Reading guide
A cumulative list, not a set of independent claims
Unlike SN 1.32's four deities, each making a distinct and separable argument, this discourse's six deities build a single expanding statement — each new speaker repeats every qualification already given before adding their own, so the sixth deity's full verse contains all six qualifications at once.
Giving and warfare, compared
The third deity's verse makes a startling comparison: ‘giving and warfare are similar, they say, for even a few of the good may conquer the many.’ The point is not violence but quality over quantity — a small amount given with genuine faith is treated as more decisive than a large amount given without it, the way a disciplined few can defeat a larger, less committed force.
From giving to non-harming
The list's final addition marks a real shift: restraint toward living creatures is not, strictly, a form of giving at all, but a form of non-harming (ahiṁsā). By the sixth deity, this discourse has expanded from dāna specifically into a broader account of ethical conduct, without announcing that expansion directly.
Virtue without fear as its motive
The sixth deity's verse makes a subtle distinction easy to miss: one who avoids harm only from fear of others' blame would, if blame were the whole story, deserve to be called a coward rather than praised as virtuous. Genuine virtue, the verse insists, avoids harm for its own sake, not merely to escape social consequence.
Teaching ranked above every gift named
The Buddha's closing verse does not add a seventh item to the list; it reorders the whole discussion, ranking ‘a passage of teaching’ above giving in every form the six deities have just described — a claim closely related to the well-known principle, stated elsewhere in the canon, that the gift of the teaching surpasses every other kind of gift.
Key terms
The text
Deities arrive; a first item is named
§1At Sāvatthī. Then, late at night, several glorious deities of the host of a hundred felicities, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, and stood to one side. Standing to one side, one deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Because of stinginess and negligence a gift is not given. Wanting merit, a smart person would give.”
A second item: even from little
§2Then another deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Even when one has little, giving is good. Some who have little are happy to provide, while some who have much don’t wish to give. An offering given from little is multiplied a thousand times.”
A third item: out of faith
§3Then another deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Even when one has little, giving is good. And it’s also good to give out of faith. Giving and warfare are similar, they say, for even a few of the good may conquer the many. If a faithful person gives even a little, it still brings them happiness in the hereafter.”
A fourth item: legitimate wealth
§4Then another deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Even when one has little, giving is good. And it’s also good to give out of faith. And it’s also good to give legitimate wealth. A personage who gives legitimate wealth, earned by his efforts and initiative, has passed over Yama’s Vetaraṇī River; that mortal arrives at celestial fields.”
A fifth item: intelligently
§5Then another deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Even when one has little, giving is good. And it’s also good to give out of faith. And it’s also good to give legitimate wealth. And it’s also good to give intelligently. The Holy One praises giving intelligently to those worthy of offerings here in the world of the living. What’s given to these is very fruitful, like seeds sown in a fertile field.”
A sixth item: non-harming
§6Then another deity expressed this heartfelt sentiment in the Buddha’s presence: “Good, good fellow, is giving! Even when one has little, giving is good. And it’s also good to give out of faith. And it’s also good to give legitimate wealth. And it’s also good to give intelligently. And it’s also good to be restrained when it comes to living creatures. One who lives without harming any living being does no bad because of others’ blame. Were that the case they praise the coward, not the brave; for the virtuous do no bad out of fear.”
A question, and the Buddha's ranking
§7Then another deity said to the Buddha, “Sir, who has spoken well?” “You’ve all spoken well in your own way. However, listen to me also: A gift of faith is praised in many ways, but a passage of teaching is better than giving, for the virtuous, in days old and older still, even attained extinction with wisdom.”
Self-check quiz
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