The Long Āgama Sūtra 6.19

6.19

「一萬歲時，眾生復相劫盜，為伺察所得，將詣王所白言：『此人為賊，願王治之。』王問言：『汝實作賊耶？』答曰：『我不作！』便於眾中故作妄語。時，彼眾生以貧窮故便行劫盜，以劫盜故便有刀兵，以刀兵故便有殺害，以殺害故便有貪取、邪婬，以貪取、邪婬故便有妄語，有妄語故其壽轉減，至于千歲；千歲之時，便有口三惡行始出于世，一者兩舌，二者惡口，三者綺語，此三惡業展轉熾盛，人壽稍減至五百歲；五百歲時，眾生復有三惡行起，一者非法婬，二者非法貪，三者邪見，此三惡業展轉熾盛，人壽稍減，三百、二百，我今時人，乃至百歲，少出多減。

“When they lived for 10,000 years, sentient beings continued to rob each other. An officer searched for them and captured one. He brought him to the king and said, ‘This man is a thief. Please, King, deal with him.’

“The king asked the thief, ‘Is it true that you are a thief?’

“He replied, ‘I didn’t do it!’ As a result, false speech began among the people.

“Those sentient beings then practiced stealing because of poverty, possessed weapons because of stealing, were killed and injured because of weapons, were greedy and committed sexual misconduct because of killing and injuring, and spoke falsely because of greediness and sexual misconduct. Their lifespans were gradually reduced because of false speech to a thousand years.

“When they lived a thousand years, the three bad verbal actions began to arise in the world, which were 1. duplicity, 2. harsh speech, and 3. frivolous speech. These three bad actions developed and prospered, and people’s lifespans were reduced to five hundred years.

“When they lived five hundred years, sentient beings again produced three bad actions, which were 1. lust and 2. greed that go against Dharma and 3. wrong views. As these three bad actions developed and prospered, people’s lifespans were reduced to three hundred and then two hundred years. During our time, people reach a hundred years, with a few going beyond that and many living for less than that. Thus they evolved, and their evils didn’t stop, so their lifespans were reduced until they reached ten years.