Dighanikaya 14.4

14.4

Atha bhagavā tesaṃ yācanaṃ gahetvā kathetukāmo ‘‘tena hi, bhikkhave, suṇāthā’’ti te sotāvadhāraṇasādhukamanasikāresu niyojetvā aññesaṃ asādhāraṇaṃ chinnavaṭumakānussaraṇaṃ pakāsetukāmo ito so, bhikkhavetiādimāha. Tattha yaṃ vipassīti yasmiṃ kappe vipassī. Ayañhi ‘ya’nti saddo ‘‘yaṃ me, bhante, devānaṃ tāvatiṃsānaṃ sammukhā sutaṃ sammukhā paṭiggahitaṃ, ārocemi taṃ, bhagavato’’tiādīsu (dī. ni. 2.203) paccattavacane dissati. ‘‘Yaṃ taṃ apucchimha akittayī no, aññaṃ taṃ pucchāma tadiṅgha brūhī’’tiādīsu (su. ni. 881) upayogavacane. ‘‘Aṭṭhānametaṃ, bhikkhave, anavakāso, yaṃ ekissā lokadhātuyā’’tiādīsu (a. ni. 1.277) karaṇavacane. Idha pana bhummattheti daṭṭhabbo. Tena vuttaṃ – ‘‘yasmiṃ kappe’’ti. Udapādīti dasasahassilokadhātuṃ unnādento uppajji.

Then the Blessed One, having accepted their request, wishing to speak, urged them to attend carefully with ears attuned, saying: ‘Then listen, monks,’ and wishing to explain the recollection of the broken cycle that is not shared by others, spoke the words beginning: ‘Monks, from now [going back].’ Here, ‘yaṃ vipassī’ means: in which aeon Vipassī [lived]. For this word ‘yaṃ’ is seen in the nominative case in passages such as: ‘Bhante, what I heard and received directly in the presence of the Tāvatiṃsa devas, that I report to the Blessed One.’ In the accusative case in passages such as: ‘What we asked you about, that you did not explain to us; we ask you something else, please tell us that.’ In the instrumental case in passages such as: ‘Monks, it is impossible, it cannot happen, that in a single world system…’ But here it should be regarded as having a locative sense. Therefore it is said: ‘in which aeon.’ ‘Udapādi’ means: he arose, causing the ten-thousandfold world system to resound.