Dhammapada 8.5.p2

8.5.p2

Thero kira tassa santikaṃ gantvā āha – ‘‘kiṃ nu kho, brāhmaṇa, kiñcideva kusalaṃ karosī’’ti? ‘‘Karomi, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Kiṃ karosī’’ti? ‘‘Māse māse sahassapariccāgena dānaṃ dammī’’ti. ‘‘Kassa desī’’ti? ‘‘Nigaṇṭhānaṃ, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Kiṃ patthayanto’’ti? ‘‘Brahmalokaṃ, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Kiṃ pana brahmalokassa ayaṃ maggo’’ti? ‘‘Āma, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Ko evamāhā’’ti? ‘‘Ācariyehi me kathitaṃ, bhante’’ti. ‘‘No tvaṃ brahmalokassa maggaṃ jānāsi, nāpi te ācariyā, satthāva eko jānāti, ehi, brāhmaṇa, brahmalokassa te maggaṃ kathāpessāmī’’ti taṃ ādāya satthu santikaṃ netvā, ‘‘bhante, ayaṃ brāhmaṇo evamāhā’’ti, ‘‘taṃ pavattiṃ ārocetvā sādhu vatassa brahmalokassa maggaṃ kathethā’’ti. Satthā ‘‘evaṃ kira, brāhmaṇā’’ti pucchitvā ‘‘āma, bho gotamā’’ti vutte, ‘‘brāhmaṇa, tayā evaṃ dadamānena vassasataṃ dinnadānatopi muhuttamattaṃ pasannacittena mama sāvakassa olokanaṃ vā kaṭacchubhikkhāmattadānaṃ vā mahapphalatara’’nti vatvā anusandhiṃ ghaṭetvā dhammaṃ desento imaṃ gāthamāha –

The story goes that Elder Sāriputta once went to his uncle and said, "Brahman, do you ever do a single good deed?" "I do, Reverend Sir." "What do you do?" "Month after month, I give alms to the value of a thousand pieces of money." "To whom do you give this money?" "To the Naked Ascetics, Reverend Sir." "And what do you hope to gain thereby?" "I hope to gain the World of Brahmā." "But is this the way to reach the World of Brahmā?" "Yes, Reverend Sir." "Who told you so?" "My teachers told me so, Reverend Sir." "Brahman, neither you nor your teachers know the way to the World of Brahmā. The Teacher alone knows the way thereto. Come with me, and I will ask him to tell you the way to the World of Brahmā."

So Elder Sāriputta took his uncle with him, went to the Teacher, and told him all about it, saying, "Reverend Sir, this Brahman said

so and so. Be so good as to tell him the way to the World of Brahmā.” The Teacher asked, “Brahman, are you correctly reported?” “Yes, Sir Gotama.” “Brahman, though you should give alms in this way for a hundred years, yet were it far more fruitful for a man, with believing heart, for but a single instant to look upon my disciple or to bestow upon him a mere spoonful of boiled rice.” So saying, he joined the connection, and preaching the Law, pronounced the following Stanza,