“Dear Anāthapiṇḍika, you might think, ‘Perhaps it was someone else who at that time was Velāma the brāhmin, who gave that gift, that great gift,’ that’s not how it should be seen. I was Velāma the brāhmin at that time. I gave that gift, that great gift. But during the giving of that gift there was no one worthy of offerings to accept my gifts 4, no one purified that gift.
“It would be more fruitful 5 to feed one stream-enterer than that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed one once-returner than a hundred stream-enterers, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed one non-returner than a hundred once-returners, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed one enlightened monk than a hundred non-returners, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed one Private Buddha than a hundred enlightened monks, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed one Supreme Buddha, than a hundred Private Buddhas, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to feed the community of monks 6 headed by the Buddha than to feed one Supreme Buddha, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to build a residence for the community of monks, the Saṅgha, 7 than to feed the community of monks headed by the Buddha, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha with a confident heart than to build a residence for the Saṅgha, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to keep precepts with a confident heart, that is, not to kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or take intoxicating drinks and drugs, than to go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha with a confident heart, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“It would be more fruitful to develop loving kindness meditation even for just as long as it takes to smell the fragrance of a flower, than to keep the five precepts with a confident heart, and that great offering of Velāma the brāhmin.
“Dear Anāthapiṇḍika, whatever good kamma is created by Velāma the brāhmin, by giving that great offering, by feeding one stream-enterer, by feeding a hundred stream-enterers, by feeding one once-returner, by feeding a hundred once-returners, by feeding one non-returner, by feeding a hundred non-returners, by feeding one enlightened monk, by feeding a hundred enlightened monks, by feeding one Private Buddha, by feeding a hundred Private Buddhas, by feeding one Supreme Buddha, by feeding the community of monks headed by the Buddha, by building a residence for the community of monks, by going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha, with a confident heart, by keeping the five precepts with a confident heart and by developing loving kindness meditation for the time it takes to smell the fragrance of a flower—it is more fruitful to develop the meditation on the perception of impermanence for the time it takes to snap a finger.”