[15]
"You who stand, O devatā, with surpassing beauty,
illuminating all the directions
like the morning star (osadhī) —
by what is such beauty (vaṇṇa) yours?
By what does this prosper for you here,
and by what do there arise for you riches,
whatever are dear to the mind?
I ask you, O devī of great majesty:
when you were a human being, what merit did you make?
By what is your majesty thus blazing,
and your beauty radiant in all directions?"
That devatā, elated at being questioned by Moggallāna,
when asked the question, explained
of what deed this is the fruit:
"Envy (issā), avarice (macchariya), conceit (māna), and domineering (paḷāsa)
were not found in me while I dwelt in the house;
free from anger, compliant with my husband's will,
I was ever heedful concerning the Uposatha.
On the fourteenth, the fifteenth,
and the eighth day of the fortnight,
and during the special fortnight (pāṭihāriyapakkha),
I kept the Uposatha, endowed well with its eight factors,
always well restrained in virtue (sīla);
through restraint and through sharing (saṃvibhāga)
I dwell in this mansion (vimāna).
Abstaining from the destruction of life,
restrained from false speech,
far removed from theft and from adultery
and from the drinking of intoxicants,
I delighted in the five training precepts (sikkhāpada),
proficient in the noble truths (ariyasacca) —
a laywoman disciple (upāsikā) of the One with Vision,
the glorious Gotama.
I, glorious through my own virtue and renown,
experience my own merit;
I am happy and free from affliction.
By that is such beauty mine;
by that does this prosper for me here;
and by that there arise for me riches,
whatever are dear to the mind.
I declare to you, O bhikkhu of great majesty,
what I did when I was a human being:
by that is my majesty thus blazing,
and my beauty radiant in all directions."
"And, venerable sir, in my name pay homage with your head at the feet of the Blessed One: 'Venerable sir, the laywoman disciple named Uttarā pays homage with her head at the feet of the Blessed One.' And this, venerable sir, is no wonder, that the Blessed One should declare me in one or another of the fruits of the ascetic life (sāmaññaphala): the Blessed One declared me in the fruit of once-returning (sakadāgāmiphala)."
The Uttarā Mansion (Uttarāvimāna), the fifteenth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.