Reading guide
Giving sought out, not waited for
Akitti gave to a visitor at his door; Saṅkha gave to someone he happened to pass on the road; the king of Cp 3 gave to petitioners who came asking. Here, the king takes the initiative himself, proclaiming his willingness to give before anyone has asked for anything.
A proclamation repeated daily
The text quotes the proclamation directly — ‘who needs an umbrella? who is thirsty? who a garland? who some makeup?’ — a list of ordinary, unglamorous needs, made public morning and night, ‘not just in ten places, or even a hundred, but in many hundreds of places’.
A doctor's fee, reframed
The king explains his motive with an everyday comparison: someone who is sick pays a doctor and becomes well again. In the same way, he gives ‘in order to fulfill without remainder, to fulfill what is lacking’ — giving treated as a remedy applied toward a specific, considered goal rather than an occasional gesture.
A goal named directly at the close
The story ends without ambiguity about what that goal is: he gave ‘without clinging or reward, for the attainment of awakening’ — the same destination every story in this chapter has been driving toward, reached here through sustained, organized generosity rather than a single dramatic act.
Key terms
The text
§1“In the city of Kusāvatī, when I was Lord of the Earth, my name was Sudassana the Great, a wheel-turning monarch of great power.
§2There, thrice a day, I declared in one place or another: ‘Who needs what? Who wants what? To whom ought riches be given?
§3Who needs an umbrella? Who is thirsty? Who a garland? Who some makeup? What person, being naked, and will put on colorful clothes?
§4Who will take an umbrella on a highway, who needs sandals, soft and pretty?’ Thus I had it proclaimed everywhere morning and night.
§5It was not just in ten places, or even a hundred, but in many hundreds of places riches were prepared for supplicants.
§6By day or by night if a supplicant comes, then having gotten all he wants, he leaves with full hands.
§7I gave great gifts like this for my whole life. I did not give because I disliked riches, or because I had a store set aside.
§8Suppose a person is sick. In order to be free of sickness having compensated the doctor with money, they become freed from sickness.
§9Thus I, knowingly, in order to fulfill without remainder, to fulfill what is lacking, gave gifts to supplicants without clinging or reward, for the attainment of awakening.”
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