Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Even the most magnificent kingdom imaginable — seven treasures, 84,000 of everything, a palace built almost entirely of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal — was, in the end, something its own king walked away from and let go of without regret; and the Buddha tells this story about his own past life at the exact moment of his own death, so that Ānanda (and every later reader) draws the same conclusion about a much smaller ending in a much smaller town.
An embarrassed request
The setting is the same as DN 16’s final chapters: the Buddha has asked to be laid down between a pair of sal trees at Kusinārā, and is close to death. Ānanda finds this almost unbearable — not the death itself, but the location. Kusinārā is, in his words, “this little hamlet, this jungle hamlet, this branch hamlet,” and he all but begs the Buddha to be extinguished somewhere fitting: one of the great capitals, Campā or Rājagaha or Sāvatthī, where wealthy patrons could properly honor his corpse. The Buddha’s response is immediate and firm: “Don’t say that, Ānanda!” And then he starts telling a story.
Kusāvatī, city of unimaginable wealth
Once, the Buddha says, this very town was Kusāvatī, capital of a wheel-turning monarch (a cakkavatti, an ideal righteous ruler whose sovereignty extends over the whole known world without conquest by force) named Mahāsudassana. The description that follows is deliberately, almost comically excessive: seven ramparts of gold, silver, beryl, crystal, ruby, emerald, and “all precious things”; seven rows of palm trees whose leaves and fruits are made of precious metals in patterned alternation; a soundscape that never falls silent, day or night, with drums, harps, singing, and the cry “Eat, drink, be merry!” This is the register the whole sutta operates in — catalogue after catalogue of splendor, repeated with only the materials changing, building a kind of hypnotic excess that the sutta’s ending will undercut completely.
Seven treasures, four blessings
Mahāsudassana possesses the seven treasures traditionally attributed to a wheel-turning monarch: the wheel-treasure (a heavenly wheel that rolls out ahead of him, causing rival rulers to submit peacefully and adopt five ethical precepts rather than face war); the elephant-treasure and horse-treasure (magical mounts that can circle the known world before breakfast); the jewel-treasure (a gem so radiant it turns night into day); the woman-treasure (an ideal queen, devoted and unfailingly perceptive of the king’s comfort); the householder-treasure (a steward with the clairvoyant power to locate any treasure, owned or unclaimed); and the commander-treasure (a minister of flawless judgment). Along with these he has four “blessings”: unmatched beauty, long life, excellent health, and a bond of mutual affection with his subjects so strong that they beg his chariot to slow down just so they can look at him longer.
A palace built almost entirely of jewels
The sutta lavishes even more attention on the Palace of Principle, which the gods themselves help build: 84,000 pillars, 84,000 chambers, staircases and balustrades in gold, silver, beryl, and crystal, nets of bells that chime like a trained ensemble when the wind passes through them, and a matching Lotus Pond of Principle out front. Every feature is described in the same repeating four-color pattern, a stylistic tic that is not incidental — the sheer relentlessness of the repetition is part of how the sutta conveys scale that exceeds ordinary description. And yet, once finished, the king’s first act is not celebration: reflecting that all this is the fruit of his own past giving, self-control, and restraint, he immediately withdraws to meditate, entering all four absorptions and radiating the four immeasurables to the whole world.
Queen Subhaddā's plea, and the king's answer
After many thousands of years, Queen Subhaddā, alarmed that she has not seen the king in so long, visits him and finds him lying down, calm and radiant, and unmistakably close to death. Her instinct is exactly Ānanda’s instinct: she urges him to want to live, cataloguing all 84,000 of his cities, palaces, and possessions as reasons to hold on. Mahāsudassana’s reply reframes her whole approach: for a very long time, he tells her, her words have been welcome and pleasant — but not now, in his final hour, when they only add to his burden. He teaches her instead to say the opposite: that all of this must be given up, that grief over impermanent things is itself a kind of suffering, and that he should release his interest in life, not cling to it. She weeps, but repeats the words back to him as he asked.
