To Vaccha (on Giving) Vaccha Sutta (AN 3:58)
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('â', Gotama the contemplative says this: "Only to me should a gift be given, and not to others. Only to my disciples should a gift be given, and not to others. Only what is given to me bears great fruit, and not what is given to others. Only what is given to my disciples bears great fruit, and not what is given to the disciples of others."â Now those who report this: Are they reporting the Master Gotamaâs actual words, are they not misrepresenting him with what is unfactual, are they answering in line with the Dhamma, so that no one whose thinking is in line with the Dhamma will have grounds for criticizing them? For we donât want to misrepresent the Master Gotama." "Vaccha, whoever says this: ),
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('â', Gotama the contemplative says this: "Only to me should a gift be given.⦠Only what is given to my disciples bears great fruit, and not what is given to the disciples of others," is not reporting my actual words, is misrepresenting me with what is unfactual & untrue. "Vaccha, whoever prevents another from giving a gift creates three obstructions, three impediments. Which three? He creates an obstruction to the merit of the giver, an obstruction to the recipientâs gains, and prior to that he undermines and harms his own self. Whoever prevents another from giving a gift creates these three obstructions, these three impediments. "I tell you, Vaccha, even if a person throws the rinsings of a bowl or a cup into a village pool or pond, thinking, ),
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('â', May whatever animals live here feed on this,â that would be a source of merit, to say nothing of what is given to human beings. But I do say that what is given to a virtuous person is of great fruit, and not so much what is given to an unvirtuous person. And the virtuous person has abandoned five factors and is endowed with five. "Which five has he abandoned? He has abandoned sensual desire⦠ill will⦠sloth & drowsiness⦠restlessness & anxiety⦠uncertainty. These are the five factors he has abandoned. And with which five is he endowed? He is endowed with the aggregate of virtue of one beyond training⦠the aggregate of concentration of one beyond training⦠the aggregate of discernment of one beyond training⦠the aggregate of release of one beyond training⦠the aggregate of knowledge & vision of release of one beyond training. These are the five factors with which he is endowed. "I tell you: What is given to one who has abandoned these five factors and is endowed with these five, bears great fruit. "In a herd of cattle, whether black, white, ruddy, brown, dappled, uniform, or pigeon gray: If a bull is born— tame, enduring, consummate in strength, & swift— people yoke him to burdens, regardless of his color. In the same way, wherever one is born among human beings— noble warriors, brahmans, merchants, workers, outcastes, or scavengers— if one is tame, with good practices, righteous, consummate in virtue, a speaker of truth, with conscience at heart, one whoâs abandoned      birth & death, completed                  the holy life put down                  the burden, done                           the task effluent-free, gone beyond all dhammas, through lack of clinging unbound: Offerings to this spotless field bear an abundance of fruit. But fools, unknowing, dull,         uninformed, give gifts outside and donât come near the good. While those who do      come near the good —regarded as enlightened, discerning— whose conviction in the One Well-Gone has taken root, is established: They go to the world of the devas or are reborn here in good family. Step by step they reach unbinding : they who are wise." See also: SN 3:24; AN 5:34; AN 5:179; AN 7:49; Ud 3:7 - --> - - - -