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Iti 100 Brāhmaṇadhammayāgasutta: The Dhamma-offering

This was said by the Lord, said by the Arahant, so I heard:

“Bhikkhus, I am a brahmin, ever accessible to entreaties, open-handed, one bearing his last body, an unsurpassed physician and surgeon. You are my own legitimate sons, born from my mouth, born of Dhamma, fashioned by Dhamma, heirs of Dhamma, not heirs of material things.

“Bhikkhus, there are these two kinds of giving: the giving of material things and the giving of the Dhamma. Of these two kinds of giving, this is the foremost, namely, the giving of the Dhamma. There are these two kinds of sharing … these two kinds of help … these two kinds of offerings: the offering of material things and the offering of the Dhamma. Of these two kinds of offering, this is the foremost, namely, the offering of the Dhamma.”

This is the meaning of what the Lord said. So in regard to this it was said:

The Tathāgata has made the Dhamma-offering,
Unselfish, compassionate towards all beings;
Living beings revere such a one,
Gone beyond being, as chief of devas and humans.


This too is the meaning of what was said by the Lord, so I heard.


Read this translation of Itivuttaka 100 Brāhmaṇadhammayāgasutta: The Dhamma-offering by John D. Ireland on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, SuttaFriends.org, or DhammaTalks.org.