iti.24 Itivuttaka

A Heap of Bones

This was said by the Lord…

“Bhikkhus, the skeletons of a single person, running on and wandering in saṁsāra for an aeon, would make a heap of bones, a quantity of bones as large as this Mount Vepulla, if there were someone to collect them and if the collection were not destroyed.”

The bones of a single person
Accumulated in a single aeon
Would make a heap like a mountain—
So said the Great Sage.

He declared it to be
As great as Mount Vepulla
To the north of Vulture’s Peak
In the hill-fort of Magadha.

But when one sees with perfect wisdom
The four noble truths as they are—
Suffering, the origin of suffering,
The overcoming of suffering,
And the noble eightfold path
Leading to relief from suffering—

Having merely run on
Seven times at the most,
By destroying all fetters
One makes an end of suffering.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato

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A Heap of Bones

This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Mendicants, one person roaming and transmigrating for an eon would amass a heap of bones the size of this Mount Vepulla, if they were gathered together and not lost.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“If the bones of a single person
for a single eon were gathered up,
they’d make a pile the size of a mountain:
so said the great hermit.
And this is declared to be
as huge as Mount Vepulla,
higher than the Vulture’s Peak
near the Mountainfold of the Magadhans.
But then, with right understanding,
a person sees the noble truths—
suffering, suffering’s origin,
suffering’s transcendence,
and the noble eightfold path
that leads to the stilling of suffering.
After roaming on seven times at most,
that person
makes an end of suffering,
with the ending of all fetters.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.