2.3

“Piṇḍāya te carantassa,

tuṇhībhūtassa tiṭṭhato;

Daliddā kapaṇā nārī,

parāgāraṁ apassitā.

Yā te adāsi ācāmaṁ,

pasannā sehi pāṇibhi;

Sā hitvā mānusaṁ dehaṁ,

kaṁ nu sā disataṁ gatā”ti.

“Piṇḍāya me carantassa,

tuṇhībhūtassa tiṭṭhato;

Daliddā kapaṇā nārī,

parāgāraṁ apassitā.

Yā me adāsi ācāmaṁ,

pasannā sehi pāṇibhi;

Sā hitvā mānusaṁ dehaṁ,

vippamuttā ito cutā.

Nimmānaratino nāma,

santi devā mahiddhikā;

Tattha sā sukhitā nārī,

modatācāmadāyikā”ti.

“Aho dānaṁ varākiyā,

kassape suppatiṭṭhitaṁ;

Parābhatena dānena,

ijjhittha vata dakkhiṇā.

Yā mahesittaṁ kāreyya,

cakkavattissa rājino;

Nārī sabbaṅgakalyāṇī,

bhattu cānomadassikā;

Etassācāmadānassa,

kalaṁ nāgghati soḷasiṁ.

Sataṁ nikkhā sataṁ assā,

sataṁ assatarīrathā;

Sataṁ kaññāsahassāni,

āmuttamaṇikuṇḍalā;

Etassācāmadānassa,

kalaṁ nāgghanti soḷasiṁ.

Sataṁ hemavatā nāgā,

īsādantā urūḷhavā;

Suvaṇṇakacchā mātaṅgā,

hemakappanavāsasā;

Etassācāmadānassa,

kalaṁ nāgghati soḷasiṁ.

Catunnamapi dīpānaṁ,

issaraṁ yodha kāraye;

Etassācāmadānassa,

kalaṁ nāgghati soḷasin”ti.

Ācāmadāyikāvimānaṁ tatiyaṁ.

God Sakka:

Kassapa Bhante, do you remember one day while you were on your almsround, you stood silently in front of a certain house? In that house there was a very poor lady of a low caste who used to go to other people’s houses to beg for food.

She was very pleased when she saw you and offered some rice-crust with her own hands. Now that she has died, which world was she reborn in?

Kassapa Bhante:

God Sakka, yes I do remember that day when I was on my almsround and I stood silently in front of a certain house. In that house there was a very poor lady of a low caste who used to go to other people’s houses to beg for food.

She was very pleased when she saw me and she offered some rice-crust with her own hands. Now she has died and escaped from that painful human life. She has been reborn in Nimmanarati Heaven where all the mighty devas possess psychic powers. That lady who offered some rice-crust now enjoys heavenly pleasures there.

God Sakka:

Amazing! It is wonderful! That poor lady offered rice-crust to Arahant Kassapa Bhante which she had begged from others, and that offering generated a wonderful result.

If one becomes the beautiful queen of a wheel-turning monarch, the happiness she experiences is not even worth a sixteenth part of the result of this rice-crust gift.

A hundred gold coins, a hundred horses, a hundred chariots pulled by mules, a hundred thousand maidens decorated in beautiful ornaments—happiness gained from these items is not worth a sixteenth part of the result of this rice-crust gift.

Even the happiness gained from a hundred Himalayan elephants with round tusks like wheels and necks decorated with golden ornaments is not worth a sixteenth part of the result of this rice-crust gift.

Even if someone became the ruler of this whole earth, a wheel-turning monarch, even his happiness is not worth a sixteenth part of the result of this rice-crust gift.