[105] 8.
"Naked and emaciated, venerable sir, you are one gone forth (pabbajita);
where do you go by night, and for what reason?
Tell me this; perhaps we may be able,
by every means, to furnish you with wealth."
"Bārāṇasī is a city renowned afar;
there I was a householder — rich, yet mean,
a non-giver, my mind greedy for material things (āmisa);
through immorality I passed to the realm of Yama.
Worn out by the needle [of hunger] on account of those [deeds],
for that very reason I go among my relatives for the sake of some trifle of material things;
but they are of ungiving habit, nor do they believe
that a gift bears fruit in the world beyond.
And my daughter says again and again,
'I shall give a gift for my fathers and grandfathers';
the brahmins are being served with what has been made ready —
I am going to Andhakavinda to eat."
The king said to him: "When you have partaken of that as well,
come back quickly; I too will make an offering (pūjā).
Tell me of it, if there is ground for it;
we would hear a trustworthy word with reasons."
Saying, "So be it," he went there;
but they who ate the meal were not worthy of the offering.
Afterwards he went once more to Rājagaha
and appeared before the lord of the people.
Seeing the peta come back yet again,
the king said: "What, then, shall I give?
Tell me of it, if there is a means
whereby you may be satisfied for a longer time."
"Having served the Buddha and the Sangha, O king,
with food, with drink, and with robes,
dedicate that offering (dakkhiṇā) for my welfare;
thus shall I be satisfied for a longer time."
Then the king, coming down, at that very moment
gave with his own hand an incomparable gift to the Sangha,
and made known what had taken place;
to the peta who had come and gone he dedicated the offering.
Honored thus, shining exceedingly,
he appeared before the lord of the people:
"I am a yakkha who has attained supreme power (iddhi);
no humans are equal or comparable to me in power.
Behold this immeasurable majesty of mine,
assigned to me by you, who gave the incomparable gift to the Sangha:
satisfied continually, always, with many [gifts],
I go my way happy, O deva among men."
The Cūḷaseṭṭhī-petavatthu, the eighth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.