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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 8.37

Gifts of a True Person

Sappurisadānasutta — Dānavagga — the fourth chapter of the Eights

Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A bare eight-item prose list, immediately restated in three verses
Length
under 1 minute to read
Qualities of the act, not of the motive
Unlike AN 8.31 and AN 8.33's catalogs of why someone gives, this discourse's eight items describe how the gift itself is given and received internally, including two items about the giver's own inner state during and after the act
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, prose followed by verse restatement

Why this discourse

AN 8.37 names eight qualities of a true person's gift — pure, good quality, timely, appropriate, intelligent, and regular, given with a confident heart, and followed by feeling uplifted afterward — describing the manner of giving and the giver's own inner state, not merely the motive behind it.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

A true person's gift has eight qualities: it is pure, good quality, timely, appropriate, intelligent, and regular, given with a confident heart, and the giver feels uplifted afterward — six qualities of the gift itself and two of the giver's own inner state.

Six qualities of the gift, two of the giver

The first six items in this list describe the gift as an object and an act — its purity, quality, timing, appropriateness to the recipient, thoughtfulness, and regularity. The final two shift entirely to the giver's own experience: confidence while giving, and feeling uplifted once the gift is given.

A shift this chapter's other lists don't make

AN 8.31 and AN 8.33 both catalog motives — why someone gives. This discourse instead describes the texture of the giving itself and its emotional aftermath, a genuinely different axis of description than either of the earlier motive-catalogs in this chapter.

Verses that restate the list without softening it

The closing verses don't add new content but compress the same eight qualities into poetic form, adding one further note: such giving is never regretted, and “discerning people praise giving such gifts” — a social as well as personal endorsement of the pattern just described.

Key terms

suci — “pure” — the first quality named, describing the gift's own ethical or physical cleanliness.
kālena deti — “timely” — the third quality, giving at the right moment rather than whenever convenient.
kappiyaṁ deti — “appropriate” — the fourth quality, suited to the recipient rather than given without regard for fit.
pasannacitto deti — “while giving their heart is confident” — the seventh quality, describing the giver's own inner state during the act itself, not merely its outward form.
datvā attamano hoti — “afterwards they're uplifted” — the eighth and final quality, the giver's emotional aftermath once the gift has been made.

The text

The discourse in full: eight qualities of a true person's gift, in prose and then verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Eight qualities of a true person's gift

§1“Mendicants, there are these eight gifts of a true person. What eight? Their gift is pure, good quality, timely, appropriate, intelligent, and regular. While giving their heart is confident, and afterwards they’re uplifted. These are the eight gifts of a true person.

The same eight, in verse

§2He gives pure, good quality, and timely gifts of appropriate food and drinks regularly to spiritual practitioners who are fertile fields of merit.

§3They never regret giving away many things of the flesh. Discerning people praise giving such gifts.

§4An intelligent person sacrifices like this, faithful, with a mind of letting go. Such an astute person is reborn in a happy, pleasing world.”

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Self-check quiz

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

Question 1 of 6
How do this discourse's eight qualities differ from AN 8.31's and AN 8.33's own eight-item lists?
Correct: B. A genuinely different axis of description than the earlier motive-catalogs in this chapter.
Question 2 of 6
Which two qualities describe the giver's own inner state, rather than the gift itself?
Correct: B. The seventh and eighth items, shifting from the object given to the giver's own experience.
Question 3 of 6
What do the closing verses add beyond restating the eight qualities?
Correct: B. A social as well as personal endorsement of the pattern described.
Question 4 of 6
What is the fourth quality named?
Correct: B. One of six qualities describing the gift itself, before the list shifts to the giver's inner state.
Question 5 of 6
How is this discourse structured?
Correct: B. Prose followed by poetic restatement, similar in form to AN 8.15's stains.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, matching several other discourses in this chapter.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 8.36 · Grounds for Making Merit