Vimanavatthu
Stories of the mansions

The Vimanavatthu of the Khuddaka Nikaya is a collection of 83 stories in verse describing the vimana [vimaana] — a kind of personal heavenly mansion — inhabited by beings reborn as gods or goddesses ( devata [devataa] ) as a reward for meritorious deeds performed by them as human beings. All the stories follow a similar pattern. They begin with an introductory verse (or verses) in which the god or goddess is asked about the cause for his or her rebirth within that particular mansion. The deva thereupon relates his or her previous good deeds.

— John D. Ireland, in Vangisa: An Early Buddhist Poet

Selected suttas

In the passages listed below the translator appears in the square brackets [].