Evaṁ bhāvitesu kho, bhikkhu, catūsu iddhipādesu evaṁ bahulīkatesu, anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarati, seyyathidaṁ—ekampi jātiṁ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṁsampi jātiyo cattālīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo jātisatampi jātisahassampi jātisatasahassampi anekepi saṁvaṭṭakappe anekepi vivaṭṭakappe anekepi saṁvaṭṭavivaṭṭakappe: ‘amutrāsiṁ evaṁnāmo evaṅgotto evaṁvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṁsukhadukkhappaṭisaṁvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto amutra udapādiṁ; tatrāpāsiṁ evaṁnāmo evaṅgotto evaṁvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṁsukhadukkhappaṭisaṁvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto idhūpapanno’ti. Iti sākāraṁ sauddesaṁ anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarati.
Ketika, para bhikkhu, empat landasan kekuatan batin telah dikembangkan dan dilatih dengan cara ini, ia mengingat berbagai kehidupan lampau, yaitu: satu kelahiran, dua kelahiran, tiga kelahiran, empat kelahiran, lima kelahiran, sepuluh kelahiran, dua puluh kelahiran, tiga puluh kelahiran, empat puluh kelahiran, lima puluh kelahiran, seratus kelahiran, seribu kelahiran, seratus ribu kelahiran; banyak kappa dunia yang menyusut, banyak kappa dunia yang mengembang, banyak kappa dunia yang menyusut dan mengembang. Ia mengingat: ‘Di sana aku bernama demikian, berasal dari keluarga demikian, berpenampilan demikian, makanan demikian, mengalami suka dan duka demikian, dan berakhir hidup demikian. Setelah meninggal dunia dari sana, aku terlahir di tempat lain. Di sana pun aku bernama demikian, berasal dari keluarga demikian, berpenampilan demikian, makanan demikian, mengalami suka dan duka demikian, dan berakhir hidup demikian. Setelah meninggal dunia dari sana, aku terlahir di sini.’ Demikianlah ia mengingat berbagai kehidupan lampau beserta ciri-ciri dan detailnya.
When the four bases of psychic power have been developed and cultivated in this way, they recollect many kinds of past lives. That is: one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand rebirths; many eons of the world contracting, many eons of the world expanding, many eons of the world contracting and expanding. They remember: ‘There, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn somewhere else. There, too, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn here.’ And so they recollect their many kinds of past lives, with features and details.