“Mendicants, don’t fear good deeds. For ‘good deeds’ is a term for happiness. I recall undergoing for a long time the likable, desirable, and agreeable results of good deeds performed over a long time. I developed a mind of love for seven years. As a result, for seven eons of the cosmos contracting and expanding I didn’t return to this world again. As the cosmos contracted I went to the realm of sublime luminosity. As it expanded I was reborn in an empty mansion of divinity.

There I was the Divinity, the Great Divinity, the vanquisher, the unvanquished, the universal seer, the wielder of power. I was Sakka, lord of gods, thirty-six times. Many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king. My dominion extended to all four sides, I achieved stability in the country, and I possessed the seven treasures. These were my seven treasures: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the jewel, the woman, the householder, and the commander as the seventh treasure. I had over a thousand sons who were valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of my enemies. After conquering this land girt by sea, I reigned by principle, without rod or sword.

See the result of good deeds,

of skillful deeds, for one seeking happiness.

I developed a mind of love

for seven years, mendicants.

For seven eons of expansion and contraction

I didn’t return to this world again.

As the world contracted

I went to the realm of sublime luminosity.

And when it expanded

I went to an empty mansion of divinity.

Seven times I was a Great Divinity,

and at that time I was the wielder of power.

Thirty-six times I was lord of gods,

acting as ruler of the gods.

Then I was king, a wheel-turning monarch,