Aditta Sutta

Translation by Bhikkhuni Uppalavanna

Thus I heard. At one time the Blessed One was living in the monastery offered by Anàthapiõóika in Jeta's grove in Sàvatthi.

A certain deity, when the night was waning illuminating the whole of Jeta's grove with an effulgent light approached the Blessed One, worshipped and stood on a side.

Standing on a side, that deity pronounced these stanzas in the presence of the Blessed One:


 * "When the house is on fire, things given away,
 * Are important, the rest get burnt with the house.
 * Thus our forefathers were carried away by decay and death,
 * And whatever they gave got established for them.
 * The given brought pleasant results, the not given was left behind,
 * Robbers or kings took them, or it was destroyed by fire.
 * At the end the body is burnt with all its belongings,
 * Knowing this the wise partake and give their wealth
 * By partaking and giving in their capacity
 * Without blame procure a place in heaven."