Verses on Dhamma 7.4.p2

7.4.p2

Ekasmiñhi divase thero jiṇṇacīvaro saṅkārakūṭādīsu cīvaraṃ pariyesati. Tassa ito tatiye attabhāve purāṇadutiyikā tāvatiṃsabhavane nibbattitvā jālinī nāma devadhītā ahosi. Sā theraṃ coḷakāni pariyesamānaṃ disvā therassa atthāya terasahatthāyatāni catuhatthavitthatāni tīṇi dibbadussāni gahetvā ‘‘sacāhaṃ imāni iminā nīhārena dassāmi, thero na gaṇhissatī’’ti cintetvā tassa coḷakāni pariyesamānassa purato ekasmiṃ saṅkārakūṭe yathā nesaṃ dasantamattameva paññāyati, tathā ṭhapesi. Thero tena maggena coḷakapariyesamānaṃ caranto nesaṃ dasantaṃ disvā tattheva gahetvā ākaḍḍhamāno vuttappamāṇāni dibbadussāni disvā ‘‘ukkaṭṭhapaṃsukūlaṃ vata ida’’nti ādāya pakkāmi. Athassa cīvarakaraṇadivase satthā pañcasatabhikkhuparivāro vihāraṃ gantvā nisīdi, asītimahātherāpi tattheva nisīdiṃsu, cīvaraṃ sibbetuṃ mahākassapatthero mūle nisīdi, sāriputtatthero majjhe, ānandatthero agge, bhikkhusaṅgho suttaṃ vaṭṭesi, satthā sūcipāsake āvuṇi, mahāmoggallānatthero yena yena attho, taṃ taṃ upanento vicari.

For one day, the Elder, whose robes were worn out, was seeking fresh robes on refuse-heaps and in other similar places. Now in the Elder’s third previous existence he had a wife who had been reborn in the World of the Thirty-three as the goddess Jālinī. When the goddess Jālinī saw the Elder seeking cloths for robes, she resolved to aid him. So taking three celestial cloths thirteen cubits long and four cubits wide, and thinking to herself, “If I display these cloths in this manner, the Elder will not take them,” she went to a certain refuse-heap in front of the heap where the Elder was seeking cloths and laid them down in such a way that only the hems were visible.

As the Elder proceeded on his way seeking cloths, he saw the hems of the celestial garments, whereupon he took hold of them and pulled them out. When he saw that they possessed the dimensions above described, he said to himself, “This indeed is a most remarkable refuse-heap!” And taking them with him, he went his way. On the day he was to make his robes, the Teacher, accompanied by his retinue of five hundred monks, went to the monastery and sat down; likewise did the eighty Chief Elders sit down there also. For the purpose of sewing the robes, Elder Kassapa the Great sat at the foot, Elder Sāriputta in the midst, and Elder Ānanda at the head. The company of monks spun out the thread, the Teacher threaded the needle, and Elder Moggallāna the Great went hither and thither supplying whatever else might be needed.