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Cariyapitaka · Story 2

Saṅkha’s Conduct

Saṅkha Cariyā — The Chapter With Akitti · The Perfection of Giving (2nd of 10)

Setting
No external narrative frame; the Buddha speaks in the first person about his past life as the brahmin Saṅkha, on his way to a port
Speaker
The Buddha, recounting his life as the brahmin Saṅkha
Form
Nine four-line verses of first-person narration
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for Saṅkha's story in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the two similes take a moment to unpack

Why this text

Where Cp 1 gave away everything its speaker had, this story gives something modest — an umbrella and a pair of sandals — but spends most of its length on the reasoning behind the gift, not the gift itself. Seeing a figure described as ‘self-awakened, undefeated’ walking a scorching desert road, the brahmin Saṅkha talks himself into giving using two everyday comparisons: a farmer with unsown fertile ground, and a minister who withholds gifts from the people he depends on.

Reading guide

A gift reasoned into, not simply felt

Unlike Akitti's immediate, unhesitating giving in Cp 1, this story shows its narrator working out why to give, step by step, before he acts. The verses spend more space on the reasoning than on the gift itself.

Two similes about opportunity

A farmer who sees fertile ground and does not sow will have no need of grain — because there will be none. A minister who does not give money and grain to secure the people's favor will see his authority dwindle. Both images make the same point: an opportunity not acted on does not simply vanish neutrally, it costs something.

A field of merit

Saṅkha applies both similes to himself directly: seeing ‘an abundantly worthy recipient’ and not giving would mean he ‘dwindles in merit’, just as the farmer's ungrasped field and the minister's ungiven grain cost them what they might have gained.

A gift out of proportion to comfort

The text closes by naming the personal cost directly: Saṅkha calls himself ‘a hundred times more delicate and pampered’ than the figure he gives to — his own sandals and umbrella, given up on a road he is now left to walk without them.

Key terms

cariyā — “conduct” — this collection's title, and the word used for each of its thirty-five stories, this one its second.
paccekabuddha — an “independently awakened” being, awakened without a teacher but not teaching others — the standard reading of this text's description, ‘self-awakened, undefeated’.
dāna — “giving” — the perfection this story illustrates, the second of ten stories on this theme opening the collection.
khetta — “field” — the image both of the text's similes turn on, and the word behind the common phrase ‘field of merit’ for a worthy recipient of a gift.
puñña — “merit” — what Saṅkha reasons he would ‘dwindle in’ by failing to give, the direct stake of both his similes.

The text

The text in full: nine verses of first-person narration. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Then again when I was a brahmin called Saṅkha, wanting to cross the great ocean, I was on my way to the port.

§2There I saw across the way one self-awakened, undefeated, walking a desert road whose ground was hot and rough.

§3Seeing him across the way, I thought this: ‘A field has appeared for a personage desiring merit.

§4Now suppose a farmer seeing a fertile field does not sow seed there, then they are not in need of grain.

§5So too, if I, desiring merit, seeing a supreme excellent field, do not render service there, then I am not in need of merit.

§6Or suppose a minister seeking the royal seal of authority over the people of the court, does not give them money and grain, their authority dwindles.

§7So too, if I, desiring merit, seeing an abundantly worthy recipient, do not give gifts to them, I will dwindle in merit.’

§8Reflecting in this way, I took off my sandals and bowed to his feet, giving him an umbrella and sandals.

§9Though I was a hundred times more delicate and pampered than him, fulfilling my giving, I gave like this to him.”

· · ·

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
How does this story's approach to giving differ from Cp 1's?
Correct: A. The verses spend more space on the two similes than on the gift itself.
Question 2 of 10
Who does Saṅkha see walking a scorching desert road?
Correct: B. An independently awakened being, awakened without a teacher.
Question 3 of 10
What does the farmer simile say about a fertile, unsown field?
Correct: B. An opportunity not acted on costs something, rather than vanishing neutrally.
Question 4 of 10
What does the minister simile compare to withholding a gift?
Correct: B. The same structure as the farmer simile, applied to political standing instead of a harvest.
Question 5 of 10
What does Saṅkha conclude he would lose by not giving to a worthy recipient?
Correct: B. Applying both similes directly to his own situation.
Question 6 of 10
What does Saṅkha actually give?
Correct: B. A modest gift, unlike Akitti's total self-giving in Cp 1.
Question 7 of 10
How does the text describe Saṅkha relative to the recipient of his gift?
Correct: B. Naming the personal cost of the gift directly in the closing verse.
Question 8 of 10
What was Saṅkha's stated purpose for his journey?
Correct: B. The setting for his encounter with the self-awakened figure.
Question 9 of 10
What perfection does this story illustrate, and where does it fall in the collection?
Correct: B. Ten stories on giving open the Cariyapitaka; this is the second.
Question 10 of 10
What kind of reasoning holds this story together, more than in Cp 1?
Correct: B. The reasoning, not the gift, takes up most of the text.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousCp 1 · Akitti’s Conduct