Sakka’s Questions 1.11

“Sir, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the gods who were reborn in the host of the thirty-three before me:

‘When a Realized One arises in the world, perfected and fully awakened, the heavenly hosts swell, while the titan hosts dwindle.’

And I have seen this with my own eyes.

Right here in Kapilavatthu there was a Sakyan lady named Gopikā who had confidence in the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, and had fulfilled her ethics.

Losing her attachment to femininity, she developed masculinity. When her body broke up, after death, she was reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.

In the company of the gods of the thirty-three she became one of my sons.

There they knew him as

the godling Gopaka.

Meanwhile three others, mendicants who had led the spiritual life under the Buddha, were reborn in the inferior centaur realm.

There they amused themselves, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation, and became my servants and attendants.

At that, Gopaka scolded them,

‘Where on earth were you at, good fellows, when you heard the Buddha’s teaching!

For while I was still a woman I had confidence in the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, and had fulfilled my ethics. I lost my attachment to femininity and developed masculinity. When my body broke up, after death, I was reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. In the company of the gods of the thirty-three I became one of Sakka’s sons.

Here they know me as

the godling Gopaka.

But you, having led the spiritual life under the Buddha, were reborn in the inferior centaur realm.

It is a sad sight indeed to see fellow practitioners reborn in the inferior centaur realm.’

When scolded by Gopaka, two of those gods regained their memory right away. They went to the host of the priests of Divinity, but one god remained attached to sensual pleasures.