dāna
Generosity
[ DAA-na ]
Seeing it in life
Dāna is wholesome giving rooted in non-greed; foundational kusala-kamma.
In short
Giving — first of the ten perfections.
The analysis
Dāna is wholesome giving rooted in alobha — the first and most foundational of the ten perfections traditionally cultivated on the path, and the most accessible entry point into wholesome practice for most people. The Abhidhamma notes that the kammic quality of an act of giving depends heavily on the cetanā behind it, rather than solely on the size or visibility of the gift.
Where it sits
Dāna is directly opposed to macchariya, stinginess — where macchariya contracts around what one has, dāna opens outward, structural opposites within the broader alobha/lobha division.
Sharing a useful resource or a piece of credit without the small internal calculation of what it costs to give it up — the giving itself, prior to any story about generosity — is dāna in its plain, unremarkable form.
Commonly mistaken for
Only large or financially significant gifts. The Abhidhamma treats dāna as a quality of mind present in any act of giving, regardless of scale.
A purely transactional or reputational act. The specific volition behind the giving determines its kammic character, not the external visibility of the act.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha II; Dāna Sutta (AN 8.31).
Related terms