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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 5.36

Timely Gifts

Kāladānasutta — Sumanavagga — the fourth chapter of the Fives

Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 5.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A bare list of five timely occasions for giving, closing with verses
Length
~1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Naming specific occasions when giving carries heightened merit recurs across the Chinese Āgamas and Vinaya-adjacent literature; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — a short, practical list shifting this chapter's focus from what giving does to when it matters most

Why this discourse

Every discourse in this chapter so far has asked what giving produces. This one asks a different question: when does giving matter most? Its answer is entirely occasion-based — a visitor arriving, someone setting out on a journey, a person who is sick, a time of famine, and the very first harvest of the season — none of them about the size or nature of the gift, all of them about its timing.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

There are five timely gifts: to a visitor, to someone setting out on a journey, to someone sick, at a time of famine, and presenting the first harvested grains and fruits to the ethical.

Four occasions of need, one of abundance

The first four items share an obvious logic: a visitor, a traveler, a sick person, and a famine are all moments of genuine need or vulnerability, where a gift meets a concrete gap. The fifth breaks that pattern — offering the season's first harvest is not a response to anyone's hardship, but a deliberate act of putting abundance first toward the ethical before using it oneself.

Timing, not size, as the variable

Nothing in this list concerns how much is given. The entire discourse treats when as the operative factor determining a gift's weight, distinct from every earlier discourse in this chapter, which concerned what results from giving in general, without regard to occasion.

Who shares in the merit

The closing verses extend the discourse's scope past the giver alone: those who rejoice at that, or do other services, don't miss out on the offering; they too have a share in the merit. Approval and assistance, on this account, are not passive; someone who merely rejoices at another's timely gift is said to share in what it produces.

Key terms

kāladāna — “timely gift” — this discourse’s title and organizing concept, naming occasion rather than quantity as the operative factor.
gamika — “one setting out on a journey” — the second timely occasion, a traveler about to depart.
dubbhikkha — “famine, scarcity of food” — the fourth occasion, the only one of the five concerning a communal rather than individual circumstance.
navasassāni navaphalāni — “freshly harvested grains and fruits” — the fifth occasion's object, the season's first produce offered before personal use.
anumodanti — “rejoice at, approve of” — the verb in the closing verse marking onlookers who share in the merit of a gift they did not themselves give.

The text

The discourse in full: the five timely gifts, closing with verses on sharing in another's merit. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, there are these five timely gifts. What five? A gift to a visitor. A gift to someone setting out on a journey. A gift to someone who is sick. A gift at a time of famine. Presenting the freshly harvested grains and fruits first to those who are ethical. These are the five timely gifts.

The closing verses

§2The wise give at the right time, being bountiful and rid of stinginess. A religious donation at the right time to the noble ones, upright and unaffected,

§3given with a clear and confident mind, is indeed abundant. Those who rejoice at that, or do other services, don’t miss out on the offering; they too have a share in the merit.

§4So you should give without holding back, where a gift is very fruitful. The good deeds of sentient beings support them in the next world.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10
What five occasions does this discourse name for timely giving?
Correct: B. Occasion-based, not quantity-based.
Question 2 of 10
What do the first four occasions share, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A visitor, traveler, sick person, and famine share an obvious logic of need.
Question 3 of 10
How does the fifth occasion, first-harvest offering, break that pattern?
Correct: B. A pattern shift from responding to need to prioritizing generosity in abundance.
Question 4 of 10
What is the operative variable this discourse treats as determining a gift's weight?
Correct: B. Distinct from every earlier discourse in this chapter, which concerned general results rather than occasion.
Question 5 of 10
What do the closing verses say about those who merely approve of another's gift?
Correct: B. Approval and assistance are treated as active, merit-sharing participation.
Question 6 of 10
Is quantity given any weight in this discourse's account of timely giving?
Correct: B. Occasion, not size, is the discourse's sole variable.
Question 7 of 10
What kind of occasion is famine, compared to the other four?
Correct: B. A shift in scale from the personal occasions of the first three.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse specify a minimum amount that must be given at these five occasions?
Correct: B. Consistent with the discourse's focus on timing rather than quantity.
Question 9 of 10
What comes next in this chapter, after this discourse on timing?
Correct: A. A further narrowing of focus, this time to a specific kind of gift.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.36 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the default setting used throughout this nipāta when nothing new is stated.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 5.35 · The Benefits of Giving