Itivuttaka 26
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Monks, if beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of selfishness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared, if there were someone to receive their gift. But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they eat without having given. The stain of selfishness overcomes their minds.”
If beings knew
what the Great Seer said,
how the result of sharing
has such great fruit,
then, subduing the stain of selfishness
with brightened awareness,
they’d give in season
to the noble ones,
where a gift bears great fruit.
Having given food
as an offering
to those worthy of offerings,
many donors,
when they pass away from here,
the human state,
go
to heaven.
They, having gone there
to heaven,
rejoice,
enjoying sensual pleasures.
Unselfish, they
partake of the result
of sharing.
