Moggallana Bhante:
Dear Deva, your mansion is very high in the sky and spreads over a hundred and twenty kilometers. Pillars of beryl and other gemstones, and seven hundred pinnacled buildings are in your estate. It is extremely beautiful. Inside the mansion, you drink and eat and enjoy the sweetness of heavenly food. The sweet music of guitars plays. You have many sensual pleasures. Devas are dancing and they are wearing golden jewelry.
What are the meritorious deeds that you have done to gain this happiness and your position as a leader?
Tell me Deva, what kind of meritorious action did you do when you were in the human world to have gained this beauty that shines in all directions, and to have earned all these wonderful things?
Narrator:
That deva, delighted at being questioned by Arahant Moggallana, gladly explained what he had done that resulted in such great happiness.
Deva:
When I was in the human world, in the last month of the summer, the sun was very hot. There I was the guard of a mango grove and my duty was to watch over the mangoes and water them. One day, the famous Arahant Sariputta Bhante was passing by the mango grove. He appeared to be very tired, although his mind was never tired.
While I was watering the mango trees, I saw Sariputta Bhante approaching the grove. I said, “If I could bathe Bhante, it would lead to my happiness.”
Out of pity for me, Sariputta Bhante set aside his outer robes and bowl and sat down in the shade at the foot of a tree wearing his lower robe. I was so delighted. I bathed the Bhante with clean water while he sat there wearing his lower robe. I watered the mango tree and bathed the Bhante at the same time. The merit I collected was not small. My whole body was filled with joy.
That is the only meritorious action I did in the human world. When I passed away, I was reborn in this Nandana Park. I enjoy living in this park, surrounded by various birds and singing and dancing goddesses.