Then, with my mind stilled, purified, cleansed, flawless, free from defilements, supple, wieldy, steady, and unshakable, I directed it to the knowledge that consists of recollecting past lives. I recollected many past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births; many eons of world dissolution, many eons of world evolution, and many eons of both dissolution and evolution. And I knew: ‘There I had such a name, such a family, such an appearance, such food, such an experience of pleasure and pain, and such a lifespan. Passing away from there, I was reborn elsewhere, and there I had such a name, such a family, such an appearance, such food, such an experience of pleasure and pain, and such a lifespan. Passing away from there, I was reborn here.’ In this way I recollected many past lives with their characteristics and particulars. This was the first true insight, which I attained in the first part of the night. Delusion was dispelled and true insight arose, darkness was dispelled and light arose, as happens to one who is heedful, energetic, and diligent. This, brahmin, was my first breaking out, like a chick from an eggshell.