[upekkha100]

Clarification on the Velama Sutta AN 9.20

Hi Lal.

I have a few questions on the Velama Sutta. Can you please read the English  version too as I will be copying and pasting quotes from that and asking questions  so that way it will make more sense.

Here are the Pali version and English version:
Pali Velama Sutta

English Velama Sutta

1)
5 ways are listed on how to give gifts:
1) attentively
2) respectfully
3) with ones own hands
4) as if not throwing away
5) something will come of it

Can you explain each and give example of each. It may be somewhat clear in english but in Pali could be something different.

2) Specifically from  the above what does number 3 : “give with one’s own hands” mean. Like make it oneself? Or give directly from ones own hands rather than through someone else’s hands or some other means or through delivery or some indirect way of giving.

3) Do gifts need to be made with one’s own hands in order to reap benefits?

4) What does the following quote mean? It is referring to anicca, and referring to at least a Sotapanna, an Ariya, not a puthujjana/anariya correct? So this merit can only be earned by an Ariya right not puthujjana?

Quote:
“If one were to develop even for just a finger-snap the perception of inconstancy, that would be more fruitful than the gift, the great gift, that Velāma the brahman gave”

5) What does “even just one whiff of” mean from the following? Does it mean how long it takes to take a whiff, so like even a FEW SECONDS of metta is greatly meritorious?

“If one were to develop even just one whiff of a heart of good will, that would be more fruitful than… if one with a confident mind were to undertake the training rules”

6) Can the following quote be a merit earned by an anariya/putthujana or can only an Ariya earn it? Anyone even an anariya if cultivates even a whiff of metta it would be greatly meritorious for that anariya?

“If one were to develop even just one whiff of a heart of good will, that would be more fruitful than… if one with a confident mind were to undertake the training rules”

7) What does “with a confident mind” mean in the following quote:

“If one with a confident mind were to go to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha for refuge, that would be more fruitful than… if one were to have a dwelling built and dedicated to the Community of the four directions.”

8) Can the following quote be a merit earned by an anariya/putthujana or can only an Ariya earn it? Anyone even an anariya if with a  with a confident mind were to go to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha for refuge it would be greatly meritorious for that anariya?

[Lal]

Hello Upekkha,

Thank you for bringing to attention this important sutta.

Following is my translation of the whole sutta. If there are questions, please don’t hesitate to ask:

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Anāthapiṇḍika’s Jetvanarama monastery. Then Anāthapiṇḍika the householder went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, bowed down to him and sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, “Householder, are offerings still given by your family?”.

“Food offerings are still given by my family, bhante, but they are coarse made with broken rice and not that good”. (My Comment: By this time, Anāthapiṇḍika had gone broke, having spent all his wealth building Jetavanarama and making offerings to the bhikkhus every day. But he got his wealth back later on).

“Householder, regardless of whether an offering is inexpensive or expensive, if it is prepared inattentively, disrespectfully, not with one’s own hand, as if throwing it away, with the view that nothing will come of it, then the results (vipaka) of that giving will not be that good: Whenever the result of that giving comes to fruition, one would not enjoy it even if it is splendid food, splendid clothing, splendid vehicles, or any other enjoyment coming through the five senses. And one’s children, servants, and other workers will not listen to one, will not be respectful. Why is that? Because that giving was not done with the proper mindset.

Householder, regardless of whether a gift is inexpensive or expensive, if it is prepared attentively, respectfully, with one’s own hand, not as if throwing it away, knowing that good kamma lead to good vipaka, then the results (vipaka) of that giving will be optimum: Whenever the result of that giving come to fruition, one’s mind will incline to the enjoyment of splendid food, will incline to the enjoyment of splendid clothing, will incline to the enjoyment of splendid vehicles, will incline to the enjoyment of the five sense faculties. And one’s children, servants, and workers will listen to one and will be respectful. Why is that? Because that is the result of a good kamma done with the proper mindset.

