Reading guide
A private thought, overheard
The story opens with Sivi alone with his own reflection: he can think of no gift he has not already given, and even names the one thing that might seem unthinkable — his own eye — as something he would give ‘without wavering’. Sakka, seated in the assembly of gods, hears this and decides to find out if it is true.
A test staged carefully
Sakka does not simply appear and ask; he takes the form of a frail, blind old man, describes his own blindness in detail, praises the king's reputation for generosity by name, and asks for only one eye, offering a concession — ‘while you too get by with one’.
A request exceeded, not just met
Sivi's reaction is not reluctant compliance but open elation: ‘my wish has come true, my intention is fulfilled’. He then orders his attendant Sivaka to take not the one eye asked for, but both. The gift given exceeds what was actually requested.
A verdict on his own mind
The story closes not with an outcome but with a report on the king's own state of mind throughout: ‘while planning to give, while giving, and after I had given, my mind did not falter’, and, in the same denial-then-reason structure used elsewhere in this chapter, an explicit statement that this was not from any lack of care for his own eyes or himself, but ‘because omniscience is precious to me’.
Key terms
The text
A private thought, overheard
§1“In the city called Ariṭṭha I was the aristocrat named Sivi. Seated in my finest longhouse, I then had the following thought:
§2‘Whatever human gifts there are, none may be found that I have not given. Even if someone were to ask for my eye, I would give it without wavering.’
Sakka decides to test him
§3Knowing my thoughts, Sakka the lord of gods, sitting in the assembly of gods said the following.
§4‘Seated in his finest longhouse, the mighty King Sivi is thinking of manifold gifts and cannot see any he would not give.
§5Is this is true or not? Come, let us test him. Wait a while until I know his mind.’
A beggar's request
§6Appearing as a frail old man, with grey hair and wrinkled skin, feeble and blind, he approached the king.
§7Then, stretching out his left and right arms, he raised his cupped palms to his head and said the following.
§8‘Great king, I have a request for you. Under your just rule the kingdom has flourished, and the renown of your love of giving has risen among gods and humans.
§9Both my eyes, by which I find my way, are ruined and become blind. Give me just one eye, while you too get by with one.’
The king's response
§10After hearing his words I was thrilled, my mind elated, so with cupped palms, inspired, I said the following.
§11‘Just now I was reflecting on this when I came here from the longhouse. Understanding my mind, you have come to ask for an eye.
§12Oh! My wish has come true! My intention is fulfilled! Today I shall give to a supplicant a fine gift never before given.’
The gift given
§13‘Come Sivaka, stand up, do not hesitate or waver. Pluck out even both eyes and give them to the supplicant.’
§14And then, urged on by me, Sivaka did as I said. Extracting both eyes, he presented them to the trembling supplicant.
§15‘While planning to give, while giving, and after I had given, my mind did not falter, because it was solely for awakening.
§16It was not because I disliked my eyes, or that I disliked myself, but because omniscience is precious to me, that is why I gave away my eyes.’”
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