I want to study about the sensuous heavenly realms, the ones below brahmaloka or jhanaloka. But I think most sources are Mahayana? I’m not EBT so any source from tripitaka is fine. Thank you
search on suttacentral: sakka, nymphs, four great kings, garden of delight, mansion
Maha-moggallana in the suttas likes to visit the heavens and shake their castles with his powers.
There’s also the garden of eden (eden means joy), where the Buddha takes his cousin to see the nymphs. More on the garden SuttaCentral
In another story, he grabs a flower from heaven to impress the fire ascetic leader SuttaCentral
Here’s a blog that compares sakka to st. Michael with sutta references
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: Sakka, "St. Michael," Lord of the 33 (video)
The four great kings council
there’s a lot…
Well, the Vimanavatthu is a good place to start. It is not translated on SC, but you can find a complete translation on SuttaFriends.org. As well, the first chapter of the Saṁyutta Nikaya has suttas about various heavenly realms, as well as humans who have experiences with devas.
The DN 32: Āṭānāṭiyasutta is also good.
Maybe a good place to start is ‘The Buddhist Cosmos’ by Bhante Punnadhammo?
https://www.arrowriver.ca/book/cosmoBook.php
If I understand it correctly, the 4 great kings are: the dwarf king (treasure guards), gandhaba king (forest musicians), yakha king (giants) and Naga king (flying serpents).
And they’re Theravadan doctrines, not Mahayana?
Kumbhanda, yakkha, naga, gandhabba, they’re in the suttas
https://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/c/caatummahaaraajikaa.htm
This will perfectly help you. In this book every type of God/goddess/nymph/indra/brahma/heavenly gardens/lifespan/happiness and everything is explained.
This is book by ajahn punnadhammo, it is based on Pali canon only. No Mahayana influence.
I am 100 percent sure…this book will clarify all your doubts and explain everything what you want to know.
Yes…it is not only good place to start but gives answer to almost all the wonderings about heavens and heavenly beings.
I shared pdf below.
cosmo.pdf (11.4 MB)