Once, householder, there was a brahman named Velāma. And this was the nature of the great gift, he gave: He gave 84,000 gold trays filled with silver, 84,000 silver trays filled with gold, 84,000 copper trays filled with gems. He gave 84,000 elephants with gold ornaments, gold banners, covered with nets of gold thread. He gave 84,000 chariots spread with lion skins, tiger skins, leopard skins, saffron-colored blankets, with gold ornaments, gold banners, covered with nets of gold thread. He gave 84,000 milk cows with tethers of fine jute and copper milk pails. He gave 84,000 maidens adorned with jeweled earrings. He gave 84,000 couches spread with long-fleeced coverlets, white wool coverlets, embroidered coverlets, rugs of deer hide, each with a canopy above and on red cushions. He gave 84,000 lengths of cloth—of finest linen, of finest cotton, of finest silk. To say nothing of the food and drink, staple and non-staple food, lotions and beddings: They flowed, as it were, like rivers.

Now, householder, I was Velāma the brahman at that time. I gave those expensive gifts. But those who received those gifts were not worthy of receiving them. Therefore, those givings did not lead to much merit”
However, if there was just one who was a ditthisampanna (Sotapanna) among them, that would have led to great benefits.
If one were to feed one Anagami, that would be more fruitful than that great gift that Velāma the brahman gave.

Furthermore, if one were to feed just one Anagami, that would be more beneficial than feeding 100 Sotapannas.
– If one were to feed one Arahant, that would be more fruitful than if one were to feed 100 Anagamis.
– If one were to feed one Pacceka Buddha, that would be more fruitful than if one were to feed 100 Arahants.
– If one were to feed one Smmasambuddha– self-awakened One- that would be more fruitful than if one were to feed 100 Pacceka Buddhas.
– If one were to feed a community of monks headed by the Buddha, that would be more fruitful than if one were to feed a Smmasambuddha.
– If one were to have a dwelling built and dedicated to the community of bhikkhus, that would be more fruitful than if one were to feed a community of bhikkhus headed by the Buddha.
– If one with a confident mind were to seek the refuge Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha, that would be more fruitful than if one were to have a dwelling built and dedicated to the bhikkhus.
– If one with a confident mind were to undertake the precepts—refraining from taking life, refraining from taking what is not given, refraining from illicit sex, refraining from misleading others, refraining from being intoxicated with liquor, money, power, etc—that would be more fruitful than if one with a confident mind were to seek refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.

– If one were to cultivate the anicca saññā even for just a short time only lasting a finger-snap (accharāsaṅghātamattampi aniccasaññaṃ bhāveyya), that would be more fruitful than all those great gifts that Velāma the brahman gave, and also greater than those other greater actions described above.”

End of the sutta.

My comments: There are four major “take-ins”:
1. Just giving for the sake of giving (without right understanding, etc) will not be fruitful, no matter how much is given.

2. Even if a little is given with the right mindset, that will lead to much benefits (mahapphalataran).
3. Merits of such giving will increase greatly if the recipient is of worthy of receiving.
4. Comprehending the anicca nature even for a brief moment is much more beneficial than all givings mentioned.

So, there are many things we can learn from this sutta. Most of all, it shows how important it is to cultivate the anicca saññā.

[y not]

One other point deserves attention –

Though the sutta starts off with the merits of giving (in the literal sense) in increasing order as Lal has them in his comments, they are exceeded by those purely inward ones done with insight and meditation – and Metta too is listed in between taking Refuge and undertaking the 5 precepts.

All except the last one, the cultivation of anicca sanna, are directly or indirectly connected to giving in one sense or another. For instance, going for Refuge gets one to the 5 precepts, the first of the 5 precepts is refraining from killing and from harming in the wider sense – hence non-stealing, not lying, no harsh or empty talk, no sexual misconduct, no intoxication with drink, wealth, fame etc – all of which is really giving security, freedom from fear and from harm of any sort to all beings. And with Metta one is prevented from doing harm to others. It is all about the welfare of others.

