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Anguttara Nikāya 
The Numerical Discourses  
 
Sattakanipāta  
(Book of the Sevens) 
 
AN 7.66 
 
Sattasūriya Sutta  
“Discourse on the Seven Suns” 
 
Translated by Bhikkhu Candana 
 
Copyright © Bhikkhu Candana 2023 
 
I have personally heard this.  
At one time, The Blessed One was living in Ambapālī’s mango orchard, in the City of Vesāli. 
There, The Blessed One addressed the Bhikkhus and said:  
“Bhikkhus!” 
“Yes, Bhante,” the Bhikkhus replied. 
The Blessed One continued: 
“Bhikkhus, all things that are based on conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. 
There is no point in looking for comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.  
“Bhikkhus, Mount Sineru, the highest peak, is eighty-four thousand yojanas in length, and 
eighty-four thousand yojanas wide. Its roots reach down to eighty-four thousand yojanas to the 
bottom of the ocean, and it rises eighty-four thousand yojanas high, from its base.  
1. “Bhikkhus, after the passing of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes 
a time when there is no more rainfall. And when it no longer rains, all things born from seeds 
and vegetation, such as medicinal plants, grasses, trees, and all forests dry up and wither and are 
no more. In this way, Bhikkhus, all things that are based on conditions are in themselves 
impermanent and unreliable. There is no point in looking for comfort, or even stability in them.

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“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this about all conditioned things, you should turn away by 
becoming disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of 
them.  
2. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes a 
time when a second sun appears. Now, with this rising of a second sun, all streams, rivulets, and 
lakes dry up and wither and are no more. In this way, Bhikkhus, all things that are based on 
conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. There is no point in looking for 
comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.  
3. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes a 
time when a third sun appears. And with the rising of this third sun, the great rivers such as the 
Ganges, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhū and Mahī, all dry up and wither away. In this way, 
Bhikkhus, all things that are based on conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. 
There is no point in looking for comfort, or even stability in them.  
Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.  
4. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes a 
time when a fourth sun appears. And when a fourth sun rises, the great lakes from where the 
great rivers flow such as Anotatta, Sihapapāta, Rathakāra, Kaṇṇamuṇḍā, Kuṇālā, Chadantā and 
Mandākinī, all dry up and wither away. In this way, Bhikkhus, all things that are based on 
conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. There is no point in looking for 
comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.  
5. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many more years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there 
comes a time when a fifth sun rises. Now, when this fifth sun appears, the water in the great 
oceans recedes one hundred yojanas, two hundred yojanas, three hundred yojanas, five hundred 
yojanas, six hundred yojanas and even seven hundred yojanas. The water drops down to the 
height of merely seven palm trees, or even six, five, four, three, two, and even to a single palm 
tree’s length. The water recedes down to the height of seven men put together, or even six, five, 
four, three, two or one man, or even half the height of a single man. It may drop down even to 
the knee depth of a man, to the ankle depth of a man. Thus, when the fifth sun appears, there 
would not be enough water in the ocean to even wet the toes up to their joints. In this way, 
Bhikkhus, all things that are based on conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. 
There is no point in looking for comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.

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6. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes a 
time when a sixth sun rises. And when the sixth sun appears, this entire great earth with even the 
peak of Mount Sineru, the king of mountains itself, starts smoldering, fuming, and is filled with 
smoke. Like the potter’s kiln that gets smoldering hot and releases much smoke, as the pottery is 
placed inside to be cooked, while it gets filled up with smoke, similarly, when the sixth sun 
appears, this entire great earth with even the peak of Mount Sineru itself, starts smoldering, 
burning, fuming, and is filled with smoke. In this way, Bhikkhus, all things that are based on 
conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. There is no point in looking for 
comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this about all conditioned things, you should turn away by 
becoming disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of 
them.  
7. “Bhikkhus, after the lapse of many years, many hundreds of thousands of years, there comes a 
time when a seventh sun appears. When the seventh sun arises, this entire great earth starts 
burning, along with the peak of Mount Sineru, the king of mountains itself that catches fire, as it 
starts burning and blazing, with its flames tossed by the winds reaching up all the way to the 
world of Brahmā.  
“Now, when Mount Sineru blazes and burns, being destroyed by the scorching heat of those 
ravaging fires, the peaks of other mountains of a hundred yojanas, crumble and disintegrate as 
well, along with mountain peaks of two hundred yojanas’ height, three hundred yojanas, four 
hundred yojanas and five hundred yojanas, all similarly crumble and are destroyed.  
“Bhikkhus, when this great earth and Mount Sineru, the king of mountains, keeps burning and 
blazing with the ravaging fires, no ash or soot is seen. Just like when ghee or oil is burning and 
blazing, no ash or soot is to be witnessed, similarly, this great earth and Mount Sineru, the king 
of mountains, will keep burning and blazing with the ravaging fires. In this way, Bhikkhus, all 
things that are based on conditions are in themselves impermanent and unreliable. There is no 
point in looking for comfort, or even stability in them.  
“Therefore, Bhikkhus, seeing this in all conditioned things, you should turn away by becoming 
disenchanted and disentangled from them, and thereby release yourselves from all of them.  
“Bhikkhus, who besides those who have seen the truth, could fathom or be convinced that this 
great earth and Mount Sineru, the king of all mountains, would one day be blazing and burning, 
crumbling down, and getting destroyed? 
“Bhikkhus, long time ago, there was a teacher by the name of Sunetta, the founder of a religious 
order who was himself free from lust. He helped many to cross the ford, for Sunetta, Bhikkhus, 
had many hundreds of students, as he taught them to be born into the world of Brahmā. Now, 
those who completely understood the dispensation taught by Sunetta and benefitted from it, after 
death, reappeared into a good state in the Brahmā world. Meanwhile, some who did not 
understand fully the dispensation taught by Sunetta, after death, were reborn in the company of 
those who manipulate the creation of other Devas. Yet others were reborn in the company of

