercourse.
52. [419] For their [overt] practice of evil they are censured and pun-
ished by the wise, and so they build houses for the purpose of concealing
the evil. When they live in houses, they eventually fall in with the views
of the more lazy, and they make stores of food. As soon as they do that,
the rice becomes enclosed in red powder and husks and no longer grows
again of itself in the place where it was reaped. They meet together and
bemoan the fact, 'Evil has surely made its appearance among beings; for
formerly we were mind-made ...' (D.iii,90), and all this should be given
in full in the way described in the Aggaiina Sutta.
53. After that, they set up boundaries. Then some being takes a portion
given to another. After he has been twice rebuked, at the third time they
come to blows with fists, clods, sticks, and so on. When stealing, censur«
ing, lying, resorting to sticks, etc., have appeared in this way, they meet
together, thinking 'Suppose we elect a being who would reprove those
who should be reproved, censure those who should be censured, and
banish those who should be banished, and suppose we keep him supplied
with a portion of the rice?' (D.iii,92).
54. When beings had come to an agreement in this way in this aeon,
firstly this Blessed One himself, who was then the Bodhisatta (Being due
to be Enlightened), was the handsomest, the most comely, the most hon-
ourable, and was clever and capable of exercising the effort of restraint.
They approached him, asked him, and elected him. Since he was recog-
nized (sammata) by the majority (mahd-jana) he was called Maha-Sam-
mata. Since he was lord of the fields (khetta) he was called khattiya
(warrior noble). Since he promoted others' good (rahjeti) righteously
and equitably he was a king (raja). This is how he came to be known by
these names. For the Bodhisatta himself is the first man concerned in
any wonderful innovation in the world. So after the khattiya circle had
been established by making the Bodhisatta the first in this way, the brah-
mans and the other castes were founded in due succession.
55. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the
aeon's destruction up till the ceasing of the flames constitutes one incal-
culable, and that is called the 'contraction'. That from the ceasing of the
flames of the aeon destruction up till the great cloud of rehabilitation,
which rains down upon the hundred thousand million world-spheres,
constitutes the second incalculable, and that is called 'what supersedes
the contraction'. That from the time of the great cloud of rehabilitation
up till the appearance of the moon and sun constitutes the third incalcu-
lable, and that is called the 'expansion'. That from the appearance of the
moon and sun up till [420] the reappearance of the great cloud of the
aeon destruction is the fourth incalculable, and that is called 'what super-
sedes the expansion'. These four incalculables make up one great aeon.
This, firstly, is how the destruction by fire and reconstitution should be
understood.
56. The occasion when the aeon is destroyed by water should be treated
in the way already described beginning 'First of all a great cloud herald-
ing the aeon's destruction appears ... ' (§32).
57. There is this difference, however. While in the former case a second
sun appeared, in this case a great cloud of caustic waters
15
appears. At
first it rains very gently, but it goes on to rain with gradually greater
deluges, pouring down upon the hundred thousand million world-spheres.
As soon as they are touched by me caustic waters, the earth, the moun-
tains, etc., melt away, and the waters are supported all round by winds.
The waters take possession from the earth up to the plane of the second
jhana. When they have dissolved away the three Brahma-worlds there,
they stop at the Subhakinha-world. As long as any formed thing the size
of an atom exists they do not subside; but they suddenly subside and
vanish away when all formed things have been overwhelmed by them.
All beginning with 'The upper space is all one with the lower space in a
vast gloomy darkness ... ' (§42) is as already described, except that here
the world begins its reappearance with the Abhassara BrahmA-world.
And beings falling from the Subhakinha BrahmA-world are reborn in the
places beginning with the Abhassara Brahma-world.
58. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the
aeon's destruction up till the ceasing of the aeon-destroying waters con-
stitutes one incalculable. That from the ceasing of the waters up till the
great cloud of rehabilitation constitutes the second incalculable. That
from the great cloud of rehabilitation ... These four incalculables make
up one great aeon. This is how the destruction by water and reconstitu-
tion should be understood.
59. The occasion when the aeon is destroyed by air should be treated in
the way already described beginning with 'first of all a great cloud her-
alding the aeon's destruction appears ... ' (§32).
60. There is this difference, however. While in the first case there was a
second sun, here a wind arises in order to destroy the aeon. First of all it
lifts up the coarse flue, then the fine flue, then the fine sand, coarse sand,
gravel, stones, etc., [421] until it lifts up stones as big as a catafalque,
16
and great trees standing in uneven places. They are swept from the earth
up into the sky, and instead of falling down again they are broken to bits
there and cease to exist.
