[4] "Your grand seat made of beryl (veḷuriya),
swift as thought, goes wherever you wish;
adorned, wearing garlands, beautifully clothed,
you shine like lightning on the crest of a storm cloud.
Because of what is your beauty (vaṇṇa) such? Because of what do you prosper here,
and do there arise for you whatever enjoyments are dear to the mind?
I ask you, goddess (devī) of great power:
when you were a human being, what merit (puñña) did you make?
Because of what is your power so blazing,
and does your beauty shine in all directions?"
That deity (devatā), elated, questioned by Moggallāna,
being asked the question, explained of what deed (kamma) this is the fruit:
"This is for me the fruit of a trifling deed,
whereby I am of such blazing power.
When I was a human being among humans,
in a former birth in the human world,
I saw a bhikkhu, stainless,
serene and unclouded;
to him, confident, I gave a seat (pīṭha)
with my own hands.
Because of that my beauty is such; because of that I prosper here;
and there arise for me whatever enjoyments are dear to the mind.
I declare to you, bhikkhu of great power,
what [merit] I made when I was a human being;
because of that I am of such blazing power,
and my beauty shines in all directions."
The Seat Mansion (Pīṭhavimāna), the fourth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.