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Lesson 1.3.5 Maṇḍūkadevaputtavimānavatthu - The Frog Transforms into a Deva
The Maṇḍūkadevaputtavimānavatthu is a lovely narrative about a frog, Maṇḍūka, who left his water abode with the strong desire to listen to the Dhamma (saddhammassavanaṃ) and while listening to the Dhamma was killed. As this very desire gave him immediate rebirth in the tāvatiṃsā-devā world, he reappeared on that very spot in his new form not missing a single word of the Buddha’s discourse. This story, like others of beings and their deeds who gain birth in higher or lower worlds, are collected in the Vimānavatthu or the Petavatthu. Complying with the request of Brahmā Sahampati after the he surveyed the world, the Buddha uttered the following renowned stanza and thus made the Noble Path not only available (saddhammassavanaṃ) but also possible to pursue: Apārutā tesaṃ amatassa dvārā; ye sotavanto pamuñcantu saddhaṃ … (Now the door of the deathless is opened; Open for those to hear, let them dissolve their faith …).