Six times before, at this very spot
Mahāsudassana dies peacefully, “like a person falling asleep after a satisfying meal,” and is reborn in a heavenly realm. The Buddha then reveals what the reader has likely already guessed: he himself was Mahāsudassana. Of the 84,000 cities, he only ever occupied one; of the 84,000 palaces, one chamber; of the 84,000 servings of food, one bowl at a time. All those conditioned splendors, he says, “have passed, ceased, and perished” — and this alone should be enough to become disillusioned with all conditions whatsoever. He then adds a detail that gives the whole story its force at this exact moment: this is the sixth time he recalls having laid down his body at this very spot in the land, once as Mahāsudassana himself, and now, one final and seventh time, as the Buddha who will not be reborn again. Ānanda’s complaint about the town’s obscurity dissolves into irrelevance; the point was never the town.
Key terms
The text
An embarrassed request
§1.1–1.2So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying between a pair of sal trees in the sal forest of the Mallas at Upavattana near Kusinārā at the time of his full extinguishment. Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him, “Sir, please don’t be fully extinguished in this little hamlet, this jungle hamlet, this branch hamlet. There are other great cities such as Campā, Rājagaha, Sāvatthī, Sāketa, Kosambī, and Varanasi. Let the Buddha be fully extinguished there. There are many well-to-do aristocrats, brahmins, and householders there who are devoted to the Buddha. They will perform the rites of venerating the Realized One’s corpse.”
“Don’t say that, Ānanda! Don’t say that this is a little hamlet, a jungle hamlet, a branch hamlet.
The capital city of Kusāvatī
§1.3–1.6Once upon a time there was a king named Mahāsudassana whose dominion extended to all four sides, and who achieved stability in the country. His capital was this Kusinārā, which at the time was named Kusāvatī. It stretched for twelve leagues from east to west, and seven leagues from north to south. The royal capital of Kusāvatī was successful, prosperous, populous, full of people, with plenty of food. It was just like Āḷakamandā, the royal capital of the gods, which is successful, prosperous, populous, full of spirits, with plenty of food. Kusāvatī was never free of ten sounds by day or night, namely: the sound of elephants, horses, chariots, drums, clay drums, arched harps, singing, horns, gongs, and handbells; and the cry, ‘Eat, drink, be merry!’ as the tenth.
Kusāvatī was encircled by seven ramparts: one made of gold, one made of silver, one made of beryl, one made of crystal, one made of ruby, one made of emerald, and one made of all precious things. It had four gates, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. At each gate there were seven pillars, three fathoms deep and four fathoms high, made of gold, silver, beryl, crystal, ruby, emerald, and all precious things.
It was surrounded by seven rows of palm trees, made of gold, silver, beryl, crystal, ruby, emerald, and all precious things. The golden palms had trunks of gold, and leaves and fruits of silver. The silver palms had trunks of silver, and leaves and fruits of gold. The beryl palms had trunks of beryl, and leaves and fruits of crystal. The crystal palms had trunks of crystal, and leaves and fruits of beryl. The ruby palms had trunks of ruby, and leaves and fruits of emerald. The emerald palms had trunks of emerald, and leaves and fruits of ruby. The palms of all precious things had trunks of all precious things, and leaves and fruits of all precious things. When those rows of palm trees were blown by the wind they sounded graceful, tantalizing, sensuous, lovely, and intoxicating, like a quintet made up of skilled musicians who had practiced well and kept excellent rhythm. And any addicts, carousers, or drunkards in Kusāvatī at that time were entertained by that sound.
The seven treasures
§1.7–1.11King Mahāsudassana possessed seven treasures and four blessings. What seven? On a fifteenth day sabbath, King Mahāsudassana had bathed his head and gone upstairs in the royal longhouse to observe the sabbath. And the heavenly wheel-treasure appeared to him, with a thousand spokes, with rim and hub, complete in every detail. Seeing this, the king thought, ‘I have heard that when the heavenly wheel-treasure appears to a king in this way, he becomes a wheel-turning monarch. Am I then a wheel-turning monarch?’
