Sutta Nipāta 3-5: Māghasutta

So it was heard by me:

At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Rājagaha, in the mountain (called) the Vulture’s Peak (Gijjhakūṭa).

Then the young man Māgha went to Bhagavat, and having gone to him he talked pleasantly with him, and after having had some pleasant, remarkable conversation with him he sat down apart; sitting down apart the young man Māgha spoke this to Bhagavat:

‘O venerable Gotama, I am a liberal giver, bountiful, suitable to beg of; justly I seek for riches, and having sought for riches justly, I give out of the justly obtained and justly acquired riches to one, to two, to three, to four, to five, to six, to seven, to eight, to nine, to ten, to twenty, to thirty, to forty, to fifty, to a hundred, I give still more. (I should like to know), O venerable Gotama, whether I, while so giving, so offering, produce much good.’

‘Certainly, O young man, dost thou in so offering produce much good; he, O young man, who is a liberal giver, bountiful, suitable to beg of, and who justly seeks for riches, and having sought for riches justly, gives out of his justly obtained and justly acquired riches to one, to two, to three, to four, to five, to six, to seven, to eight, to nine, to ten, to twenty, to thirty, to forty, to fifty, to a hundred, and gives still more, produces much good.’

Then the young man Māgha addressed Bhagavat in stanzas:

1. ‘I ask the venerable Gotama, the bountiful,’—so said the young man Māgha,—‘wearing the yellow robe, wandering about houseless:’ ‘He who is a householder, suitable to beg of, a donor, who, desirous of good, offers having what is good in view, and giving to others in this world food and drink,—where (i.e. on whom bestowed) will the oblation of such an offerer prosper?’ (487)

2. ‘He who is a householder, suitable to beg of, a donor, O Māgha,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘who, desirous of good, offers having what is good in view, and giving to others in this world food and drink, such a one will prosper with those worthy of offerings.’ (488)

3. ‘He who is a householder, suitable to beg of, a donor,’—so said the young man,—‘who, desirous of good, offers having what is good in view, and giving to others in this world food and drink,—tell me (I being such a one), O Bhagavat, of those worthy of offerings.’ (489)

4. Bhagavat: ‘Those indeed who wander about in the world without clinging to anything and without possessing anything, perfect, self-restrained, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāhmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (490)

5. ‘Those who have cut through all bonds and fetters, who are subdued, liberated, free from pain, and free from desire, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (491)

6. ‘Those who are released from all bonds, who are subdued, liberated, free from pain, and free from desire on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (492)

7. ‘Those who, having forsaken both passion and hatred and folly, have destroyed their desires and lead a religious life, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāhmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (493)

8. ‘Those in whom there lives no deceit, no arrogance, who are free from cupidity, free from selfishness, free from desire, on such in due time people should bestew oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (494)

9. ‘Those indeed who without being lost in desire, after crossing the stream (of existence), wander about free from selfishness, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (495)

10. ‘Those in whom there is no desire for anything in the world, nor for existence after existence here or in the other world, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (496)

11. ‘Those who, after leaving sensual pleasures, wander about houseless, well restrained, being like a straight shuttle, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (497)

12. ‘Those whose passions are gone, whose senses are well composed, who are liberated like the moon out of the grasp of Rāhu, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāhmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (498)

13. ‘Those who are calm, whose passions are gone, who are without anger, and for whom there is no transmigration after having left here, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāhmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (499)

14. ‘Those who, after leaving birth and death altogether, have conquered all doubt, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (500)

15. ‘Those who wander about in the world with themselves for a light, not possessed of anything, in every respect liberated, on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (501)

16. ‘Those who in this world rightly understand this: “This is the last (birth), there is no re-birth,” on such in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer. (502)

17. ‘He who is accomplished, and delights in meditation, thoughtful, possessed of thorough enlightenment, a refuge for many, on such a one in due time people should bestow oblations; let the Brāhmaṇa who has good (works) in view, offer.’ (503)

18. ‘Certainly my question was not in vain, Bhagavat has told me of those worthy of offerings; for thou truly knowest this in this world, as surely to thee this Dhamma is known. (504)

19. ‘He who is a householder, suitable to beg of, a donor,’—so said the young man Māgha,—‘who, desirous of good, offers having what is good in view, and giving to others in this world food and drink,—tell me (I being such a one), O Bhagavat, of the blessing of offering.’ (505)

20. ‘Offer, O Māgha,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘and while offering make calm thy mind in all things; the object of the one that offers is the oblation, standing fast in this he leaves hatred behind. (506)

21. ‘Such a one whose passion is gone will repress hatred, cultivating an unbounded friendly mind; continually strenuous night and day he will spread infinite goodness through all regions.’ (507)

22. Māgha: ‘Who prospers? who is liberated and who is bound? In which way can one by himself go to Brahmaloka? Tell this to me who does not know, O Muni, when asked. Bhagavat is indeed my witness that Brahman is seen by me to-day, for thou art to us equal to Brahman, this is the truth; how can one attain Brahmaloka, O thou glorious one?’ (508)

23. ‘He who offers the threefold blessing of oblation, O Māgha,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘such a one will prosper with those worthy of offerings; so, having offered properly, he who is suitable to beg of attains Brahmaloka, so I say.’ (509)

This having been said, Māgha the young man spoke as follows to Bhagavat: ‘Excellent, O venerable Gotama! Excellent, O venerable Gotama! As one raises what has been overthrown, or reveals what has been hidden, or tells the way to him who has gone astray, or holds out an oil lamp in the dark that those who have eyes may see the objects, even so by the venerable Gotama in manifold ways the Dhamma has been illustrated; I take refuge in the venerable Gotama and in the Dhamma and in the Assembly of Bhikkhus. Let the venerable Gotama accept me as an upāsaka (a follower, me), who henceforth for all my life have taken refuge (in him).’

Māghasutta is ended.