[9]
"You who stand with surpassing beauty, O devatā,
illuminating all the quarters
like the morning star (osadhī) —
by what is such beauty yours? By what does this prosper for you here?
And by what do there arise for you enjoyments (bhogā), whatever are dear to the mind?
By what do you, O devatā, shine forth surpassingly with stainless radiance?
By what do all the quarters shine from all your limbs?
I ask you, devī of great majesty:
when you were a human being, what merit (puñña) did you make?
By what is your majesty thus ablaze,
and your beauty radiant in all the quarters?"
That devatā, glad at heart at being questioned by Moggallāna,
when asked the question, explained of what deed (kamma) this is the fruit:
"When I was a human being among humans,
in a former birth, in the human world,
in dense darkness, on a pitch-black night,
at the time for lamps I gave a lamp.
Whoever, in the darkness, on a pitch-black night,
gives a lamp at the time for lamps,
there arises for him a mansion (vimāna) of the essence of light (jotirasa),
abounding in garlands, with many white lotuses.
By that is such beauty mine; by that does this prosper for me here;
and there arise for me enjoyments, whatever are dear to the mind.
By that do I, with stainless radiance, outshine the deities;
by that do all the quarters shine from all my limbs.
I declare to you, bhikkhu of great majesty,
what merit I made when I was a human being:
by that am I of majesty thus ablaze,
and my beauty is radiant in all the quarters."
The Lamp Mansion (Padīpavimāna), the ninth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.