View source for Vimānavatthu

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{{short description|Part of Khuddaka Nikaya in the Pali Canon}}
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The '''''Vimānavatthu'''''  (Vimāna-; abbreviated as "Vv") is a [[Theravada]] [[Buddhist]] scripture, the sixth book of the ''[[Khuddaka Nikaya]]'' in the [[Pali Canon]]. Its name in [[Pali]] means "Stories of the [[Vimana]]," usually translated as 'heavenly abodes' or 'divine mansions'.<ref name=Norman>{{cite book
 | last = Norman
 | first = Kenneth Roy
 | author-link = K. R. Norman
 | title = Pali Literature
 | url = https://archive.org/details/historyindianlit00norm
 | url-access = limited
 | publisher = Otto Harrassowitz
 | date = 1983
 | location = Wiesbaden
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historyindianlit00norm/page/n79 70]-71
 | language = English
 | isbn = 3-447-02285-X}}</ref> The Vimanavatthu is an anthology of 83 short stories written in verse, divided into seven chapters or ''vagga''. Each story describes the life and deeds of a character who has attained residence in a heavenly mansion, the "Vimana", due to their meritorious deeds.<ref name=Norman/>

==Overview==
Each of the stories in the Vimanavatthu follows the same pattern, using the frame of the Buddha's disciple [[Mahamoggallana]] asking a [[Deva (Buddhism)|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.<ref name=Norman/> 

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.<ref name=Norman/> 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.<ref name=Norman/> Its contents closely resemble a section of the [[Mahavastu]], as well as a fragmentary [[Sarvastivada]] text from the [[Āgama (Buddhism)|Ksudrakagama]] called the Vimānāvadāna, suggesting an origin in an older collection of stories.<ref name=Norman/> 

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.<ref>Skilling, Peter. "Scriptural Authenticity and the Śrāvaka Schools: An Essay towards an Indian Perspective." The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 41, no. 2, 2010, pp. 1–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44362554. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.</ref> 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.<ref name=Norman/> However, many of the devas lament that they did not do even better and become [[Nibbāna|fully enlightened]].

==Translations==
* "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]][http://www.palitext.com], 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

==See also==
* [[Petavatthu]]

==References==
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==External links==
*[https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/pali_query.py?qs=Vim%C4%81na&searchhws=yes "Vimāna,"] entry in the [[Pali Text Society]]'s <u>Pali-English Dictionary</u> (1921-25)
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/vv/ Selected suttas from the Vimanavatthu (from Access to Insight)]
*[https://suttafriends.org/vimana-vatthu/ Complete English translation of Vimana Vatthu by Ven. Gnanananda Thero]

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[[Category:Khuddaka Nikaya]]

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