SN 15.6

Sāsapasutta

Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati. Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā …pe… ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “kīvadīgho nu kho, bhante, kappo”ti? “Dīgho kho, bhikkhu, kappo. So na sukaro saṅkhātuṁ ettakāni vassāni iti vā …pe… ettakāni vassasatasahassāni iti vā”ti.

A Mustard Seed

At Sāvatthī. Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him, “Sir, how long is an eon?” “Mendicant, an eon is long. It’s not easy to calculate how many years, how many hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of years it lasts.”

“Sakkā pana, bhante, upamaṁ kātun”ti? “Sakkā, bhikkhū”ti bhagavā avoca. “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhu, āyasaṁ nagaraṁ yojanaṁ āyāmena yojanaṁ vitthārena yojanaṁ ubbedhena, puṇṇaṁ sāsapānaṁ guḷikābaddhaṁ. Tato puriso vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena ekamekaṁ sāsapaṁ uddhareyya. Khippataraṁ kho so, bhikkhu, mahāsāsaparāsi iminā upakkamena parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya, na tveva kappo. Evaṁ dīgho kho, bhikkhu, kappo. Evaṁ dīghānaṁ kho, bhikkhu, kappānaṁ neko kappo saṁsito, nekaṁ kappasataṁ saṁsitaṁ, nekaṁ kappasahassaṁ saṁsitaṁ, nekaṁ kappasatasahassaṁ saṁsitaṁ. Taṁ kissa hetu? Anamataggoyaṁ, bhikkhu, saṁsāro …pe… alaṁ vimuccitun”ti.

“But sir, is it possible to give a simile?” “It’s possible,” said the Buddha. “Suppose there was an iron citadel, a league long, a league wide, and a league high, full of mustard seeds pressed into balls. And as each century passed someone would remove a single mustard seed. By this means the big heap of mustard seeds would be used up before the eon comes to an end. That’s how long an eon is. And we’ve transmigrated through many such eons, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands. Why is that? This transmigration has no known beginning. … This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.”