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The '''Vimanavatthu''' (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<br />
| last = Norman<br />
| first = Kenneth Roy<br />
| author-link = K. R. Norman<br />
| title = Pali Literature<br />
| url = https://archive.org/details/historyindianlit00norm<br />
| url-access = limited<br />
| publisher = Otto Harrassowitz<br />
| date = 1983<br />
| location = Wiesbaden<br />
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/historyindianlit00norm/page/n79 70]-71<br />
| language = English<br />
| 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/><br />
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==Overview==<br />
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/> <br />
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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/> <br />
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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/><br />
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==Translations==<br />
* "Stories of the mansions", tr Jean Kennedy, in ''Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon'', volume IV, 1st edn, 1942<br />
* "Stories of the mansions", tr [[I. B. Horner]], in ''Minor Anthologies'' IV, 2nd edn, 1974, [[Pali Text Society]][http://www.palitext.com], Bristol<br />
* In ''Vimana Stories'', tr Peter Masefield, 1989, Pali Text Society, Bristol; translation of the commentary, with the verses embedded; the PTS's preferred translation<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Petavatthu]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[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)<br />
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/vv/ Selected suttas from the Vimanavatthu (from Access to Insight)]<br />
*[https://suttafriends.org/vimana-vatthu/ Complete English translation of Vimana Vatthu by Ven. Gnanananda Thero]<br />
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[[Category:Khuddaka Nikaya]]<br />
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