The wheel-treasure. Then King Mahāsudassana, rising from his seat and arranging his robe over one shoulder, took a ceremonial vase in his left hand and besprinkled the wheel-treasure with his right hand, saying: ‘Roll forth, O wheel-treasure! Triumph, O wheel-treasure!’ Then the wheel-treasure rolled towards the east. And the king followed it together with his army of four divisions. In whatever place the wheel-treasure stood still, there the king came to stay together with his army. And any opposing rulers of the eastern quarter came to him and said, ‘Come, great king! Welcome, great king! We are yours, great king, instruct us.’ The king said, ‘Do not kill living creatures. Do not steal. Do not commit sexual misconduct. Do not lie. Do not drink liquor. Maintain the current level of taxation.’ And so the opposing rulers of the eastern quarter became his vassals. Then the wheel-treasure, having plunged into the eastern ocean and emerged again, rolled towards the south. … Having plunged into the southern ocean and emerged again, it rolled towards the west. … Having plunged into the western ocean and emerged again, it rolled towards the north, followed by the king together with his army of four divisions. In whatever place the wheel-treasure stood still, there the king came to stay together with his army. And any opposing rulers of the northern quarter came to him and said, ‘Come, great king! Welcome, great king! We are yours, great king, instruct us.’ The king said, ‘Do not kill living creatures. Do not steal. Do not commit sexual misconduct. Do not lie. Do not drink liquor. Maintain the current level of taxation.’ And so the opposing rulers of the northern quarter became his vassals. And then the wheel-treasure, having triumphed over this land surrounded by ocean, returned to the royal capital. There it stood still by the gate to the royal compound at the High Court as if fixed to an axle, illuminating the royal compound.
The elephant-, horse-, jewel-, woman-, householder-, and commander-treasures
§1.12–1.18Next, the elephant-treasure appeared to King Mahāsudassana. It was an all-white sky-walker with psychic power, touching the ground in seven places, a king of elephants named Sabbath. Once it so happened that King Mahāsudassana, testing that same elephant-treasure, mounted him in the morning and traversed the land surrounded by ocean before returning to the royal capital in time for breakfast.
Next, the horse-treasure appeared to King Mahāsudassana. It was an all-white sky-walker with psychic power, with head of black and mane like woven reeds, a royal steed named Thundercloud. Seeing him, the king was impressed, ‘This would truly be a fine horse vehicle, if he would submit to taming.’ Then the horse-treasure submitted to taming, as if he was a fine thoroughbred horse that had been tamed for a long time. Once it so happened that King Mahāsudassana, testing that same horse-treasure, mounted him in the morning and traversed the land surrounded by ocean before returning to the royal capital in time for breakfast.
Next, the jewel-treasure appeared: a beryl gem naturally lustrous, eight-faceted, well-worked, transparent, clear, and unclouded, its radiance spreading all-round for a league — enough that when the king mobilized his army by its light in the dark of night, the villagers around them set off to work, thinking it was day.
Next, the woman-treasure appeared: attractive, of surpassing beauty, neither too tall nor short, neither too thin nor fat, neither too dark nor light, outdoing human beauty without reaching heavenly beauty; her touch like cotton-wool, her limbs warm when it was cool and cool when it was warm, the fragrance of sandal from her body and lotus from her mouth. The woman-treasure did not betray the wheel-turning monarch even in thought, still less in deed.
Next, the householder-treasure appeared: a steward gifted with the clairvoyant power, born of past deeds, to see treasure troves both owned and ownerless. Tested by the king on the Ganges river, he immersed both hands in the water and pulled up a pot full of gold, coined and uncoined, asking, ‘Is this sufficient, great king?’
Next, the commander-treasure appeared: astute, competent, and intelligent regarding who should be ushered in to the king’s presence, who should be ushered out, and who should be kept by his side. These are the seven treasures possessed by King Mahāsudassana.
