Serī the Deva’s Son Serī Sutta (SN 2:23)
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('â', Those who give it through conviction, with clear, bright awareness: One eats that food, in this world & the next. So, having subdued miserliness, one who conquers [that] stain, should give a gift. Deeds of merit are the support for beings when they arise in the other world.â" "In the past, lord, I was a king named Serī—a donor, a lord of giving, one who spoke in praise of giving. At my four gates I had gifts given to contemplatives & brahmans, poor people & travelers, mendicants & beggars. "Then my harem women came to me and said, ),
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('â', Your majesty, you give gifts, but we donât give gifts. It would be good if, depending on you, we gave gifts & did deeds of merit.â "Then the thought occurred to me, ),
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('â', Here I am, a donor, a lord of giving, one who speaks in praise of giving. So when they say, "Let us give gifts," what am I to say?â So I gave the first gate to the harem women. There the harem women gave gifts, and my gifts returned to me. "Then my noble-warrior subordinates came to me and said, ),
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('â', Your majesty, you give gifts, the harem women give gifts, but we donât give gifts. It would be good if, depending on you, we gave gifts & did deeds of merit.â "Then the thought occurred to me, ),
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('â', Here I am, a donor, a lord of giving, one who speaks in praise of giving. So when they say, "Let us give gifts," what am I to say?â So I gave the second gate to my noble-warrior subordinates. There the noble-warrior subordinates gave gifts, and my gifts returned to me. "Then my troops came to me and said, ),
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('â', Your majesty, you give gifts, the harem women give gifts, the noble-warrior subordinates give gifts, but we donât give gifts. It would be good if, depending on you, we gave gifts & did deeds of merit.â "Then the thought occurred to me, ),
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('â', Here I am, a donor, a lord of giving, one who speaks in praise of giving. So when they say, "Let us give gifts," what am I to say?â So I gave the third gate to my troops. There the troops gave gifts, and my gifts returned to me. "Then brahmans & householders came to me and said, ),
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('â', Your majesty, you give gifts, the harem women give gifts, the noble-warrior subordinates give gifts, the troops give gifts, but we donât give gifts. It would be good if, depending on you, we gave gifts & did deeds of merit.â "Then the thought occurred to me, ),
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('â', Here I am, a donor, a lord of giving, one who speaks in praise of giving. So when they say, "Let us give gifts," what am I to say?â So I gave the fourth gate to the brahmans & householders. There the brahmans & householders gave gifts, and my gifts returned to me. "Then my men came to me and said, ),
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('â', Now your majesty isnât giving any gifts.â "When that was said, I said to my men, ),
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('â', In that case, I say, bring half of the revenue generated in the outlying districts into the city, and give half of it as gifts to contemplatives & brahmans, poor people & travelers, mendicants & beggars.â "And so, lord, in the meritorious deeds I did for such a long time, in the skillful deeds I did for such a long time, I didnât reach a limit of ),
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('â', so much meritâ or ),
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('â', so much fruit of meritâ or ),
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('â', so long I should stay in heaven.â "How amazing, lord! How astounding! How well this was stated by the lord Blessed One!" "),
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('â', Those who give it through conviction, with clear, bright awareness: One eats that food, in this world & the next. So, having subdued miserliness, one who conquers [that] stain, should give a gift. Deeds of merit are the support for beings when they arise in the other world.â" See also: SN 3:19–20; AN 6:37; AN 9:20 - --> - - - -