Thus have I heard - at one time, the Blessed One was residing in Jeta's grove in Sāvatthi, at Anāthapiṇḍika's park.

Then the Blessed One, having taken a small amount of dust on the tip of a fingernail, addressed the bhikkhus: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is greater, this small amount of dust on the tip of the fingernail or this great earth?"

"Venerable sir, the great earth is indeed far greater. The small amount of dust on the tip of the fingernail put by the Blessed One does not come to a hundredth part, nor to a thousandth part, nor even to a hundred-thousandth part compared to the great earth."

"Just so, bhikkhus, for the disciple of the noble ones who has attained right view, who has completely penetrated [the four noble truths], this much greater is the suffering that is exhausted and overcome; only a small amount remains. It does not come to a hundredth part, nor to a thousandth part, nor to a hundred-thousandth part of the former mass of suffering that is exhausted and overcome compared to this final state of having at most seven more existences. Thus great, bhikkhus, is the realization of the Dhamma; thus great is the attainment of the vision of the Dhamma."