The four blessings
§1.18–1.21King Mahāsudassana possessed four blessings. And what are the four blessings? He was attractive, good-looking, lovely, of surpassing beauty, more so than other humans. This is the first blessing. Furthermore, he was long-lived, more so than other humans. This is the second blessing. Furthermore, he was rarely ill or unwell, and his stomach digested well, being neither too hot nor too cold, more so than other humans. This is the third blessing.
Furthermore, he was as dear and beloved to the brahmins and householders as a father is to his children. And the brahmins and householders were as dear to the king as children are to their father. Once it so happened that King Mahāsudassana went with his army of four divisions to visit a park. Then the brahmins and householders went up to him and said, ‘Slow down, Your Majesty, so we may see you longer!’ And the king addressed his charioteer, ‘Drive slowly, charioteer, so I can see the brahmins and householders longer!’ This is the fourth blessing. These are the four blessings possessed by King Mahāsudassana.
Lotus ponds and the Palace of Principle
§1.22–1.26Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘Why don’t I have lotus ponds built between the palms, at intervals of a hundred bow lengths?’ So that’s what he did. The lotus ponds were lined with tiles of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. And four flights of stairs of four colors descended into each lotus pond, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. The golden stairs had posts of gold, and banisters and finials of silver. The silver stairs had posts of silver, and banisters and finials of gold. The beryl stairs had posts of beryl, and banisters and finials of crystal. The crystal stairs had posts of crystal, and banisters and finials of beryl. Those lotus ponds were surrounded by two balustrades, made of gold and silver. The golden balustrades had posts of gold, and banisters and finials of silver. The silver balustrades had posts of silver, and banisters and finials of gold. Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘Why don’t I plant flowers in the lotus ponds such as blue water lilies, and lotuses of pink, yellow, and white, blooming all year round, and accessible to the public?’ So that’s what he did. Then he thought, ‘Why don’t I appoint bath attendants to help bathe the people who come to bathe in the lotus ponds?’ So that’s what he did. Then he thought, ‘Why don’t I set up charities on the banks of the lotus ponds, so that those in need of food, drink, clothes, vehicles, beds, women, coined gold, or uncoined gold can get what they need?’ So that’s what he did.
Then the brahmins and householders came to the king bringing abundant wealth, wanting him to accept it for himself. When the king turned them down, they resolved instead to build him a home. And then Sakka, lord of gods, knowing the king’s train of thought, addressed the godling Vissakamma, ‘Come, dear Vissakamma, build a palace named Principle as a home for King Mahāsudassana.’ ‘Yes, lord,’ replied Vissakamma, and so it was done.
§1.27–1.32The Palace of Principle stretched for a league from east to west, and half a league from north to south. It was lined with tiles of four colors, three fathoms high, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. It had 84,000 pillars of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. It had twenty-four staircases of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. It had 84,000 chambers of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. In each chamber a couch was spread: in the golden chamber a couch of silver; in the silver chamber a couch of gold; in the beryl chamber a couch of ivory; in the crystal chamber a couch of hardwood. At the door of the golden chamber stood a palm tree of silver, with trunk of silver, and leaves and fruits of gold. At the door of the silver chamber stood a palm tree of gold, with trunk of gold, and leaves and fruits of silver. At the door of the beryl chamber stood a palm tree of crystal, with trunk of crystal, and leaves and fruits of beryl. At the door of the crystal chamber stood a palm tree of beryl, with trunk of beryl, and leaves and fruits of crystal. The Palace of Principle was surrounded by two balustrades, made of gold and silver, and by two nets of bells, made of gold and silver. The golden net had bells of silver, and the silver net had bells of gold. When those nets of bells were blown by the wind they sounded graceful, tantalizing, sensuous, lovely, and intoxicating, like a quintet made up of skilled musicians who had practiced well and kept excellent rhythm. When it was finished, the palace was hard to look at, dazzling to the eyes — like how in the last month of the rainy season, in autumn, when the heavens are sunny and cloudless, as the sun is rising to the firmament, it is hard to look at, dazzling to the eyes.
Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘Why don’t I build a lotus pond named Principle in front of the palace?’ So that’s what he did. The Lotus Pond of Principle stretched for a league from east to west, and half a league from north to south. It was lined with tiles of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. It had twenty-four staircases of four colors, made of gold, silver, beryl, and crystal, and was surrounded by two balustrades, made of gold and silver. It was surrounded by seven rows of palm trees, made of gold, silver, beryl, crystal, ruby, emerald, and all precious things. The golden palms had trunks of gold, and leaves and fruits of silver. The silver palms had trunks of silver, and leaves and fruits of gold. The beryl palms had trunks of beryl, and leaves and fruits of crystal. The crystal palms had trunks of crystal, and leaves and fruits of beryl. The ruby palms had trunks of ruby, and leaves and fruits of emerald. The emerald palms had trunks of emerald, and leaves and fruits of ruby. The palms of all precious things had trunks of all precious things, and leaves and fruits of all precious things. When those rows of palm trees were blown by the wind they sounded graceful, tantalizing, sensuous, lovely, and intoxicating, like a quintet made up of skilled musicians who had practiced well and kept excellent rhythm. And any addicts, carousers, or drunkards in Kusāvatī at that time were entertained by that sound.
§1.33When the palace and its lotus pond were finished, King Mahāsudassana served those who were deemed true ascetics and brahmins with all they desired. Then he ascended the Palace of Principle. The first recitation section.
Attaining absorption
§2.1–2.4Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘Of what deed of mine is this the fruit and result, that I am now so mighty and powerful?’ Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘It is the fruit and result of three kinds of deeds: giving, self-control, and restraint.’
Then he went to the Chamber of the Grand Tower, stood at the door, and expressed this heartfelt sentiment: ‘Stop here, sensual, malicious, and cruel thoughts—no further!’ Then he entered the Chamber of the Grand Tower and sat on the golden couch. Quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, he entered and remained in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected. As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected were stilled, he entered and remained in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one. And with the fading away of rapture, he entered and remained in the third absorption, meditating with equanimity, mindful and aware, personally experiencing the bliss of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.’ With the giving up of pleasure and pain, and the disappearance of former happiness and sadness, he entered and remained in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness.
Then King Mahāsudassana left the Chamber of the Grand Tower and entered the golden chamber, where he sat on the golden couch. He meditated spreading a heart full of love to one direction, and to the second, and to the third, and to the fourth; and so above, below, across, everywhere, all around, to everyone in the world—abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will. He meditated spreading a heart full of compassion … rejoicing … and equanimity in the same way, to the whole world.
Of all cities
§2.5–2.6King Mahāsudassana had 84,000 cities, with the royal capital of Kusāvatī the foremost. He had 84,000 palaces, with the Palace of Principle the foremost. He had 84,000 bull elephants, 84,000 horses, 84,000 chariots, 84,000 jewels, 84,000 women with Queen Subhaddā foremost, 84,000 householders, 84,000 aristocrat vassals, 84,000 milk-cows, 8,400,000,000 delicate cloths, and 84,000 servings of food presented to him at daybreak and dusk.
Now at that time his 84,000 royal elephants came to attend on him at daybreak and dusk. Then King Mahāsudassana thought, ‘What if instead half of the elephants took turns to attend on me at the end of each century?’ He instructed the commander-treasure to do this, and so it was done.
The visit of Queen Subhaddā
§2.7–2.9Then, after many years, many hundred years, many thousand years had passed, Queen Subhaddā thought, ‘It is long since I have seen the king. Why don’t I go to see him?’ So the queen, with the ladies of the harem and the army of four divisions readied by the commander-treasure, went to the Palace of Principle, ascended it, and went to the Chamber of the Grand Tower, where she stood leaning against a door-post. Hearing them, the king thought, ‘What’s that, it sounds like a big crowd!’ Coming out of the chamber he saw Queen Subhaddā and said to her, ‘Please stay there, my queen, don’t enter in here.’ Then he addressed a certain man, ‘Come, my man, bring the golden couch from the Chamber of the Grand Tower and set it up in the golden palm grove.’ The king laid down in the lion’s posture—on the right side, placing one foot on top of the other—mindful and aware.
