1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus!"

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe vihārati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: "bhikkhavo"ti.

"Bhadante"ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca: 

"Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

2"Bhikkhus, once in the past in this same Rājagaha there was a poor man, a pauper, an indigent. He undertook faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and wisdom in the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata. Having done so, with the breakup of the body, after death, sn.i.232 he was reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world, in the company of the Tāvatiṁsa devas, where he outshone the other devas in regard to beauty and glory.[n.642] Spk says that this pauper was the leper Suppabuddha, whose story is told at Ud 48–50 and, more elaborately with several variations, in Spk. According to the Spk version, in an earlier life he had been a king of Baraṇasī who had spitefully reviled an aged paccekabuddha. As a kammic result he was reborn in hell and then, through the residue of the evil kamma, as a poor leper in Rājagaha. One day, on his begging rounds, he heard the Buddha preach and attained stream-entry. Shortly afterwards he was killed by a wild cow and was reborn in the Tāvatiṁsa heaven.

2"Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, aññataro puriso imasmiṁyeva rājagahe manussadaliddo ahosi manussakapaṇo manussavarāko. So tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye saddhāṁ samādiyi, sīlaṁ samādiyi, sutaṁ samādiyi, cāgaṁ samādiyi, paññaṁ samādiyi. So tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye saddhāṁ samādiyitvā sīlaṁ samādiyitvā sutaṁ samādiyitvā cāgaṁ samādiyitvā paññaṁ samādiyitvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapajji devānaṁ tāvatiṁsānaṁ sahabyataṁ. So aññe deve atirocati vaṇṇena ceva yasasā ca.

"Thereupon the Tāvatiṁsa devas found fault with this, grumbled, and complained about it, saying: ‘It is wonderful indeed, sir! It is amazing indeed, sir! For formerly, when this young deva was a human being, he was a poor man, a pauper, an indigent. Yet with the breakup of the body, after death, he has been reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world, in the company of the Tāvatiṁsa devas, where he outshines the other devas in regard to beauty and glory.’

3"Then, bhikkhus, Sakka, lord of the devas, addressed the Twsa devas, where he outshines the other devas in regard to beauty and glory.’

Tatra sudaṁ, bhikkhave, devā tāvatiṁsā ujjhāyanti khiyyanti vipācenti: ‘acchariyaṁ vata bho, abbhutaṁ vata bho. Ayañhi devaputto pubbe manussabhūto samāno manussadaliddo ahosi manussakapaṇo manussavarāko; so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapanno devānaṁ tāvatiṁsānaṁ sahabyataṁ. So aññe deve atirocati vaṇṇena ceva yasasā cā’ti.

3Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo deve tāvatiṁse āmantesi: ‘mā kho tumhe, mārisā, etassa devaputtassa ujjhāyittha. Eso kho, mārisā, devaputto pubbe manussabhūto samāno tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye saddhāṁ samādiyi, sīlaṁ samādiyi, sutaṁ samādiyi, cāgaṁ samādiyi, paññaṁ samādiyi. So tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye saddhāṁ samādiyitvā sīlaṁ samādiyitvā sutaṁ samādiyitvā cāgaṁ samādiyitvā paññaṁ samādiyitvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapanno devānaṁ tāvatiṁsānaṁ sahabyataṁ. So aññe deve atirocati vaṇṇena ceva yasasā cā’ti.

"Then, bhikkhus, instructing the Tāvatiṁsa devas,[n.643] Deve tāvatiṁse anunayamāno. Spk does not gloss anunayamāno, but the same expression is at AN I 143,30, where anunayamāno is glossed by Mp II 123,19 (Be; the Ee and Se readings are corrupt) with anubodhayamāno, "making understand." The participle also occurs in the form anunenti at Thī 514, where it is glossed by Thī-a 267, 8–9 with saññāpentī, "convincing." Sakka, lord of the devas, on that occasion recited these verses:

Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo deve tāvatiṁse anunayamāno tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imā gāthāyo abhāsi: