The goddess' vimana (Sirima devi's spaceship)

John D. Ireland (trans.), Sirima: "Sirima's Vimana" (Vv 1.16 PTS: Vv 136-148) edited and further explained by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The devas are beautiful humanoids.

Ven. Vangisa: Those yoked and finely caparisoned horses of yours, strong and swift, are heading downward through the sky. And these 500 chariots [vimanas = spacecraft, aircraft, limitless-vehicles, flying ships], magically created, are following, their horses [horsepower] urged on by charioteers.

You stand in this excellent chariot [flying craft], adorned, radiant, and shining, like a blazing star. I ask you of lovely slender form and exquisite beauty, from which company of devas (lit. "shining ones") have you come to visit the Peerless One (the Buddha)?

• See also Vangīsa Sutta for a story of this thera

I do as I please, assuming whatever form suits me.

Sirima [12]: From those who have reached the heights of sensual pleasure said to be unsurpassed, the devas who delight in magical creation and transformation. A nymph from that company able to assume any desired appearance [a shapeshifter able to wield the power of transformation] has come here to honor the Peerless One.

Vangisa Thera spoke up.

Vangisa: What meritorious karma (good conduct) did you practice (perform) here in former times? How is it that you live in immeasurable glory, having gained such sensuous pleasures? Due to what have you acquired the unrivalled power to travel through the sky? Why does your beauty radiate in the ten directions?

You are surrounded and honored by the devas. From where did you pass away before you came to a heavenly rebirth, goddess? Or of what teaching (dharma, doctrine-and-discipline) were you able to follow the word of instruction? Tell me if you were a disciple of the Awakened One (the Buddha).

Sirima: In a fine and well-built city situated between hills, an attendant of a noble king endowed with good fortune, I was highly accomplished in dancing and singing. As Sirima I was known in Rajagaha [modern Rajgir, India, where the Buddha dwelled on Vulture's Peak].

But then the Awakened One, the leader among seers, the guide, taught me

1. of the origination of suffering
2. and impermanence [how disappointment comes to be],
3. of the unconditioned (asankhata), of the cessation of all suffering (nirvana) that is timeless (ānantariya); and
4. of this path (magga), not crooked, straight, auspicious.

The war in heaven: vimana against vimana

When I had learned of the deathless state (amata = nirvana), the unconditioned, through the instruction of the Tathagata, the Peerless One, I was highly and well restrained in the precepts and established in the Dhamma taught by the most excellent of humans, the Awakened One.

When I knew the undefiled place, the unconditioned, taught by the Tathagata, the Peerless One, I then and there experienced the calm concentration (of the noble path). That supreme certainty of release was mine.

When I gained the distinctive undying, assured, eminent in penetrative insight, not doubting, I was revered by many people and experienced much pleasure and enjoyment.

Thus I am a goddess (devi), knowing the undying, a disciple of the Tathagata, the Peerless One, a knower of Dhamma established in the first fruit, a stream-winner. Henceforth, there is no more bad rebirth for me.

I came to revere the Peerless One and the virtuous monastics [monks, nuns, novices] who delight in what is skillful, to honor the auspicious assembly of wandering ascetics and those worthy of respect [the ariya, the noble ones], the Fortunate One, the Dhamma-king.

I am joyful and gladdened on seeing the sage, the Tathagata, the outstanding trainer of humans capable of being trained, who has uprooted craving, who delights in what is skillful, the guide. I honor the supremely merciful Compassionate One.

Back story: Who is the devi (goddess) Sirima?

G. P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (palikanon.com) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Deva emerges from gold vimana chariot-mansion

Ven. Buddhaghosa says (SNA.i.244f, 253f) that Sirimā was Sālavati's daughter, who succeeded to her mother's position as courtesan. After passing away from here, Sirimā was reborn in a high celestial plane of existence known as the Yāma World as the wife of Suyāma. When the Buddha was speaking to the monastics at her cremation, she visited the spot with 500 chariots (vimanas).

Janapada-kalyānī Nandā [the most beautiful Scythian "belle of the land," who was the fiancé of the Buddha's half-brother, Nanda, before the Buddha ordained him after showing him his future due to his mixed karma in a famous sutra that reads like a kind of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, who turns his life around after seeing what is to come], who at that time had become a Buddhist nun, was present.

When the Buddha taught the Kāyavicchandanika Sutta, she became an arahant (fully enlightened), while Sirimā became an anāgāmī (non-returner).

The Vimānavatthu ("Vimana Stories," pp.78f., 86) gives the same story, adding that Vangīsa was also present at the teaching of the sutra and, having obtained the Buddha's permission, questioned the shapeshifting devi Sirimā and made her reveal her former identity.

Here, however, Sirimā is said to have been reborn in the Nimmānarati World, and no mention is made of her becoming an anāgāmī (but rather a sotapanna or "stream-winner"), whereas the lustful Buddhist monk is said to have become an arahant.

Sirimā is mentioned in a list of eminent upāsikās (A.iv.347; AA.ii.791). Eighty-four thousand persons realized the noble truth after listening to the Buddha's teaching at the cremation of Sirimā (Mil.350) [most of whom must have been devas]/

The Sirimā-vimānavatthu is the story of Sirimā's passing away and subsequent events (Vv.i.16; VvA.67ff.) More