Taught at the Rājakārāma, at the Buddha’s special request, by Nandaka (q.v.), to five hundred nuns led by Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī. The first part of the discourse is a catechism, the second is more explanatory, and contains various similes illustrating the impermanence of the senses and of sense objects. The discourse ends with the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅga).
After the discourse the nuns visit the Buddha who, seeing that their minds were not quite ripe, asks Nandaka to repeat the discourse to them the next day. Nandaka does so, and their enlightenment is assured. M.iii.270 ﬀ; cf. J.ii.392, where it says the nuns became Arahants at the conclusion of the discourse.