Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

1 So is it, Prince, with that sort of sacrifice. But where, Prince, neither oxen are slain, nor goats, nor fowls and pigs, nor are divers creatures put an end to, and those that partake of the sacrifice have right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right endeavour, right mindfulness, right rapture, such a sacrifice is of great fruitfulness, of great profit, of great renown, of widespread effect. It is just as if a farmer, Prince, were to enter a wood, taking with him plough and seed, and were there, in a well-tilled tract, in favourable soil well cleared of stumps, [354] to plant seed that was unbroken, free from mildew, unspoilt by wind or heat, in season and in good condition, and the god were to give good rain in due season. Would those seeds grow, increase, expand, and would the farmer get abundant returns ? '

' He would indeed, Master Kassapa/

' So is it, Prince, with that sort of sacrifice, where . . . no creatures are put to death, and those that take part

1 So of the sacrifice intended by the Very Reverend Sir Gold-stick
Sharp- tooth in the KuVadanta. See especially above, I, 163.

B b 2

372 PAYASI SUTTANTA. D. ii. 354.

therein are of high character. Such a sacrifice is of great fruitfulness, profit, renown and widespread effect.'

32. Then Prince Payasi instituted a gift to Wanderers and Brahmins, the poor, wayfarers, beggars and petitioners. In that gift such food was given as gruel and scraps of food, and coarse robes with ball-fringes \ And at that gift a young brahmin named Uttara was passed over 2. When the largesse had been distributed he mocked, saying : ' By this largesse I have met Prince Payasi in this world, but how about the next?3' [355] Payasi heard of this, and sent word to Uttara asking him if it was true that he was saying this ?

4 Yes, sir,' replied Uttara.

' But why have you been saying this, my dear Uttara ? Do not we who are seeking merit look for result from caving- ? '

1 In your gift, sir, such food as gruel and broken meats are given which you, sir, would not touch with your foot, much less eat ; also coarse ball-fringed robes which you, sir, would not deign to use as carpets, much less to wear. You, sir, are pleasant and dear to us ; how are we to associate what is pleasant and dear with what is unpleasant?'

'Well then, my dear Uttara, do you arrange that such food shall be given as I eat, and such garments be given as I wear.'

'Very good, sir,' replied Uttara, and did so4.

1 To keep the robes down.

2 Vyava/o. This became almost a technical term in connexion with largesse. It is literally 'hindered'; but when the things to be given were too limited as compared with the number of applicants, some had to be passed over. They were dana-vyava/a 'hindered at the largesse ' (Jat. Ill, 129). Compare D. II, 141 ; Sum. I, 296 ; Jat. I, 89; VVA. 298. But heie perhaps it may simply mean ' objected to the largesse.'

3 Literally ' do not associate (with him) in the next.' The gibe intended must be very nearly as we have rendered. But both the reading of the text and the grammatical construction are doubtful. The word we have rendered 'mocked' (uddissati) has only been found here. Perhaps it means ' showed (the matter) up,' which comes to much the same as to point the finger of mockery.

' Apparently at his own cost.

X>. ii. 357. THE RIGHT WAY TO GIVE. 373

[356] Now prince Payasi, inasmuch as he had bestowed his gift without thoroughness, not with his own hands, without due thought, as something discarded, was, after his death, reborn into the communion of the Four Great Kings1, in the empty mansion of the Acacia. But the youth Uttara, who had objected to that gift and had bestowed his gift thoroughly, with his own hands, with due thought, not as something discarded, was, after his death, reborn in a bright and happy world, into the communion of the Three-and- Thirty Gods.