Mahāgovinda Cariyā — The Chapter With Akitti · The Perfection of Giving (5th of 10)
Setting
No external narrative frame; the Buddha speaks in the first person about his past life as the brahmin Mahāgovinda
Speaker
The Buddha, recounting his life as high priest to seven kings
Form
Three four-line verses of first-person narration
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
A brahmin named Mahāgovinda is also the central figure of a much longer canonical discourse, the Mahāgovinda Sutta, not otherwise covered on this site; this reading guide does not assert a further specific matching text.
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest of the collection's giving-stories, direct and uncomplicated
Why this text
At three verses, this is the shortest of the Cariyapitaka's ten stories on giving — a brahmin who served as high priest to seven kings at once takes the tribute he collects from all seven kingdoms and gives it away, described as ‘a great gift unwavering as the ocean’. What the story lacks in incident, it makes up for in directness about motive.
Reading guide
A position of unusual reach
Serving as high priest to seven kings at once gave Mahāgovinda access to tribute from all seven kingdoms combined — not wealth he earned directly, but wealth that passed through his hands by virtue of his office, which he chose to redirect rather than keep.
An image of steadiness
The gift is described as ‘unwavering as the ocean’ — not a single dramatic act but something sustained and continuous, matching the story's brevity: three verses is enough to state the pattern without needing to narrate individual instances of it.
The same denial, the same reason
As in Cp 4, the story explicitly rules out one possible motive before naming the real one: ‘it was not because I disliked riches or grain, or because I had a store set aside’, but ‘because omniscience is precious to me’. This exact denial-then-reason structure recurs across several of the collection's giving-stories, not just this one.
A recognizable name, a different text
A brahmin named Mahāgovinda is the central figure of a much longer canonical discourse in its own right, the Mahāgovinda Sutta — not covered on this site, but worth knowing this story shares its central figure with a text well beyond the Cariyapitaka's few verses.
Key terms
purohita — “royal chaplain” or “high priest” — the office this text describes Mahāgovinda holding, for seven kings simultaneously.
dāna — “giving” — the perfection this story illustrates, the fifth of ten stories on this theme opening the collection.
Mahāgovinda Sutta — a much longer canonical discourse centered on a brahmin of the same name, not otherwise covered on this site.
bali — “tribute” — what Mahāgovinda is described as receiving from all seven kingdoms he served, before giving it away.
sabbaññutā — “omniscience” — named directly as Mahāgovinda's reason for giving, the same term closing several of this chapter's other stories.
The text
The text in full: three verses of first-person narration. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Then again when I was high priest for seven kings, I was venerated by the gods among men as the brahmin Mahāgovinda.
§2Then in all seven kingdoms what I receieved as tribute I used to give a great gift unwavering as the ocean.
§3It was not because I disliked riches or grain, or because I had a store set aside, but because omniscience is precious to me, that is why I gave such fine riches.”
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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 office did Mahāgovinda hold, according to this text?
Correct: B. Giving him access to tribute from all seven kingdoms combined.
Question 2 of 10
Where did the wealth Mahāgovinda gave away come from?
Correct: B. Wealth that passed through his hands by virtue of his office.
Question 3 of 10
How is the gift itself described?
Correct: B. Matching the story's brevity — a pattern stated rather than individual instances narrated.
Question 4 of 10
What does the story explicitly deny as Mahāgovinda's motive?
Correct: B. The same denial-then-reason structure recurs across several of the chapter's stories.
Question 5 of 10
What reason does the text give instead?
Correct: B. The same closing logic used throughout this chapter's giving-stories.
Question 6 of 10
How long is this story compared to others in the same chapter?
Correct: B. Brief, but direct about motive.
Question 7 of 10
What longer canonical text features a brahmin named Mahāgovinda?
Correct: B. Not otherwise covered on this site, but sharing this story's central figure.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'purohita' mean?
Correct: B. The office Mahāgovinda held for seven kings at once.
Question 9 of 10
What perfection does this story illustrate?
Correct: B. Continuing the sequence of ten giving-stories opening the collection.
Question 10 of 10
What kind of narration does this story use?
Correct: B. Consistent with every other story in the Cariyapitaka.
