[41] 3.
"Adorned, you mounted a noble elephant —
mighty, inlaid with gold,
resplendent with golden netting, well caparisoned —
and came here through the air, in mid-heaven.
On the two tusks of the elephant (nāga)
lotus ponds are conjured, clear-watered, in full bloom;
upon the lotuses companies of instruments resound,
and these captivating [dancers] dance.
You have attained divine power (deviddhi), O one of great majesty!
When you were a human being, what merit (puñña) did you make?
By what is your majesty thus ablaze,
and your radiance shines over every quarter?"
[The devatā replied:]
"At Bārāṇasī I approached
and gave to the Buddha a pair of cloths;
having venerated his feet, I sat down upon the ground,
and with a [devout] heart I made the añjali to him.
And the Buddha, whose skin is like gold,
taught me the impermanence (aniccatā) of suffering (dukkha) and of [its] origin (samudaya);
the unconditioned (asaṅkhata) — the truth of the cessation (nirodha) of suffering —
and the path (magga) he taught, whereby I came to understand.
Short-lived, I died; and, passing from there,
I was reborn, glorious, among the Thirty [gods] (Tidasa).
I am one of Sakka's consorts (pajāpati),
Yasuttarā by name, renowned in every quarter."
The Nāga Mansion (Nāgavimāna), the third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.