[37] 9.
"Who are you, O wide-eyed one (visālakkhī),
who range all about the delightful Cittalatā Grove (Cittalatāvana),
escorted by a company of women?
When the devas of Tāvatiṃsa enter this wood,
all with their teams and chariots,
they become resplendent on coming here;
but as for you, when you have arrived here
and wander in the garden,
resplendence is seen through your very body —
by what means is your form such as this?
O devatā, being asked, declare:
of what deed is this the fruit?" (Thus [the question was asked].)
"By what deed, O lord of devas (devinda),
came my form and my destination (gati),
my power (iddhi) and my majesty (ānubhāva) —
hear that, O Purindada.
In delightful Rājagaha I was
a laywoman follower (upāsikā) named Sunandā,
endowed with faith and virtue,
ever delighting in sharing.
Clothing and food,
lodging and lamps
I gave to those who have become upright,
with a serenely confident mind.
On the fourteenth, the fifteenth,
and the eighth day of the fortnight,
and through the special fortnight (pāṭihāriyapakkha),
I observed the uposatha
well furnished with its eight factors,
ever well restrained in virtue —
abstaining from the destruction of life,
restrained from false speech,
far removed from theft, from transgression [in chastity],
and from the drinking of intoxicants,
delighting in the five training rules,
skilled in the noble truths (ariyasacca):
a laywoman follower of the One with Vision,
the glorious Gotama.
My kinsmen's family would ever
send me offerings of garlands;
all of them I offered up
at the stūpa (thūpa) of the Blessed One.
On the very uposatha day I would go
and, confident, with my own hands,
place garlands, scents, and unguents
upon the stūpa.
By that deed, O lord of devas,
came my form and my destination,
my power and my majesty.
And that I offered up garlands,
and that I was virtuous —
that has not yet ripened;
and my hope, O lord of devas,
is that I may be a once-returner (sakadāgāminī)."
The Visālakkhi Vimāna, the ninth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.