1At Sāvatthī. Then, when the night had advanced, a number of devatas belonging to the Satullapa host, of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire Jeta's Grove, approached the Blessed One. Having approached, they paid homage to the Blessed One and stood to one side.

Then one devata, standing to one side, uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

2v.95 "Good is giving, dear sir!
Through stinginess and negligence
A gift is not given.
One who knows, desiring merit,
Should surely give a gift."

3Then another devata uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

4v.96 "Good is giving, dear sir!
And further:
Even when there's little, giving is good.

5"Some provide from what little they have,
Others who are affluent don’t like to give.
An offering given from what little one has
Is worth a thousand times its value."

6Then another devata uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

7"Good is giving, dear sir!
Even when there's little, giving is good.
And further:
When done with faith too, giving is good.

"Giving and warfare are similar, they say:
A few good ones conquer many.
If one with faith gives even a little,
He thereby becomes happy in the other world." [n.66] Spk: "Faith" here means faith in kamma and its fruit. Just as in war a few heroic men conquer even many cowards, so one endowed with faith, etc., in giving even a small gift, crushes much stinginess and achieves abundant fruit.

8Then another devata uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

9"Good is giving, dear sir!
Even when there's little, giving is good. sn.i.21
When done with faith too, giving is good.
And further:
The gift of a righteous gain is also good.

10v.98 "When he gives a gift of a righteous gain
Obtained by exertion and energy,
Having passed over Yama's Vetaraṇi River,
That mortal arrives at celestial states." [n.67] Spk explains dhammaladdhassa as either wealth righteously gained, or a person who has gained righteousness, i.e., a noble disciple. The former alternative makes better sense; see AN II 68,13–20. Yama is the god of the nether world; Vetaraṇī is the Buddhist equivalent of the river Styx (see Sn 674 and Pj II 482,4–6). Spk says that Vetaraṇī is mentioned only as "the heading of the teaching," i.e., as an example; he has actually passed over all thirty-one great hells.

11Then another devata uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

12"Good is giving, dear sir!
Even when there's little, giving is good.
When done with faith too, giving is good;
The gift of a righteous gain is also good.
And further:
Giving discriminately too is good. [n.68] Viceyyadanaṁ The expression is an absolutive syntactical compound; see Norman, "Syntactical Compounds in Middle Indo-Aryan," in Collected Papers, 4:218–19.
Spk: A gift given after making discrimination. There are two kinds of discrimination: (i) regarding the offering, i.e., one puts aside inferior items and gives only superior items; and (ii) regarding the recipient, i.e., one leaves aside those defective in morality or the followers of the ninety-five heretical creeds (pasaṇḍa, the non-Buddhist sects; see n. 355) and gives to those endowed with such qualities as virtue, etc., who have gone forth in the Buddha’s dispensation.

13v.99 "Giving discriminately is praised by the Fortunate One—
To those worthy of offerings
Here in the world of the living.
What is given to them bears great fruit
Like seeds sown in a fertile field."

14Then another devata uttered this inspired utterance in the presence of the Blessed One:

15"Good is giving, dear sir!
Even when there's little, giving is good.
When done with faith too, giving is good;
The gift of a righteous gain is also good.
Giving with discretion too is good.
And further:
Restraint towards living beings is also good.

16v.100 "One who fares harming no living beings
Does no evil from fear of others’ censure.
In that they praise the timid, not the brave,
For out of fear the good do no evil."

17Then another devata said to the Blessed One: sn.i.22 "Which one, Blessed One, has spoken well?"

