At Sāvatthi.
“Bhikkhus, the lion, the king of animals, in the evening time, leaves his lair; having left his lair, he stretches; having stretched, he looks around in all four directions; having looked around in all four directions, he roars his lion‘s roar three times; having roared his lion’s roar three times, he departs to search for food. When the lion, the king of animals, roars, whatever animals hear the sound of his roar are for the most part filled with fear, a sense of urgency, and dread. Those who live in the holes enter their holes; those who live in the water enter the water; those who live in the forest enter the forest; and the birds flee to the sky. Even those royal elephants, bhikkhus, that are bound with strong ropes in the villages, market towns, and royal capitals, they too, having broken and smashed those bonds, afraid, excreting dung and urine, flee here and there. Thus, bhikkhus, the lion, the king of animals, among the animals, is indeed possessed of great power, influence, and majesty.
In the same way, bhikkhus, when the Tathāgata arises in the world, the Arahant, perfectly Awakened One, accomplished in wisdom and conduct, who has reached the destination, knower of the world, the unsurpassed guide of trainable persons, the teacher of gods and humans, Buddha, Fortunate One, he teaches the Dhamma thus: ‘Such is |form::materiality, material existence, experience of the material world, i.e. encompassing both one’s body and external objects, whether near or far, gross or subtle, deficient or refined; first of the five aggregates [rūpa]|, such is the |arising::appearance, origination [samudaya]| of form, such is the |passing away::disappearing, vanishing, subsiding [atthaṅgama]| of form; such is |felt experience::pleasant, neutral or painful sensation, feeling felt on contact through eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; second of the five aggregates [vedanā]|, such is the arising of felt experience, such is the passing away of felt experience; such is |perception::interpretation and recognition of oneself, of things. It can involve concepts, labels, and judgments; third of the five aggregates [sañña]|, such is the arising of perception, such is the passing away of perception; such are |volitional formations::intentions, choices, decisions, karmic activity; fourth of the five aggregates [saṅkhāra]|, such is the arising of volitional formations, such is the passing away of volitional formations; such is |consciousness::quality of awareness — subjective awareness of experiences and the knowing of objects through the six sense doors [sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mind]; fifth of the five aggregates [viññāṇa]|, such is the arising of consciousness, such is the passing away of consciousness.‘
Even those deities, bhikkhus, who are long-lived, possessed of beauty, abundant in happiness, dwelling in high celestial mansions for a long time, they too, having heard the Tathāgata’s teaching of the Dhamma, are for the most part filled with fear, a sense of urgency, and dread: ”It seems, sir, that we are |unstable::impermanent, transient, unreliable [anicca]|, though we thought ourselves to be |stable::continuous, immutable, permanent [nicca]|; it seems, sir, that we are |not enduring::not eternal [addhuva]|, though we thought ourselves to be enduring; it seems, sir, that we are |not everlasting::not endless, not perpetual [asassata]|, though we thought ourselves to be everlasting. It seems, sir, that we are unstable, not enduring, not everlasting, |embodied in an individual identity::contained in a personal existence [sakkāyapariyāpanna]|. Thus, bhikkhus, the |Tathāgata::one who has arrived at the truth, an epithet of the Buddha [tathāgata]| is indeed possessed of great power, influence, and majesty over the world with its gods.“
The Blessed One spoke this. Those bhikkhus were satisfied and rejoiced in the Blessed One‘s words. The Teacher said this:
”When the Buddha, having directly realized,
sets in motion the wheel of Dhamma;
For the world with its gods,
he is the peerless teacher.
He teaches the cessation of |personal existence::individual identity, embodied being, view that one is the owner of the body and mind [sakkāya]|,
and the arising of personal existence;
And the Noble Eightfold path,
leading to the alleviation of |suffering::discomfort, unpleasantness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, stress, pain, disease, i.e. mild or intense suffering [dukkha]|.
Then even those long-lived deities,
possessed of beauty and celebrated;
Are filled with fear, and dread,
like animals before the lion’s roar.
‘We’ve not transcended personal existence,
It seems, sir, we‘re not stable;’
Thus they say, having heard the words of the |Arahant::a worthy one, an epithet of a fully awakened being [arahant]|,
the |steadfast::unmoved, unaffected [tādī]|, fully liberated one.”