He gives a gift out of faith; he gives a gift respectfully; he gives a gift at the right time; he gives a gift with a generous heart; he gives a gift without denigration.
Because he gives a gift out of faith, wherever the result of that gift ripens he becomes rich and affluent, with great wealth, and he is handsome, comely, graceful, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion.
Because he gives a gift respectfully, wherever the result of that gift ripens he becomes rich and affluent, with great wealth, and his children and wives, his slaves, messengers and workers, are obedient, lend their ears to him, and apply their minds to understand him.
Because he gives a gift at the right time, wherever the result of that gift ripens he becomes rich and affluent, with great wealth, and benefits come to him at the right time, in abundant measure.
Because he gives a gift with a generous heart, wherever the result of that gift ripens he becomes rich and affluent, with great wealth, and his mind inclines to the enjoyment of excellent things among the five cords of sensual pleasure.
Because he gives a gift without denigrating himself and others, wherever the result of that gift ripens he becomes rich and affluent, with great wealth, and no loss of his wealth takes place from any quarter, whether from fire or floods or king or bandits or unloved heirs.
These, monks, are the five gifts of a superior person.
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha
An anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikāya
Selected and translated from the Pāli by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi
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