A MountainPabbatasutta

At Sāvatthī.Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati …pe… ārāme …pe….

Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and asked him,Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “Sir, how long is an eon?”“kīvadīgho nu kho, bhante, kappo”ti?

“Mendicant, an eon is long.“Dīgho kho, bhikkhu, kappo. It’s not easy to calculate how many years, how many hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of years it lasts.”So na sukaro saṅkhātuṁ ettakāni vassāni iti vā, ettakāni vassasatāni iti vā, ettakāni vassasahassāni iti vā, ettakāni vassasatasahassāni iti vā”ti.

“But sir, is it possible to give a simile?”“Sakkā pana, bhante, upamaṁ kātun”ti?

“It’s possible,” said the Buddha.“Sakkā, bhikkhū”ti bhagavā avoca.

“Suppose there was a big rocky mountain, a league long, a league wide, and a league high, with no cracks or holes, one solid mass.“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhu, mahāselo pabbato yojanaṁ āyāmena yojanaṁ vitthārena yojanaṁ ubbedhena acchinno asusiro ekagghano. And as each century passed someone would stroke it once with a fine cloth from Kāsi.Tamenaṁ puriso vassasatassa vassasatassa accayena kāsikena vatthena sakiṁ sakiṁ parimajjeyya. By this means the big rocky mountain would be worn away before the eon comes to an end.Khippataraṁ kho so, bhikkhu, mahāselo pabbato iminā upakkamena parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya, na tveva kappo. That’s how long an eon is.Evaṁ dīgho, bhikkhu, kappo. And we’ve transmigrated through many such eons, many hundreds, many thousands, many hundreds of thousands.Evaṁ dīghānaṁ kho, bhikkhu, kappānaṁ neko kappo saṁsito, nekaṁ kappasataṁ saṁsitaṁ, nekaṁ kappasahassaṁ saṁsitaṁ, nekaṁ kappasatasahassaṁ saṁsitaṁ.

Why is that?Taṁ kissa hetu? This transmigration has no known beginning. …Anamataggoyaṁ, bhikkhu, saṁsāro. This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.”yāvañcidaṁ, bhikkhu, alameva sabbasaṅkhāresu nibbindituṁ, alaṁ virajjituṁ, alaṁ vimuccitun”ti.