Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Six fruits of giving are directly verifiable by anyone paying attention to how the perfected ones actually treat a generous donor versus a stingy one in this very life, while a seventh fruit — a good rebirth after death — cannot be confirmed the same way and has to be taken on faith instead.
A counter-question, not a direct answer
Sīha asks for a visible fruit of giving, and the Buddha responds by asking Sīha's own opinion instead: comparing a faithless, stingy, abusive person against a faithful donor who loves charity, which one will the perfected ones show sympathy for first, approach first, receive alms from first, teach first, and think well of? Sīha answers each himself, the Buddha never needing to state the conclusion directly.
Seven comparisons, one predictable answer each time
The pattern actually repeats seven times with only the specific question changing — sympathy, approach, receiving alms, being taught, reputation, confidence entering any assembly, and finally a good rebirth after death — and Sīha's answer is the same generous donor every time. Only afterward, in his own summary, does Sīha set the seventh apart from the other six as a fruit he cannot verify the same way.
Sīha's own testimony: six fruits he knows, one he doesn't
Sīha then recites his own experience of all six fruits in the first person — he is shown sympathy first, approached first, has his alms received first, is taught first, has a good reputation, and enters any assembly with confidence — and states plainly that for these six he doesn't need to rely on faith in the Buddha, since he knows them from direct experience. But for the seventh fruit, a good rebirth after death, he admits he doesn't know it the same way, and relies on faith instead — a distinction the Buddha confirms rather than smooths over.
Key terms
The text
Sīha's question
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then General Sīha went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, can you point out a fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life?”
The Buddha's counter-question: two people, compared
§2“Well then, Sīha, I’ll ask you about this in return, and you can answer as you like. What do you think, Sīha? Consider two people. One is faithless, stingy, miserly, and abusive. One is a faithful donor who loves charity. Which do you think the perfected ones will show sympathy for first?”
Seven comparisons, one at a time
§3“Why would the perfected ones first show sympathy for the person who is faithless, stingy, miserly, and abusive? They’d show sympathy first for the faithful donor who loves charity.” “Which do you think the perfected ones will first approach?” “They’d first approach the faithful donor who loves charity.” “Which do you think the perfected ones will receive alms from first?” “They’d receive alms first from the faithful donor who loves charity.” “Which do you think the perfected ones will teach the Dhamma to first?” “They’d first teach the Dhamma to the faithful donor who loves charity.” “Which do you think would get a good reputation?” “The faithful donor who loves charity would get a good reputation.” “Which do you think would enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics?” “How could the person who is faithless, stingy, miserly, and abusive enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics? The faithful donor who loves charity would enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics.” “When their body breaks up, after death, which do you think would be reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm?” “Why would the person who is faithless, stingy, miserly, and abusive be reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm? The faithful donor who loves charity would, when their body breaks up, after death, be reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.
Sīha's own testimony: six fruits known, one taken on faith
§4When it comes to these fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don’t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. I’m a giver, a donor, and the perfected ones show sympathy for me first. I’m a giver, and the perfected ones approach me first. I’m a giver, and the perfected ones receive alms from me first. I’m a giver, and the perfected ones teach me Dhamma first. I’m a giver, and I have this good reputation: ‘General Sīha gives, serves, and attends on the Saṅgha.’ I’m a giver, I enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics. When it comes to these fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don’t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. But when the Buddha says: ‘When a giver’s body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.’ I don’t know this, so I rely on faith in the Buddha.” “That’s so true, Sīha! That’s so true! When a giver’s body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.”
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