[1] The sage of Videha, his body bowed, asked the Tathāgata as he dwelt in Jetavana:
"Omniscient Buddhas, it is said, there are: by what causes, then, do those wise ones come to be?"
Then the great seer, supreme among the all-knowing, spoke to the good Ānanda with honeyed voice:
"Those who have done service under all the Buddhas, yet have not gained release in the dispensations of the Conquerors,
those wise ones, keen indeed in wisdom, by that very gateway of awakening,
by their resolve of mighty strength and by the fiery power of wisdom, attain the state of omniscience.
I too aspired to Buddhahood under the former Buddhas,
countless Kings of Dhamma, fulfilled in the thirty perfections (pāramī).
Saluting with my ten fingers joined the Leaders of the World together with their Saṅghas,
I revere with my head the awakening (sambodhi) of the supreme Buddhas.
As many countless jewels as exist in the Buddha-fields (buddhakhetta),
whether resting in the sky or upon the earth, with my mind I bring them all.
There, upon a ground of silver, I create a palace,
many-storied, made of jewels, towering, risen high into the sky,
with ornamented pillars, well wrought, well proportioned, of great price,
its beams of gold, adorned with pennons and parasols.
The first storey is of beryl, fair as a spotless cloud,
strewn with lotuses sprung from the waters, upon an excellent floor of gold.
Another, lovely and red, has the hue of coral with outspread branches;
radiant with the colour of the indagopaka insect, that storey lights up the quarters.
House-fronts well set out, turrets, latticed lion-windows,
four railings and trellises, and charming fragrant chaplets;
blue, yellow, red, white, and pure jet-black,
furnished with the finest gabled chambers, adorned with the seven jewels;
lotuses to behold, graced with beasts and birds,
strewn with constellations and stars, adorned with moons and suns;
covered over with a net of gold, hung with little golden bells,
the lovely golden nets chime in the rushing of the wind.
Crimson, red, yellow, and tawny-gold,
banners tinted with many dyes — the palace is garlanded with hoisted flags.
Many hundreds of divers panels, made of silver,
made of gems, of ruby, and likewise of cat's-eye stone;
adorned with various couches, spread with fine Kāsi cloth,
woollen blankets, dukūla, Chinese and pattuṇṇa silks, and pale-yellow mantles —
every kind of coverlet I spread out with my mind
upon each of those storeys adorned with jewelled pinnacles.
Bearing torches of gleaming gems, they stand firm;
the lofty posts and pillars shine, and fair gateways of gold,
wrought of Jambu-river gold, of heartwood, and of silver too,
with many joints, well apportioned, adorned with doors and bolts.
On either side stand many brimming jars, furnished with lotus and lily.
And having created all the Buddhas of the past, Leaders of the World, with their Saṅghas,
together with their disciples, in their natural colour and form,
entering in by that door, all the Buddhas with their disciples,
a circle of noble ones, sat down upon chairs all made of gold.
And whatever unsurpassed Buddhas there are now in the world,
those of the past and of the present — all ascended into the mansion.
Paccekabuddhas by many hundreds, self-become (sayambhū), unconquered,
of the past and of the present — all ascended into the mansion.
Many are the wish-granting trees, both divine and human;
gathering all their cloth, I robe them in the triple robe.
Foods hard and soft, dainties to be savoured, drink and victuals in plenty —
filling fair bowls made of gems, I gave them.
Clad all alike in divine cloth, furnished with smooth robes,
with sweet sugar and oils, with honey and molasses,
and with the choicest food the whole circle of noble ones was satisfied.
Having entered the jewelled chamber, as a maned lion
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.