Vv 35Pesavatī’s Mansion

– HEAVENLY MANSIONS

– A. HEAVENLY MANSIONS OF FEMALE DEITIES

– THE PĀRICCHATTAKA CHAPTER

3.7

BJT 647"I have seen a most charming mansion, covered with crystal gems and nets of silver and gold, with varied surfaces and many colors; this beautiful palace was skillfully conjured forth, with arched gateways erected, strewn with golden sand.

BJT 648And just as the sun, that which dispels darkness in autumn with its thousand rays of radiance, illuminates the ten directions in the sky, in the same way this mansion of hers shines brilliantly like a blazing flame upon the top of a cloud at night.

BJT 649It seems to dazzle the eyes, like lightning, established in the sky, giving delight. Like the city of the god Inda, this mansion of hers is bustling, resounding with the music of the vīṇā, small drums, cymbals, and gongs.

BJT 650There are pink lotuses, white lotuses, blue lotuses, water lilies, jasmine flowers, bandhuka flowers, and anojaka flowers, and there are flowering sālā trees, blossoming aśoka trees; this mansion is pervaded by the wonderful fragrance of many kinds of the finest trees.

BJT 651O lady of great renown, the charming lotus pond appearing like a net of maṇi-gems has been manifested for you; the lotus pond is adorned with saḷala trees, breadfruit trees, bhujaka trees, with beautifully blossoming creepers hanging down from palm trees.

BJT 652And there are flowering trees of the kind that grow in water, and trees of the kind born on dry land, belonging to the human realm, not belonging to non-humans, and belonging to the heavenly realm; all of them have come into being at your abode.

BJT 653By what restraint and training was this attainment achieved? By the fruit of what deed were you born here? And how did you come to inhabit this mansion? O lady of noble lashes, tell this part by part."

BJT 654"And how I came to inhabit this mansion—which is frequented by flocks of herons, peacocks, and partridges, thronged with wild ducks and lordly swans, resounding with the calls of birds such as the kāraṇḍava and the cuckoo—

BJT 655—which has flowering trees with broad canopies of many different kinds, including the trumpet-flower tree, the red plum, and the aśoka tree—how I came to inhabit this mansion, sir, I shall explain to you; please listen.

BJT 656Sir, to the east of the noble land of Magadha there is a village named Nāḷaka. There, in a former time, I was a daughter-in-law. There, I was known as Sesavatī.

BJT 657I, with a joyful mind, scattered flowers upon the venerable Upatissa, who was skilled in purpose and in the Dhamma worthy of reverence, who was honored by gods and humans, the great one, immeasurable, who had passed into nirvana.

BJT 658And having made an offering to him who had reached the ultimate state, the great sage bearing his final body, I relinquished my human form and came to the Realm of the Thirty-Three; here I dwell in this mansion."

The Mansion of Sesavatī.