Moggallana Bhante:
Devata, you are very mighty and your beauty illuminates all the directions. Many gods and goddesses decorated with divine jewelry dance and sing to entertain you. You are superior to all of them in status and happiness. Your mansion is very beautiful. It is made of gold. You spend your time here very happily.
What kind of merit did you do to receive this result?
Tell me Devata, what kind of meritorious action did you do when you were in the human world to have such beauty as well as all these wonderful things?
That devata, delighted at being questioned by Arahant Moggallana, gladly explained what she had done that resulted in such great happiness.
Devata:
Before I was born here, I lived in the human world. I was a daughter-in-law in a very greedy family that did not have any faith in the Triple Gem. But I had unshakable confidence in the Triple Gem and I followed the Five Precepts. I delighted in giving and sharing. One day, Bhante, you came on your almsround and I offered you an oil cake.
When my mother-in-law came home, I told her, “Mother, today a monk came here. I was happy and offered an oil cake with my own hands.” My mother-in-law scolded me saying, “You are a disobedient and evil girl. You did not get permission from me to give an oil cake to a monk.”
She got very angry and hit me with a grinding stone, breaking my shoulder. My injury was very serious and I did not live long after that. After death, I escaped from suffering in the human world and was born among devas in Tavatimsa Heaven.
Because of this meritorious deed, I have been born as a very beautiful goddess and enjoy all the wonderful things that delight my heart.
Great Bhante, that was the meritorious action I did to have such a beautiful body that shines in all directions.
Read this translation of Vimānavatthu 3.1 Uḷāra Sutta: Splendid Mansion by Ven.Kiribathgoda Gnananda Thero on SuttaFriends.org. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.
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You can find the entire translation of the Vimanavatthu: Stories of Heavenly Mansions available on SuttaFriends.org.