18"You have all spoken well in a way. But listen to me too:

19v.101 "Surely giving is praised in many ways,
But the path of Dhamma surpasses giving.
For in the past and even long ago,
The good and wise ones attained Nibbāna." [n.69] in pāda a, I read addha hi with Ee2 and SS (also at Ja III 472,29), as against saddhā hi in Be and Ee1 and saddhabhi in Se. Spk glosses dhammapadaṁva in pāda b thus: nibbanasaṅkhataṁ dhammapadam eva, "just the state of Dhamma known as Nibbāna." Usually dhammapada is a stanza or saying of Dhamma (as at vv. 785–86, 826), which is also plausible in this context, but I prefer to take it as a metrical contraction of dhammapaṭipadā, the practice-path of Dhamma, a sense attested to at Sn 88, which explicitly equates dhammapada with magga. The point the Buddha is then making is that the practice of Dhamma (by the Noble Eightfold Path aimed at Nibbāna) is better than the practice of giving aimed at a heavenly rebirth. The fuller gloss on the verse at Ja III 474 supports the above interpretation: ʺAlthough giving is definitely (ekaṁen’ eva, apparently the gloss on addha hi) praised in (ekamsenʹeva, apparently the gloss on addhahi) praised in many ways, a dhammapada—a portion of Dhamma (dhammakoṭthasa) consisting in serenity and insight and in Nibbāna—is even better than giving. Why so? Because in the past (pubb’ eva)—that is, in this aeon, Kassapa Buddha and soon—and even earlier (pubbatar’eva), that is, Vessabhū Buddha and so on (in earlier aeons), the good, the superior persons (sappurisa), endowed with wisdom, developed serenity and insight and attained Nibbāna."

1Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Atha kho sambahulā satullapakāyikā devatāyo abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇā kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhaṁsu.

Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho ekā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

2"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
maccherā ca pamādā ca;
Evaṁ dānaṁ na dīyati,
puññaṁ ākaṅkhamānena;
Deyyaṁ hoti vijānatā"ti.

3Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

4"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
Api ca appakasmimpi sāhu dānaṁ.

5Appasmeke pavecchanti,
bahuneke na dicchare;
Appasmā dakkhiṇā dinnā,
sahassena samaṁ mitā"ti.

6Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

7"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
Appakasmimpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Api ca saddhāyapi sāhu dānaṁ,

Dānañca yuddhañca samānamāhu;
Appāpi santā bahuke jinanti,
Appampi ce saddahāno dadāti;
Teneva so hoti sukhī paratthā"ti.

8Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

9"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
Appakasmimpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Saddhāyapi sāhu dānaṁ,
Api ca dhammaladdhassāpi sāhu dānaṁ.

10Yo dhammaladdhassa dadāti dānaṁ,
Uṭṭhānavīriyādhigatassa jantu;
Atikkamma so vetaraṇiṁ yamassa,
Dibbāni ṭhānāni upeti macco"ti.

11Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

12"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
Appakasmimpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Saddhāyapi sāhu dānaṁ,
Dhammaladdhassāpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Api ca viceyya dānampi sāhu dānaṁ.

13Viceyya dānaṁ sugatappasatthaṁ,
Ye dakkhiṇeyyā idha jīvaloke;
Etesu dinnāni mahapphalāni,
Bījāni vuttāni yathā sukhette"ti.

14Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavato santike imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

15"Sādhu kho mārisa dānaṁ,
Appakasmimpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Saddhāyapi sāhu dānaṁ,
Dhammaladdhassāpi sāhu dānaṁ;
Viceyya dānampi sāhu dānaṁ,
Api ca pāṇesupi sādhu saṁyamo.

16Yo pāṇabhūtāni aheṭhayaṁ caraṁ,
Parūpavādā na karonti pāpaṁ;
Bhīruṁ pasaṁsanti na hi tattha sūraṁ,
Bhayā hi santo na karonti pāpan"ti.

17Atha kho aparā devatā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "kassa nu kho, bhagavā, subhāsitan"ti?

18"Sabbāsaṁ vo subhāsitaṁ pariyāyena, api ca mamapi suṇātha –

19Saddhā hi dānaṁ bahudhā pasatthaṁ,
Dānā ca kho dhammapadaṁva seyyo;
Pubbe ca hi pubbatare ca santo,
Nibbānamevajjhagamuṁ sapaññā"ti.