[17]
"This mansion (vimāna), lovely and radiant,
its pillars of beryl, ever stainless,¹
overspread on every side with trees of gold,
is my place, sprung from the ripening of kamma.
These nymphs (accharā) of former days, arisen therein —
a hundred thousand of them, each through her own kamma —
yet you, O glorious one, have come here
and stand outshining the deities of old.
Just as the moon, the king of constellations,
shines forth surpassing the host of stars,
even so do you outshine this whole company of nymphs,
blazing with your glory.
From where, O flawless one to behold, have you come,
that you have arisen in this abode of mine?
Even as the Tidasa gods together with their Indra [beholding] Brahmā,
so all of us can never be sated with the sight of you."
"As to this that you ask of me, Sakka —
'From where did you pass away, that you have come here?' —
there is a city of the Kāsis, Bārāṇasī by name;
there in the past I was a weaver girl,²
my mind confident in the Buddha and in the Dhamma,
wholly devoted to the Saṅgha, free from doubt,
my training precepts (sikkhāpada) unbroken, the fruit (phala) attained,
assured of the Dhamma of awakening (sambodhi), free from affliction."
"In this we rejoice with you — and welcome to you!
And righteously you shine with glory,
O you whose mind is confident in the Buddha and in the Dhamma,
wholly devoted to the Saṅgha, free from doubt,
whose training precepts are unbroken, who have attained the fruit,
assured of the Dhamma of awakening, free from affliction!"
The Weaver Girl's Mansion (Pesakāriyavimāna), the seventeenth.
Summary (uddāna):
Five Seats (pīṭha), three Boats, the Lamp, the Sesame-Offering,
two Devoted Wives, two Daughters-in-law, Uttarā, Sirimā, the Weaver Girl —
by these the chapter is proclaimed.
The first chapter in the Mansions of Women (Itthivimāna).
The Second Chapter: the Cittalatā Chapter.
¹ Variant (Po., Ma., Yu. editions): sunimmitaṃ, "well-fashioned."
² Variant (Po., Ma., Yu. editions): kesakārikā.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.