Thus have I heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “Worldly people of lowly occupations search in various ways for wealth and livelihood, and they obtain their fortunes. Worldly people all know this. According to how something is known to worldly people, I also thus speak. Why is that? It doesn’t set me apart from worldly people.

“Monks, take for example a vessel in a person’s dwelling that’s called a ghaṭī. Some call it a pātra, some call it a pipīla, some call it a jvāla, some call it a vistha, some call it a vacana, and some call it a śarāva. However they know it, I also thus speak. Why is that? It’s so I’m not set apart from worldly people.

Thus, monks, there’s a mundane rule of the world that I myself know and realize and that I discern, explain, and demonstrate for people. Knowing and seeing it, I say: ‘The world is blind, without eyes, and doesn’t know or see it.’ How am I like the world that’s blind, without eyes, and doesn’t know or see it?

“Monks, what is the mundane rule of the world that I know and realize … doesn’t know or see it? Form is impermanent, painful, and liable to change. This is the mundane rule of the world. Feeling … conception … volition … consciousness is impermanent, painful, and liable to change. This is the mundane rule of the world. Monks, this is called the mundane rule of the world that I know and see … How am I like those who are blind, without eyes, and don’t know or see it?”

After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.