an.5.36 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Timely

“Bhikkhus, there are these five timely gifts. What five? (1) One gives a gift to a visitor. (2) One gives a gift to one setting out on a journey. (3) One gives a gift to a patient. (4) One gives a gift during a famine. (5) One first presents the newly harvested crops and fruits to the virtuous ones. These are the five timely gifts.”

At the proper time, those wise,

charitable, and generous folk

give a timely gift to the noble ones,

who are stable and upright;

given with a clear mind,

one’s offering is vast.

Those who rejoice in such deeds
or who provide other service
do not miss out on the offering;
they too partake of the merit.

Therefore, with a non-regressing mind,
one should give a gift where it yields great fruit.
Merits are the support of living beings
when they arise in the other world.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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Timely Gifts

“Mendicants, there are these five timely gifts.
What five?
A gift to a visitor.
A gift to someone setting out on a journey.
A gift to someone who is sick.
A gift at a time of famine.
Presenting the freshly harvested grains and fruits first to those who are ethical.
These are the five timely gifts.
The wise give at the right time,
being bountiful and rid of stinginess.
A religious donation at the right time
to the noble ones, upright and poised,
given with a clear and confident mind,
is indeed abundant.
Those who rejoice at that,
or do other services,
don’t miss out on the offering;
they too have a share in the merit.
So you should give without holding back,
where a gift is very fruitful.
The good deeds of sentient beings
support them in the next world.”