• Bīrānī

A goddess (devadhītā).

She had a palace in the Cātummahārājika world which Nimi saw on his visit to heaven when he learnt her story from Mātali. In the time of Kassapa Buddha she had been a slave in a brahmin's house. The brahmin, whose name was Asoka, invited eight monks to feed daily at his house and asked his wife to arrange to feed them at a cost of one kahāpana each. This she refused to do as did also his daughters; but their slave agreed to carry out this work, and she did it most conscientiously and with great devotion. As a result she was reborn in heaven (J.vi.117f). Her palace was twelve leagues in height and one in extent; it possessed nine storeys and one thousand rooms. When Dutthagāmanī wished to erect the Lohapāsāda, he asked the monks for a plan, and eight arahants went to the deva world and returned with a plan of Bīranī's palace. Mhv.Xxvii.9ff.