So it is anicca sanna that stands out as the one which brings benefits to oneself alone – it would appear! Because if one looks further, one who has developed the anicca sanna to whatever degree and becomes the inspiration to others to do the same would be giving a gift that is far greater than all those merits, from Velama’s material donations to “all of these things, including developing a heart of love for as long as it takes to pull a cow’s udder.” (Sujato)

So thank you Lal

[upekkha100]

Thanks Lal. I have three more questions.

1) What does “even just one whiff of” mean from the following quote? Does it mean how long it takes to take a whiff, so like even a FEW SECONDS of metta is greatly meritorious?

Quote:
“If one were to develop even just one whiff of a heart of good will, that would be more fruitful than… if one with a confident mind were to undertake the training rules”

2) Can the following quote be a merit earned by an anariya/putthujana or can only an Ariya earn it? Anyone even an anariya if cultivates even a whiff of metta it would be greatly meritorious for that anariya?

Quote:
“If one were to develop even just one whiff of a heart of good will, that would be more fruitful than… if one with a confident mind were to undertake the training rules”

3) Can the following quote be a merit earned by an anariya/putthujana or can only an Ariya earn it? Anyone even an anariya if with a  with a confident mind were to go to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha for refuge it would be greatly meritorious for that anariya?

Quote:
“If one with a confident mind were to go to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha for refuge, that would be more fruitful than… if one were to have a dwelling built and dedicated to the Community of the four directions.”

[Lal]

“1) What does “even just one whiff of” mean from the following quote? Does it mean how long it takes to take a whiff, so like even a FEW SECONDS of metta is greatly meritorious?”

I had missed translating that verse, as y not pointed out.
Yes. Just like contemplating on the anicca (with understanding) even for a short time is most fruitful, even a few seconds of metta bhavana (with understanding) is meritorious.

For all three questions of Upekkha, this is the key: “with understanding”.
– The more one understands the anicca nature of this world, that leads to a better understanding of what metta is too. The key is to “understand” what is meant by anicca and how to do the real “metta bhavana”. Then even a short time of contemplating will lead to much merits. See, “Anicca – True Meaning” and “5. Ariya Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness Meditation).
– That also leads to a better understanding of why giving is meritorious. For example, one “accumulates” stuff BECAUSE one perceives that those are very valuable. When one starts comprehending anicca nature, one starts to realize that one can gain more “use” of such things by giving SOME to the needy. Buddha never said to give everything.

This “understanding” is really the not so accurate translation of the Pali word “sampajanna”. One who understands the true nature is a “sampajanno”.
– Sampajanna comes from “san” + pajana”, or understanding that “san” and that accumulating ‘san” is not fruitful and even dangerous.
– The more one understands Buddha Dhamma (first why dasa akusala are BAD, kamma have corresponding vipaka, rebirth is real, AND then understanding Tilakkhana), one’s mind AUTOMATICALLY generates better kamma vipaka.

I will give a mundane example to try to explain what is meant by “understanding” and how that AUTOMATICALLY leads to actions based on that understanding: There was a boy in a classroom whom some others called by the name “orangutan”. That boy did not know that orangutan is a monkey that is extremely ugly. So did not mind others calling him orangutan. Then one day the teacher took the whole class to a Zoo. After a while, that boy starts hitting some boys who were calling him by the name “orangutan”, saying he was upset that they called him an orangutan: He had not seen or heard what an “orangutan” is, and had just seen one at the Zoo. Then only he understood what an “orangutan” is!

[upekkha100]

Oh so then when the Sutta said a whiff of metta and with a confident mind going to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha for refuge this is meant for Ariyas and not anariyas

[Lal]

The power of both metta bhavana and anicca sanna contemplation increase with understanding. There are lower levels of samadhi (upacara samadhi) that comes even before the Sotapanna Anugami stage (gothrabu or “change of lineage”).
– Therefore, even before the Sotapanna Anugami stage, there is increase in the level of understanding.

[Author]

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