[911] Mounting his horse, a vehicle fit to bear the gods,
Puṇṇaka, adorned, his hair and beard well dressed,
departed through the heavens, into mid-air.
That Puṇṇaka, greedy with sensual lust (kāmarāga),
seeking to win Irandatī, the nāga maiden,
went to that glorious lord of beings (bhūtapati)
and spoke thus to Vessavaṇa Kuvera:
"There is a dwelling in the palace named Bhogavatī —
'Hiraññavatī' it is called —
a city conjured forth, wrought of gold,
brought to completion for the coiled serpent.
Watchtowers there, shaped like camels' necks,
are of ruby and of cat's-eye gem;
palaces there are, made of stone,
covered over with precious gold.
Mangoes, tilakas, and rose-apples,
sattapaṇṇas, mucalindas, and ketakas,
piyaṅgus and uddālakas together with sahā trees,
pāribhaddakas and sinduvāras,
campakas, nāga trees, and mallikā jasmines,
bhaginīmālās, and koliyas besides —
these trees, bending down together,
adorn the serpent's palace.
Here too are many date-palms made of stone,
ever blossoming with flowers of gold,
and there dwells, spontaneously born (opapātika),
the nāga king Varuṇa, of great psychic power.
His wife, wedded in her maidenhood,
is Vimalā, her body like a creeper of gold,
risen up slender as a young kāḷā vine,
her breasts like pucimanda fruits, lovely to behold —
her fair skin red as the juice of lac,
like a kaṇikāra tree flowered in a windless place,
like a celestial nymph (accharā) who moves in the heaven of the Thirty-three,
like lightning streaming from a bank of cloud.
She, seized with the longing of pregnancy, deeply bewildered,
craves the heart of Vidhura:
that, O sovereign, I shall give to them,
and for it they will give Irandatī to me."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.