Bīraṇī untranslated

Bīraṇī. 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 kahāpaṇa 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 (Ja.vi.117f). Her palace was twelve leagues in height and one in extent; it possessed nine storeys and one thousand rooms. When Duṭṭhagāmaṇī 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 Bīraṇī’s palace. Mhv.xxvii.9ff.