There comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, this cosmos contracts.
Hoti kho so, bhikkhave, samayo, yaṁ kadāci karahaci dīghassa addhuno accayena ayaṁ loko saṁvaṭṭati.
As the cosmos contracts, sentient beings are mostly headed for the realm of streaming radiance.
Saṁvaṭṭamāne loke yebhuyyena sattā ābhassarasaṁvattanikā honti.
There they are mind-made, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the sky, steadily glorious, and they remain like that for a very long time.
Te tattha honti manomayā pītibhakkhā sayaṁpabhā antalikkhacarā subhaṭṭhāyino, ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭhanti.
There comes a time when, after a very long period has passed, this cosmos expands.
Hoti kho so, bhikkhave, samayo, yaṁ kadāci karahaci dīghassa addhuno accayena ayaṁ loko vivaṭṭati.
As it expands an empty mansion of Brahmā appears.
Vivaṭṭamāne loke suññaṁ brahmavimānaṁ pātubhavati.
Then a certain sentient being—due to the running out of their life-span or merit—passes away from that host of radiant deities and is reborn in that empty mansion of Brahmā.
Atha kho aññataro satto āyukkhayā vā puññakkhayā vā ābhassarakāyā cavitvā suññaṁ brahmavimānaṁ upapajjati.
There they are mind-made, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the sky, steadily glorious, and they remain like that for a very long time.
So tattha hoti manomayo pītibhakkho sayampabho antalikkhacaro subhaṭṭhāyī, ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭhati.
But after staying there all alone for a long time, they become dissatisfied and anxious:
Tassa tattha ekakassa dīgharattaṁ nivusitattā anabhirati paritassanā uppajjati:
‘Oh, if only another being would come to this state of existence.’
‘aho vata aññepi sattā itthattaṁ āgaccheyyun’ti.
Then other sentient beings—due to the running out of their life-span or merit—pass away from that host of radiant deities and are reborn in that empty mansion of Brahmā in company with that being.
Atha aññepi sattā āyukkhayā vā puññakkhayā vā ābhassarakāyā cavitvā brahmavimānaṁ upapajjanti tassa sattassa sahabyataṁ.
There they too are mind-made, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the sky, steadily glorious, and they remain like that for a very long time.
Tepi tattha honti manomayā pītibhakkhā sayaṁpabhā antalikkhacarā subhaṭṭhāyino, ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭhanti.
Now, the being who was reborn there first thinks:
Tatra, bhikkhave, yo so satto paṭhamaṁ upapanno tassa evaṁ hoti:
‘I am Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Undefeated, the Champion, the Universal Seer, the Wielder of Power, the Lord God, the Maker, the Author, the First, the Begetter, the Controller, the Father of those who have been born and those yet to be born.
‘ahamasmi brahmā mahābrahmā abhibhū anabhibhūto aññadatthudaso vasavattī issaro kattā nimmātā seṭṭho sajitā vasī pitā bhūtabhabyānaṁ.
These beings were created by me!
Mayā ime sattā nimmitā.
Why is that?
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Because first I thought:
Mamañhi pubbe etadahosi:
“Oh, if only another being would come to this state of existence.”
“aho vata aññepi sattā itthattaṁ āgaccheyyun”ti.
Such was my heart’s wish, and then these creatures came to this state of existence.’
Iti mama ca manopaṇidhi, ime ca sattā itthattaṁ āgatā’ti.
And the beings who were reborn there later also think:
Yepi te sattā pacchā upapannā, tesampi evaṁ hoti:
‘This must be Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Undefeated, the Champion, the Universal Seer, the Wielder of Power, the Lord God, the Maker, the Author, the First, the Begetter, the Controller, the Father of those who have been born and those yet to be born.
‘ayaṁ kho bhavaṁ brahmā mahābrahmā abhibhū anabhibhūto aññadatthudaso vasavattī issaro kattā nimmātā seṭṭho sajitā vasī pitā bhūtabhabyānaṁ.
And we have been created by him.
Iminā mayaṁ bhotā brahmunā nimmitā.
Why is that?
Taṁ kissa hetu?
Because we see that he was reborn here first, and we arrived later.’
Imañhi mayaṁ addasāma idha paṭhamaṁ upapannaṁ, mayaṁ panamha pacchā upapannā’ti.
And the being who was reborn first is more long-lived, beautiful, and illustrious than those who arrived later.
Tatra, bhikkhave, yo so satto paṭhamaṁ upapanno, so dīghāyukataro ca hoti vaṇṇavantataro ca mahesakkhataro ca.
Ye pana te sattā pacchā upapannā, te appāyukatarā ca honti dubbaṇṇatarā ca appesakkhatarā ca.
It’s possible that one of those beings passes away from that host and is reborn in this state of existence.
Ṭhānaṁ kho panetaṁ, bhikkhave, vijjati, yaṁ aññataro satto tamhā kāyā cavitvā itthattaṁ āgacchati.
Having done so, they go forth from the lay life to homelessness.
Itthattaṁ āgato samāno agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajati.
By dint of keen, resolute, committed, and diligent effort, and right focus, they experience an immersion of the heart of such a kind that they recollect that past life, but no further.
Agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajito samāno ātappamanvāya padhānamanvāya anuyogamanvāya appamādamanvāya sammāmanasikāramanvāya tathārūpaṁ cetosamādhiṁ phusati, yathāsamāhite citte taṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarati, tato paraṁ nānussarati.
They say:
So evamāha:
‘He who is Brahmā—the Great Brahmā, the Undefeated, the Champion, the Universal Seer, the Wielder of Power, the Lord God, the Maker, the Author, the First, the Begetter, the Controller, the Father of those who have been born and those yet to be born—is permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, remaining the same for all eternity.
‘yo kho so bhavaṁ brahmā mahābrahmā abhibhū anabhibhūto aññadatthudaso vasavattī issaro kattā nimmātā seṭṭho sajitā vasī pitā bhūtabhabyānaṁ, yena mayaṁ bhotā brahmunā nimmitā, so nicco dhuvo sassato avipariṇāmadhammo sassatisamaṁ tatheva ṭhassati.
We who were created by that Brahmā are impermanent, not lasting, short-lived, perishable, and have come to this state of existence.
Ye pana mayaṁ ahumhā tena bhotā brahmunā nimmitā, te mayaṁ aniccā addhuvā appāyukā cavanadhammā itthattaṁ āgatā’ti.
This is the first ground on which some ascetics and brahmins rely to assert that the self and the cosmos are partially eternal.
Idaṁ, bhikkhave, paṭhamaṁ ṭhānaṁ, yaṁ āgamma yaṁ ārabbha eke samaṇabrāhmaṇā ekaccasassatikā ekaccaasassatikā ekaccaṁ sassataṁ ekaccaṁ asassataṁ attānañca lokañca paññapenti.