Vimānavatthu

Each of the stories in the Vimanavatthu follows the same pattern, using the frame of the Buddha's disciple Mahamoggallana asking a deva the reason for their current residence in a divine abode. The deva then relates the good deeds in their previous birth that lead to their rebirth in the divine realm.[1]

The text is generally regarded by scholars as a relatively late addition to the Pali Canon, possibly one of the last texts added to the Khuddaka Nikaya before the Canon was closed.[1] Selected texts or stories from the Vimanavatthu may be earlier, a few being composed in the archaic Arya metre and others possibly reflecting reworkings of older stories, including borrowings from the Jataka collections.[1] Its contents closely resemble a section of the Mahavastu, as well as a fragmentary Sarvastivada text from the Ksudrakagama called the Vimānāvadāna, suggesting an origin in an older collection of stories.[1]

Narratives based on the Vimanavatthu and the Petavatthu, a similar text, were expanded into narratives in the commentary tradition and became a popular source of material for sermons.[2] The collection as a whole was probably directed at lay Buddhists, and present a relatively simply view of karma where good deeds are rewarded by promising rebirth.[1] However, many of the devas lament that they did not do even better and become fully enlightened.

• "Stories of the mansions", tr Jean Kennedy, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, volume IV, 1st edn, 1942
• "Stories of the mansions", tr I. B. Horner, in Minor Anthologies IV, 2nd edn, 1974, Pali Text Society, Bristol
• In Vimana Stories, tr Peter Masefield, 1989, Pali Text Society, Bristol; translation of the commentary, with the verses embedded; the PTS's preferred translation

• Petavatthu

• "Vimāna," entry in the Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary (1921-25)
• Selected suttas from the Vimanavatthu (from Access to Insight)
• Complete English translation of Vimana Vatthu by Ven. Gnanananda Thero