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Cariyapitaka · Story 7

Prince Candana’s Conduct

Canda-Kumāra Cariyā — The Chapter With Akitti · The Perfection of Giving (7th of 10)

Setting
No external narrative frame; the Buddha speaks in the first person about his past life as Prince Candana, son of the One King, in the city of Pupphavatī
Speaker
The Buddha, recounting his life as Prince Candana
Form
Six four-line verses of first-person narration
Length
1–2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this story in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the opening premise, a narrow escape from sacrifice, is stated but not elaborated

Why this text

This story opens with the sparest possible account of a crisis: ‘released from being sacrificed, I fled the sacrificial enclosure.’ The text gives no further detail about what led to that moment — only what came after it, when the prince, moved by a sudden sense of urgency, fasted for five or six days before offering the first food to a worthy recipient rather than eating it himself.

Reading guide

A crisis stated, not explained

The text names the prince's near-sacrifice and escape in a single line, without narrating how it came about or was resolved. What matters for this story is not the crisis itself but what the prince did once he was free of it.

A sense of urgency, acted on immediately

‘Giving rise to a sense of urgency’ — a specific term, saṃvega, for the shock that turns a brush with mortality into spiritual motivation — the prince responds not with relief alone but with a fast of five or six days, offering the first food to a worthy recipient before touching any himself.

A merchant's calculation, applied to giving

The closing simile compares this to a merchant who takes stored goods to wherever they will fetch the greatest profit: giving away what one would otherwise use for oneself, the text argues, is exactly this kind of calculated, understood investment — ‘what is given to others multiplies a hundredfold’.

A single act, repeated as a stated principle

The story closes by generalizing beyond this one fast: ‘knowing the reason for this, I gave gifts in life after life’ — presenting this particular act of restraint as evidence for a rule the prince then applied consistently, not a one-time response to crisis.

Key terms

saṃvega — a sudden “sense of urgency” — the specific reaction named in this text as what turned the prince's escape into a fast and an offering.
dāna — “giving” — the perfection this story illustrates, the seventh of ten stories on this theme opening the collection.
Pupphavatī — “the city of flowers” — the capital named as Prince Candana's home in this text.
yañña — “sacrifice” or “offering” — the word behind both the ‘sacrificial enclosure’ the prince flees and the ‘great offering’ he then performs, a deliberate echo across the story.
puñña — “merit” — what the closing simile says multiplies a hundredfold when what is given was something the giver would otherwise have used.

The text

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

§1“Then again when I was the true-born son of the One King in the city of flowers, Pupphavatī, I was called Prince Canda, the Moon.

§2Then, released from being sacrificed, I fled the sacrificial enclosure. Giving rise to a sense of urgency, I performed a great offering.

§3I did not drink, I did not eat, I did not enjoy any food for five or six days with having first offering to a worthy recipient.

§4Suppose there was a merchant who had made a store of goods. They would take those goods to where they could make a large profit.

§5So too, even giving what one has used oneself to others is very fruitful. That is why what is to be given to others multiplies a hundredfold.

§6Knowing the reason for this, I gave gifts in life after life. I never relented in giving for the attainment of awakening.”

· · ·

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 much detail does the text give about the prince's near-sacrifice?
Correct: B. What matters for the story is what came after, not the crisis itself.
Question 2 of 10
What does the prince do immediately after fleeing the sacrificial enclosure?
Correct: B. A specific term for the shock that turns crisis into spiritual motivation.
Question 3 of 10
How long does the prince fast, and what does he do with the first food afterward?
Correct: B. Giving before receiving, even after an extended fast.
Question 4 of 10
What simile does the story use to explain the value of this kind of giving?
Correct: B. Giving what one would otherwise use is presented as a kind of calculated investment.
Question 5 of 10
According to the closing simile, what happens to what is given to others?
Correct: B. The direct payoff of the merchant comparison.
Question 6 of 10
How does the story generalize beyond this single act of fasting and giving?
Correct: B. Presenting the fast as evidence for a rule, not a one-time crisis response.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'saṃvega' name in this text?
Correct: B. What turns the prince's escape into spiritual motivation.
Question 8 of 10
What is Prince Candana's home city, as named in this text?
Correct: B. Where he is named as the true-born son of the One King.
Question 9 of 10
What word does the text use for both the sacrifice the prince flees and the offering he then performs?
Correct: B. A deliberate echo connecting the crisis to the response.
Question 10 of 10
What perfection does this story illustrate?
Correct: B. Continuing the sequence of ten giving-stories opening the collection.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousCp 6 · King Nimi’s Conduct