§2.10–2.12Then Queen Subhaddā thought, ‘The king’s faculties are so very clear, and the complexion of his skin is pure and bright. Let him not pass away!’ She said to him, ‘Sire, you have 84,000 cities, with the royal capital of Kusāvatī foremost. Arouse desire for these! Take an interest in life!’ And she likewise urged the king to live on by taking an interest in all his possessions.
When the queen had spoken, the king said to her, ‘For a long time, my queen, you have spoken to me with words that are welcome, desirable, agreeable, and pleasant. And yet in my final hour, your words are unwelcome, undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant!’ ‘So how then, Your Majesty, am I to speak to you?’ ‘Like this, my queen: “Sire, we must be parted and separated from all we hold dear and beloved. Don’t pass away with concerns. Such concern is suffering, and it’s criticized. Sire, you have 84,000 cities, with the royal capital of Kusāvatī foremost. Give up desire for these! Take no interest in life!”’ And so on for all the king’s possessions.
When the king had spoken, Queen Subhaddā cried and burst out in tears. Wiping away her tears, the queen said to the king exactly as he had instructed: ‘Sire, we must be parted and separated from all we hold dear and beloved. Don’t pass away with concerns. Such concern is suffering, and it’s criticized. Sire, you have 84,000 cities, with the royal capital of Kusāvatī foremost. Give up desire for these! Take no interest in life!’ And she continued, listing all the king’s possessions.
Rebirth in the realm of divinity
§2.13–2.14Not long after that, King Mahāsudassana passed away. And the feeling he had close to death was like a householder or their child falling asleep after eating a satisfying meal. When he passed away King Mahāsudassana was reborn in a good place, a realm of divinity. Ānanda, King Mahāsudassana played children’s games for 84,000 years. He ruled as viceroy for 84,000 years. He ruled as king for 84,000 years. He led the spiritual life as a layman in the Palace of Principle for 84,000 years. And having developed the four divine meditations, when his body broke up, after death, he was reborn in a good place, a realm of divinity.
Now, Ānanda, you might think: ‘Surely King Mahāsudassana must have been someone else at that time?’ But you should not see it like that. I myself was King Mahāsudassana at that time. Mine were the 84,000 cities, with the royal capital of Kusāvatī foremost. And mine were all the other possessions.
§2.15–2.17Of those 84,000 cities, I only stayed in one, the capital Kusāvatī. Of those 84,000 palaces, I only dwelt in one, the Palace of Principle. Of those 84,000 chambers, I only dwelt in the Chamber of the Grand Tower. Of those 84,000 couches, I only used one. Of those 84,000 bull elephants, I only rode one, the royal bull elephant named Sabbath. Of those 84,000 horses, I only rode one, the royal horse named Thundercloud. Of those 84,000 chariots, I only rode one, the chariot named Triumph. Of those 84,000 women, I was only served by one. Of those 8,400,000,000 cloths, I only wore one pair. Of those 84,000 servings of food, I only had one, eating at most a cup of rice with suitable sauce.
See, Ānanda! All those conditioned phenomena have passed, ceased, and perished. So impermanent are conditions, so unstable are conditions, so unreliable are conditions. This is quite enough for you to become disillusioned, dispassionate, and freed regarding all conditions.
Six times, Ānanda, I recall having laid down my body at this place. And the seventh time was as a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king, at which time my dominion extended to all four sides, I achieved stability in the country, and I possessed the seven treasures. But Ānanda, I do not see any place in this world with its gods, Māras, and Divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans where the Realized One would lay down his body for the eighth time.” That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say: “Oh! Conditions are impermanent, their nature is to rise and fall; having arisen, they cease; their settling is such bliss.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.