Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
V: Muṇḍa-Rāja Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
V. Rajah Muṇḍa

Sutta 44

Manāpadāyī Suttaṃ

The Giver of Good Things

Translated by E. M. Hare

Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved

For details see Terms of Use.

 

---

[49] [40]

[1][bodh] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One dwelt near Vesāli,
at the Gabled Hall,
in Mahāvana.

Now the Exalted One,
robing himself before noon,
went to the house of Ugga,^[1] the Vesāliyan householder,
and sat down on the seat ready there.

And Ugga, the Vesāliyan householder,
approached the Exalted One,
saluted him
and sat down at one side.

So seated,
he said to the Exalted One:

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth have I received this:

"The giver of good^[2] things
gains the good.

Lord, to me the gruel^[3] from sāl [41] flowers
is good eating;
let the Exalted One accept some from me
out of pity.'

The Exalted One accepted
out of pity.

■

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth
have I received this:

"The giver of good things
gains the good.

Lord, to me the flesh of pigs^[4]
with plenty of jujube fruit
is good eating;
let the Exalted One accept some from me
out of pity.'

The Exalted One accepted
out of pity.

■

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth
have I received this:

"The giver of good things
gains the good.

Lord, to me the oily tube-like vegetable^[5]
is good eating;
let the Exalted One accept some from me
out ol pity.'

The Exalted One accepted
out of pity.

■

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth
have I received this:

"The giver of good things
gains the good.

Lord, to me a mess of rice,
cleaned of black grains,
served with assorted curries and condiments^[6]
is good eating;
let the Exalted One accept some from me
out ol pity.'

The Exalted One accepted
out of pity.

■

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth
have I received this:

"The giver of good things
gains the good.

Lord, to me good is muslins from Benares
let the Exalted One accept some from me
out of pity.'

The Exalted One accepted
out of pity.

■

'From the mouth of the Exalted One
have I heard this, lord;
from his own mouth
have I received this:

"The giver of good things
gains the good.

Lord, to me good is a couch^[7]
with a fleecy cover,
woollen cloth or coverlet,
spread with rugs of deer-skins,
with awnings over it
and crimson cushions at either end,
and though we know, lord,
that it is not suitable^[8] for the Exalted One:
this sandalwood plank of mine,
worth more than a hundred thousand —
yet let the Exalted One accept it out of pity.'

And the Exalted One accepted out of pity.

 

§

 

Then the Exalted One gave thanks to Ugga, the Vesāliyan,
with this benediction:

'Who gives the good shall gain the good; he who
To upright men gives willingly clothes, bed,
Food, drink, the needful requisites; and what's
Foregone, put by, obsesses^[9] not the mind.
[42] Whoso in arahants doth find a field
For gifts, wise man, foregoing what is hard,
In giving thus, the good shall gain the good.'

 

§

 

And when the Exalted One had thus given thanks to Ugga, the Vesāliyan
he rose from his seat and departed.

Now in due course
Ugga the householder died
and thereafter arose in a certain inferable world.^[10]

At that time the Exalted One dwelt near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park,
and there,
when the night was far spent,
Ugga the deva,
in lovely radiance,
lighting up the whole of Jeta Grove,
came and visited him and,
after saluting,
stood at one side.

And the Exalted One spoke to him,
standing there,
saying:

'I hope, Ugga,
things are with you
as we hoped?

To be sure, lord,^[11]
things are as the Exalted One hoped.'

Then the Exalted One addressed this verse to Ugga, the deva:

'Who gives the good shall gain the good; who gives
The best shall best receive again; the choice,
The choice receive; the chief, the chief place win.
Who gives the best, the choice, the chief — that man
Has honour and long life where'er he rise.'^[12]

 

---

^[1] See G.S. i, 23; A. iv, 208 f.

^[2] Manāpa, more usually translated lovely, as in § 43 above.

^[3] Comy. calls it yāgu and says it is made by cooking stalks, leaves and filament with cummin seed in ghee. The Sinhalese today seem to use the nuts and bark of the sal tree, but not to make a gruel.

^[4] Sūkara-maṃsa. Comy. pickled one-year-old pig's flesh with sweet-tasting jujube fruit and cummin condiment. Cf. D. ii, 127 and trsl. 137 n. on sūkara-māddava.

^[5] Nibbaddhatelakaṃ nāliyāsākaṃ. S.e. with v.l. nibbatta-. Comy. nibaddha, glossing: vinivaṭṭita-. This may be 'ladies' fingers,' Sinh. baṇḍakka.

^[6] This is a stock phrase; Cf. D. i, 105; M. i, 31; A. iv, 231, etc.

^[7] Cf. D. i, 7, Vin. i, 192, etc.

^[8] Cf. M. ii, 118. Comy. observes that this plank was not very big, being two and a half cubits long and one and a half across.

^[9] The text reads anuggahītaṃ, but with S.e, and Comy. we should read anaggahītaṃ, from aggaṇhati (a √grah, not in P.E.D., but see Tr. Dict. s.v.). Comy. observes; anupekkha-cittataya cittena na aggahītan ti. Cf. below V, § 148.

^{[10] 1} Mano-mayaṃ kāyaṃ. Kāya is frequently used for nikāya; Cf. S. i, 27 (K.S. i, 37). Or it may be the body of him that is to be inferred — viz., from his visit.

^[11] S.e. so, but our text and Comy. omit.

^[12] This line of the text recurs above, § 37.