61. Then eventually wind arises from underneath the great earth and
overturns the earth, flinging it into space. The earth splits into fragments
measuring a hundred leagues, measuring two, three, four, five hundred
leagues, and they are hurled into space too, and there they are broken to
bits and cease to exist. The world-sphere mountains and Mount Sineru
are wrenched up and cast into space, where they crash against each other
till they are broken to bits and disappear. In this way it destroys the
divine palaces built on the earth [of Mount Sineru] and those built in
space, it destroys the six sensual-sphere divine worlds, and it destroys
the hundred thousand million world-spheres. Then world-sphere collides
with world-sphere, Himalaya Mountain with Himalaya Mountain, Sineru
with Sineru, till they are broken to bits and disappear.
62. The wind takes possession from the earth up to the plane of the third
jhana. There, after destroying three Brahma-worlds, it stops at the Vehap-
phala-world. When it has destroyed all formed things in this way, it
spends itself too. Then all happens as already described in the way
beginning 'The upper space is all one with the lower space in a vast
gloomy darkness ...' (§42), But here the world begins its reappearance
with the Subhakinha Brahma-world. And beings falling from the Vehap-
phala Brahma-world are reborn in the places beginning with the
Subhakinha Brahma-world.
63. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the
aeon's destruction up till the ceasing of the aeon-destroying wind is one
incalculable. That from the ceasing of the wind up till the great cloud of
rehabilitation is the second incalculable ... These four incalculables make
up one great aeon. This is how the destruction by wind and reconstitu-
tion should be understood.
64. What is the reason for the world's destruction in this way? The
[three] roots of the unprofitable are the reason. When any one of the
roots of the unprofitable becomes conspicuous, the world is destroyed
accordingly. When greed is more conspicuous, it is destroyed by fire.
When hate is more conspicuous, it is destroyed by water—though some
say that it is destroyed by fire when hate is more conspicuous, and by
water when greed is more conspicuous. And when delusion is more con-
spicuous, it is destroyed by wind.
65. Destroyed as it is in this way, it is destroyed for seven turns in
succession by fire and the eighth turn by water; then again seven turns
by fire and the eighth turn by water; then when it has been seven times
destroyed by water at each eighth [422] turn, it is again destroyed for
seven turns by fire. Sixty-three aeons pass in this way. And now the air
takes the opportunity to usurp the water's turn for destruction, and in
destroying the world it demolishes the Subhakinha Brahma-world where
the life span is the full sixty-four aeons.
66. Now when a bhikkhu capable of recollecting aeons is recollecting
his former life, then of such aeons as these he recollects many aeons of
world contraction, many aeons of world expansion, many aeons of world
contraction and expansion. How? In the way beginning There I was ...
Herein, There I was: in that aeon of contraction I was in that kind of
becoming or generation or destiny or station of consciousness or abode
of beings or order of beings.
67. So named: [such forenames as] Tissa, say, or Phussa. Of such a
race: [such family names as] Kaccana, say, or Kassapa. This is said of
the recollection of his own name and race (surname) in his past exis-
tence. But if he wants to recollect his own appearance at that time, or
whether his life was a rough or refined one, or whether pleasure or pain
was prevalent, or whether his life span was short or long, he recollects
that too. Hence he said with such an appearance ... such the end of my
life span.
68. Here, with such an appearance means fair or dark. Such was my
food: with white rice and meat dishes as food or with windfall fruits as
food. Such my experience of pleasure and pain: with varied experience
of bodily and mental pleasure and pain classed as worldly and unworldly,
and so on. Such the end of my life span: with such a life span of a
century or life span of eighty-four thousand aeons.
69. And passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere: having passed
away from that becoming, generation, destiny, station of consciousness,
abode of beings or order of beings, I again appeared in that other becom-
ing, generation, destiny, station of consciousness, abode of beings or
order of beings. And there too I was: then again I was there in that
becoming, generation, destiny, station of consciousness, abode of beings
or order of beings. So named, etc., are as already stated.
70. Furthermore, the words there I was refer to the recollection of one
who has cast back retrospectively as far as he wishes, and the words and
passing away from there refer to his reviewing after turning forward
again; consequently, the words / appeared elsewhere can be understood
to be said with reference to the place of his reappearance next before his
appearance here, which is referred to by the words / appeared here. But
the words there too I was, etc., [423] are said in order to show the recol-
lection of his name, race, etc., there in the place of his reappearance next
before this appearance. And passing away from there, I reappeared here:
having passed away from that next place of reappearance, I was reborn
here in this khattiya clan or brahman clan.
71. Thus: so. With its aspects and particulars: with its particulars con-
sisting in name and race; with its aspects consisting in appearance, and
so on. For it is by means of name and race that a being is particularized
as, say Tissa Kassapa; but his distinctive personality is made known by
means of appearance, etc., as dark or fair. So the name and race are the
particulars, while the others are the aspects. He recollects his manifold
past life: the meaning of this is clear.
The explanation of the knowledge of recollection of past life is
ended.
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