Reading guide
A riddle-question about an unlikely spirit
Serī's opening question names an apparent puzzle: since both gods and humans enjoy food, what kind of spirit could possibly dislike it? The Buddha's answer does not solve the riddle literally but redirects it toward generosity: those who give, rather than merely consume, are the ones who truly partake of food across both worlds.
An elided repeat, unlike this discourse's own ending
After the Buddha's verse, Serī repeats it back in praise, and the source elides this first repetition as blank segments, following this book's established convention for verbatim repeats (as at SN 2.8 and SN 2.20). Unusually, this discourse later spells the same two verses out in full a second time at its very close — a repetition the source does not elide, and this reading guide therefore quotes in full rather than skipping.
A king who gave away his gates, one by one
Serī's autobiography unfolds in a clear pattern: his harem, then his aristocrat vassals, then his troops, then his brahmins and householders, each in turn asking to share in his giving, and each time he yields a gate of his fourfold giving-post to them rather than refusing — his own giving dwindling each time even as giving as a whole spreads wider.
No limit reached, even after losing every gate
When his own men finally observe he is giving nowhere at all, Serī's solution is not to reclaim a gate but to redirect half his outer-district revenue to charity — and his own summary insists he never once reached a limit at which he could say ‘there's this much merit’, framing generosity as something that compounds rather than depletes with sharing.
A verse quoted twice, meaning earned through the story between
The same two verses that opened this discourse's teaching close it again at the end, but their second appearance lands differently: no longer an abstract claim about giving, but one Serī has just demonstrated, gate by gate, through his own remembered life.
Key terms
The text
§1Standing to one side, the godling Serī addressed the Buddha in verse:
§2“Both gods and humans enjoy their food. So what’s the name of the spirit who doesn’t like food?”
§3“Those who give with faith and a clear and confident heart, partake of food in this world and the next. So you should dispel stinginess, overcoming that stain, and give a gift. The good deeds of sentient beings support them in the next world.”
§4“It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing, how well said this was by the Buddha.” He repeated the Buddha’s verses, and said:
§5“Once upon a time, sir, I was a king named Serī, a giver, a donor, who praised giving. I gave gifts at the four gates to ascetics and brahmins, to paupers, vagrants, supplicants, and beggars. Then the ladies of my harem approached me and said, ‘Your Majesty gives gifts, but we don’t. Your Majesty, please support us to give gifts and make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, ‘I’m a giver, a donor, who praises giving. When they say, “We would give gifts”, what am I to say?’ And so I gave the first gate to the ladies of my harem. There they gave gifts, while my own giving dwindled.
§6Then my aristocrat vassals approached me and said, ‘Your Majesty gives gifts, the ladies of your harem give gifts, but we don’t. Your Majesty, please support us to give gifts and make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, ‘I’m a giver, a donor, who praises giving. When they say, “We would give gifts”, what am I to say?’ And so I gave the second gate to my aristocrat vassals. There they gave gifts, while my own giving dwindled.
§7Then my troops approached me and said, ‘Your Majesty gives gifts, the ladies of your harem give gifts, your aristocrat vassals give gifts, but we don’t. Your Majesty, please support us to give gifts and make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, ‘I’m a giver, a donor, who praises giving. When they say, “We would give gifts”, what am I to say?’ And so I gave the third gate to my troops. There they gave gifts, while my own giving dwindled.
§8Then my brahmins and householders approached me and said, ‘Your Majesty gives gifts, the ladies of your harem give gifts, your aristocrat vassals give gifts, your troops give gifts, but we don’t. Your Majesty, please support us to give gifts and make merit.’ Then it occurred to me, ‘I’m a giver, a donor, who praises giving. When they say, “We would give gifts”, what am I to say?’ And so I gave the fourth gate to my brahmins and householders. There they gave gifts, while my own giving dwindled.
§9Then my men approached me and said, ‘Now Your Majesty is not giving gifts anywhere!’ When they said this, I said to those men, ‘Well then, my men, deposit half the revenue generated in the outer districts in the royal compound. Give the other half as charity to ascetics and brahmins, to paupers, vagrants, supplicants, and beggars in those districts.’ Sir, for a long time I made so much merit and did so many skillful deeds. I never reached any limit so as to say ‘there’s this much merit’ or ‘there’s this much result of merit’ or ‘for so long I’ll remain in heaven’. It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing, how well said this was by the Buddha.
§10‘Those who give with faith and a clear and confident heart, partake of food in this world and the next. So you should dispel stinginess, overcoming that stain, and give a gift. The good deeds of sentient beings support them in the next world.’”
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