You might be referring to this famous Jain story:

Story of King Shrenik and Alms (Daan)

King Shrenik of Magadh was a powerful king and a great devotee of Bhagwan Mahavir. One day he asked Mahavir, “What will be my next birth?”

Mahavir said: “You will go to Narak gati (hell) due to the very strong karmas of violence (especially hunting).”

Shrenik was shocked and begged for a way to avoid this terrible destiny. Bhagwan Mahavir gave him three “conditions.” One of them was related to alms (daan):

1. Maid Kapila should willingly give alms to Jain monks.

- Kapila was a maid in Shrenik’s palace. - She never gave alms to anyone. - On Mahavir’s advice, the king requested her to give food in alms to sadhus at least once. - She refused, saying she would not even hold anything in her hand to give as alms. - So King Shrenik tied a scoop/ladle to her hand and arranged that food be given to monks using that scoop. - While giving, Kapila kept murmuring: “I am not giving alms; the king’s scoop is giving alms.” - Outwardly, alms were being offered, but internally she had no shraddha or bhaav. - Hence, spiritually, she did not truly give alms, and the condition given by Mahavir was not fulfilled.

Similarly, the other two conditions also failed (about the butcher Kalsaurik and Puniya Shravak’s samayik), so the fixed (nikachit) ayushya karma of King Shrenik could not be changed.

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Main Jain Teachings from this “alms” incident

1. Bhaav (inner intention) is more important than the outer act.

Just mechanically giving something is not real daan. True alms must be: - With shraddha (faith) - With vinay (respect) - With anukampa (compassion)

1. Karma is very exact.

- Only your own pure actions and intentions can change your future. - You cannot escape a very firm, deeply bound karma (nikachit karma) by external tricks.

1. Daan done without bhakti or with ego has very little punya.

Saying “I didn’t give, the scoop gave” shows total inner refusal. In Jain dharma, such daan has almost no spiritual value, even if big in quantity.

You can read the full story of “King Shrenik’s Destiny” here