[30] 2. "Illuminating the earth together with its devas,
you shine forth surpassingly, like the moon and the sun;
in splendor and in beauty, in glory and in majesty,
as Brahmā, O devī, outshines the Thirty (Tidasa) together with their Inda.
I ask you — wearer of a garland of blue lotuses,
crowned with a chaplet, your skin like gold,
adorned, clad in the finest of garments —
who are you, lovely devatā, that you pay homage to me?
What deed (kamma) did you yourself do in the past,
when you were a human being in a former birth (jāti)?
Was it giving (dāna) well practiced, or the restraint of virtue (sīla)?
By what have you arisen in a good destination (sugati), O glorious one?
Devatā, being asked, declare: of what deed is this the fruit?"
"Just now, venerable sir, to this very village
you came for alms, to our house;
then I gave you a piece of sugar cane,
devout in mind (citta), with incomparable rapture (pīti).
And afterwards my mother-in-law questioned me closely:
'Where, pray, daughter-in-law, did you put the sugar cane?'
'It was not thrown away, nor was it eaten by me;
I gave it myself to a peaceful bhikkhu.'
'Is this authority yours, then, or is it mine?' —
thus did my mother-in-law revile me;
seizing a stool, she dealt me a blow;
passed away from there, having died, I am a devatā.
That alone was the wholesome deed I did,
and I myself experience the happiness of that deed;
I take my delight together with the devas,
I rejoice in the five strands of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa).
That alone was the wholesome deed I did,
and I myself experience the happiness of that deed;
guarded by the lord of devas (devinda), protected by the Thirty,
I am furnished with the five strands of sensual pleasure.
Such is the fruit of merit (puñña) — no small thing:
my sugar-cane offering (dakkhiṇā) is of great result (vipāka).
I take my delight together with the devas,
I rejoice in the five strands of sensual pleasure.
Such is the fruit of merit — no small thing:
my sugar-cane offering is of great brilliance.
Guarded by the lord of devas, protected by the Thirty,
I am like the Thousand-eyed One (Sahassanetta) in the Nandana Grove.
And you, venerable sir, compassionate and wise —
having approached, I paid homage to you and asked after your welfare;
then I gave you a piece of sugar cane,
devout in mind, with incomparable rapture."
The Sugar-cane Mansion (Ucchuvimāna), the second.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.