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Devas who enjoy creating; some were reborn as Devas in Tusita heaven, some in the company of 
the Yāma Devas, some others were reborn in the company of the Thirty-three Gods with Sakka, 
some with the company of the Devas of the Four Great Kings. Still others, after death, were 
reborn as humans within the royal warrior class of Khattiyas, or the Brahmins, or other wealthy 
and influential householder families.  
“Then it occurred to the teacher Sunetta: ‘It is not suitable for me to be reborn in the same plane 
as my disciples, after death. What if I were to develop loving kindness further?’  
“Then, the Teacher Sunetta practiced loving kindness as his object of meditation for seven years. 
And by having developed loving kindness for seven years, he did not come to this world system 
for seven eons of cosmic expansion and contraction. Thus, during the periods of cosmic 
contraction, he was reborn as a radiantly glowing Deva, and during the eons of cosmic expansion 
he was reborn in the empty Brahmā paradise as the Great Brahmā God, becoming the great 
conqueror, the undefeated, universal seer, the one who wields mighty power.  
“After that long period was over, he reappeared as Sakka, ruler of the Devas, thirty-six times 
over. And for many hundreds of times, he was reborn as the righteous Wheel Turning Universal 
Monarch, who ruled by the Dhamma, conquering, and winning over the hearts of countless 
peoples throughout the four directions, without any bloodshed, and establishing peaceful stability 
in his entire domain. Further, he was endowed with the seven treasures, as well as being the 
father of over a thousand courageous sons, who were each a hero, with valiant figures, ready to 
crush any marauding foreign armies. And they all lived by ruling over the earth righteously, 
without weapons as far as the boundaries of the ocean.  
“However, Bhikkhus, despite having such a long-life, reigning for many years, Sunetta the 
teacher still was not released from birth, ageing and death, grieving, wailing, distress, torment, 
depression, and anguish. Therefore, I declare that he was still not liberated from suffering.  
“And what was the reason for this? It was due to him not having deeply understood, nor 
experienced, four things. What four?  
“He had not deeply understood nor experienced having the virtuous behavior of the Noble Ones; 
he had not deeply understood nor experienced the Samādhi of the Noble Ones; he had not deeply 
understood nor experienced the Wisdom of the Noble Ones; and he had not deeply understood 
nor experienced the Liberation of the Noble Ones.  
“But Bhikkhus, now having awakened, the virtuous behavior of the Noble Ones has been deeply 
understood and experienced; the Samādhi of the Noble Ones has been deeply understood and 
experienced; the wisdom of the Noble Ones has been deeply understood and experienced; and 
the Liberation of the Noble Ones has been deeply understood and experienced.  
 
“Craving for becoming has been pulled out from its roots. Destroyed is the doorway for re-
becoming. Now there is no more birth, and no more renewed existence, anywhere.” 
 
Having uttered these words, The Blessed One continued by saying:

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“The Glorious Gautama having awakened by Himself, 
Has deeply understood and experienced the Noble Ones’ Perfect Liberation 
Through Virtuous Behavior, Samādhi, Wisdom, and Release. 
Thus, having directly understood and realized It by Himself, 
The Blessed One declared the Dhamma to his Bhikkhus, 
The Teacher, the Ender of suffering, 
The Wise One, by having directly understood and seen it,  
Has attained to the extinguishment that is Nibbāna supreme, 
While showing to all, the Way to the ending of all suffering.” 
 
Sādhu 
Sādhu 
Sādhu