ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 21.5

21.5

They know (1) whence they have died and transmigrated, (2) where they have been born, and (3) why they have taken birth there.

They saw that when they had died as anguished spirits, filled with joy at the thought of Śāriputra, they transmigrated and took rebirth as gods. The young gods who formerly were anguished spirits thought, “It’s been a whole day since we went to see the Blessed One. This isn’t proper of us. Not a day should pass without our seeing the Blessed One.”

Then the young gods who formerly were anguished spirits decorated themselves with earrings, garlands, and strings of precious stones, put on crowns decorated with various types of precious jewels, and perfumed their bodies with saffron, tamala, spṛka, and other herbs. That night they filled the front of their long shirts with divine blue lotus, lotus, white water lily, white lotus, and mandārava flowers. They approached the Blessed One and scattered the divine flowers over him. Then the Blessed One taught them the Dharma, and all of them saw the truths.

After seeing the truths, they took leave of the Blessed One. On their way back whence they came, they recalled young Jackal and thought, “By entrusting ourselves to Noble Śāriputra, we were freed from rebirth as anguished spirits, and took rebirth as gods. Let us go now and act for the benefit of Jackal. Then he too will go to see the Blessed One, and by entrusting himself to the Blessed One, perhaps he too will be freed from suffering.” With this thought, they disappeared from the garden of Prince Jeta and traveled to the area of Śrāvastī where Jackal was. They stayed in the sky above the region in an immense celestial mansion, and the entire region of Śrāvastī was filled with a bright light.

Young Jackal saw the five hundred gods and asked, “Who are you?”

“We’re your former friends,” they replied.

“I’ve never before seen you in this kind