The mendicants told him what had happened, adding, “This is the conversation that was unfinished when the Buddha arrived.”

“Would you like to hear a Dhamma talk on the subject of past lives?” “Now is the time, Blessed One! Now is the time, Holy One! Let the Buddha give a Dhamma talk on the subject of past lives. The mendicants will listen and remember it.” “Well then, mendicants, listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Yes, sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Ninety-one eons ago, the Buddha Vipassī arose in the world, perfected and fully awakened. Thirty-one eons ago, the Buddha Sikhī arose in the world, perfected and fully awakened. In the same thirty-first eon, the Buddha Vessabhū arose in the world, perfected and fully awakened. In the present fortunate eon, the Buddhas Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa arose in the world, perfected and fully awakened. And in the present fortunate eon, I have arisen in the world, perfected and fully awakened.