Itivuttaka 98

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Adapted From the Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu(Geoffrey DeGraff)

Compared with the Pali Tipitaka at www.tipitaka.org

98. Danasuttam (Donation)

This was said by the Lord Buddha(Bhagavata), said by the Arahant, so I have heard:

“Monks, there are these two kinds of gifts: a gift of material things & a gift of the Dhamma. Of these two kinds of gifts, this is supreme: a gift of the Dhamma. There are these two kinds of sharing: sharing of material things & sharing of the Dhamma. Of these two kinds of sharing, this is supreme: sharing of the Dhamma. There are these two kinds of assistance: assistance with material things & assistance with the Dhamma. Of these two kinds of assistance, this is supreme assistance with the Dhamma.”

The gift he describes as supreme & unsurpassed, the sharing the Lord Buddha has extolled: who—confident in the supreme field of merit, wise, discerning— wouldn’t give it at appropriate times? Both for those who proclaim it and those who listen, confident in the message of the Tathagata(Buddha): it purifies their foremost benefit— those heeding the message of the Tathagata(Buddha).