With General Sīha
At Vesālī, General Sīha asks the Buddha whether he can point to a fruit of giving that is visible in this life. The Buddha names four: a giver is dear to many people; good people associate with them; they gain a good reputation; and they enter any assembly confident and self-assured. He adds a fifth, that a giver is reborn in a good place after death. Sīha replies that he does not need to take the first four on faith, because he knows them from his own life, but for the fifth he relies on faith in the Buddha. The Buddha confirms it and closes with verses.
A note on this text. The fifth fruit and the closing verses describe a heavenly realm after death and the pleasures of the gods.
The full text
Numbered Discourses 5.34 · 4. With Sumanā · With General Sīha · translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 2 min · on SuttaCentral
At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then General Sīha went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and asked him, “Sir, can you point out a fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life?”
“I can, Sīha,” said the Buddha. “A giver, a donor is dear and beloved to many people. This is a fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life.
Furthermore, good and true persons associate with a giver. This is another fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life.
Furthermore, a giver gains a good reputation. This is another fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life.
Furthermore, a giver enters any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics. This is another fruit of giving that’s apparent in the present life.
Furthermore, when a giver’s body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. This is a fruit of giving to do with lives to come.”
When he said this, General Sīha said to the Buddha, “When it comes to those four fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don’t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. I’m a giver, a donor, and am dear and beloved to many people. I’m a giver, and good and true persons associate with me. I’m a giver, and I have this good reputation: ‘General Sīha gives, serves, and attends on the Saṅgha.’ I’m a giver, and I enter any kind of assembly bold and self-assured, whether it’s an assembly of aristocrats, brahmins, householders, or ascetics. When it comes to these four fruits of giving that are apparent in the present life, I don’t rely on faith in the Buddha, for I know them too. But when the Buddha says: ‘When a giver’s body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.’ I don’t know this, so I have to rely on faith in the Buddha.” “That’s so true, Sīha! That’s so true! When a giver’s body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.
Giving, you’re loved and befriended by many people.You get a good reputation, and your fame grows.A generous man enters an assemblybold and self-assured.
So an astute person, seeking happiness,would give gifts,having driven out the stain of stinginess.They live long in the Third Heaven,enjoying the company of the gods.
Having taken the opportunity to do good,when they pass from herethey wander self-radiant in the Garden of Delight.There they delight, rejoice, and enjoy themselves,provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation.Having practiced the word of the unattached,the unaffected,disciples of the Holy One rejoice in heaven.”