Preached at the Rājakārāma, at the Buddha's special request, by Nandaka, to five hundred nuns led by Pajāpatī.
The first part of the sermon is a catechism, the second is more explanatory, and contains various similes illustrating the impermanence of the senses and of sense objects. The sermon ends with the seven bojjhangas. After the sermon the nuns visit the Buddha who, seeing that their minds are not quite ripe, asks Nandaka to repeat the sermon to them the next day. Nandaka does so, and their enlightenment is assured. M.iii.270ff.; cf. J.ii.392, where it says the nuns became arahants at the conclusion of the sermon.