[3]
"Your magnificent stool (pīṭha) of gold,
swift as thought, goes wherever you wish;
adorned, wearing garlands, beautifully clothed,
you shine as lightning lights up the crest of a cloud.
By what is your beauty (vaṇṇa) such as this? By what does this prosper for you here,
and there arise for you whatever enjoyments are dear to the heart?
I ask you, goddess (devī) of great majesty:
when you were a human being, what merit (puñña) did you do?
By what is your majesty so blazing,
and your beauty shines forth in every direction?"
That deity (devatā), delighted at being questioned by Moggallāna,
when asked the question, explained of what deed (kamma) this was the fruit:
"This of mine is the fruit of a small deed,
whereby my majesty is so blazing.
When I was a human being among humans,
in a former birth in the human world (manussaloka),
I saw a stainless bhikkhu, serene and untroubled;
to him, confident, I gave a stool with my own hands.
By that is my beauty such as this; by that does this prosper for me here,
and there arise for me whatever enjoyments are dear to the heart.
I declare to you, bhikkhu of great majesty,
the merit I did when I was a human being:
by that is my majesty so blazing,
and my beauty shines forth in every direction."
The Stool Mansion (Pīṭhavimāna), the third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.