[136] Standing to one side, that deity (devatā) spoke these verses in the presence of the Blessed One:
When a house is ablaze, the vessel that one carries out —
that is the one that serves his good, and not what is burnt there.
So too the world is ablaze¹ with aging and with death:
one should carry out [one's wealth] by giving (dāna); what is given is well salvaged.
What is given has happiness as its fruit; what is not given is not so:
thieves carry it off, or kings; it is burnt by fire, or it is lost.
#1 Sī. and Yu. read: "evamādīpito loko." But the reading should perhaps be "evamādittake loke."
And then at the end one leaves behind the body together with one's possessions.
Understanding this, the wise person should both enjoy [his wealth] and give;
having given¹ and having enjoyed according to his means,
blameless, he goes to the heavenly state (sagga).
The Kindada Sutta, the second
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.