{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an5.34/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an5.34","id":"suttacentral_an5.34","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an5.34/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near Ves\u0101l\u012b, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then General S\u012bha went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and asked him, \u201cSir, can you point out a fruit of giving that\u2019s apparent in the present life?\u201d \u201cI can, S\u012bha,\u201d said the Buddha. \u201cA giver, a donor is dear and beloved to many people. This is a fruit of giving that\u2019s apparent in the present life. Furthermore, good and true persons associate with a giver. This is another fruit of giving that\u2019s apparent in the present life. Furthermore, a giver gains a good reputation. This is another fruit of giving that\u2019s apparent in the present life. Furthermore, a giver enters any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it\u2019s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics. This is another fruit of giving that\u2019s apparent in the present life. Furthermore, when a giver\u2019s body breaks up, after death, they\u2019re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. This is a fruit of giving to do with lives to come.\u201d When he said this, General S\u012bha said to the Buddha, \u201cWhen it comes to those four fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don\u2019t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. I\u2019m a giver, a donor, and am dear and beloved to many people. I\u2019m a giver, and good and true persons associate with me. I\u2019m a giver, and I have this good reputation: \u2018General S\u012bha gives, serves, and attends on the Sa\u1e45gha.\u2019 I\u2019m a giver, and I enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it\u2019s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics. When it comes to these four fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don\u2019t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. But when the Buddha says: \u2018When a giver\u2019s body breaks up, after death, they\u2019re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.\u2019 I don\u2019t know this, so I have to rely on faith in the Buddha.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s so true, S\u012bha! That\u2019s so true! When a giver\u2019s body breaks up, after death, they\u2019re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. Giving, you\u2019re loved and befriended by many people. You get a good reputation, and your fame grows. A generous man enters an assembly bold and self-assured. So an astute person, seeking happiness, <j>would give gifts, having driven out the stain of stinginess. They live long in the Third Heaven, enjoying the company of the gods. Having taken the opportunity to do good, <j>when they pass from here they wander self-radiant in the Garden of Delight. There they delight, rejoice, and enjoy themselves, provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation. Having practiced the word of the unattached, <j>the unaffected, disciples of the Holy One rejoice in heaven.\u201d","title":"With General S\u012bha","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":484}