Treasures in Detail

Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.

[1][than][upal] THUS have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

'Yes, lord,' they replied;
and the Exalted One said:

"Monks, these are the seven treasures.

What seven?

The treasures of faith,
virtue,
conscientiousness,
fear of blame,
listening,
bounty,
and wisdom.

Verily, monks, these are the seven.

And what, monks, is the treasure of faith?

Consider, monks, the Ariyan disciple who has faith;
he believes thus of the Tathāgata's awakening: -

Of a truth he is the Exalted One,
arahant,
fully awakened,
adept in knowledge and conduct,
well going,
a world-knower,
incomparable,
tamer of tamable men,
among devas and men the teacher,
Buddha,
Exalted One.

This is called the treasure of faith.

■

And what is the treasure of virtue?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who abstains from taking life,^[ed1]
from taking what is not given,
from carnal lusts,
from lying,
abstains from taking sloth-causing liquors, spirits, wines.

This is called the treasure of virtue.

■

And what is the treasure of conscientiousness?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who is conscientious;
he is shamed by misconduct in deed,
word
and thought;
shamed at having fallen into evil
and unrighteous ways.

This is called the treasure of conscientiousness.

■

And what is the treasure of the fear of blame?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who fears blame;
he fears to be blamed for misconduct in deed,
word
and thought;
he fears the blame of having fallen into evil
and unrighteous ways.

This is called the treasure of the fear of blame.

■

And what is the treasure of listening?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who listens much;^[1]
there is a retaining,
a storing of things heard;
and those things,
lovely in the beginning,
lovely in the middle,
lovely in the end,
which set forth in meaning and detail the godly life,
wholly fulfilled,
perfectly pure;
all those are heard much by him,
retained in mind,
familiarized by talk,
pored over,
well penetrated by right view.

This is called the treasure of listening.

■

And what is the treasure of bounty?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who lives at home^[2]
with mind free of the stain of meanness;
freely bounteous,
open-handed,
gladly giving,
yoke-mate^[3] to asking,
he is a cheerful giver.

This is called the treasure of bounty.

■

And what is the treasure of wisdom?

Consider the Ariyan disciple who is wise;
he is wise as to the way of growth and decay,
possessing Ariyan penetration of the way
to the utter destruction of ill.

This is called the treasure of wisdom.

Verily, monks, there are these seven treasures.'

Faith, virtue, conscientiousness and fear of blame,
Listening and bounty, yea, and wisdom seventh -
Who hath these treasures - woman, man - 'tis said,
No paupers they, their lives are not in vain.
Wherefore faith, virtue, grace, the Dhamma-view
Wise men pursue, minding the Buddha's word.'

^[1] Vin. ii, 95; D. iii, 267; M. iii, 11; A. ii, 23, etc.

^[2] A. i, 226; ii, 66; v, 331; S. v, 351.

^[3] Yāca-yoga.

^[ed1] Hare abbreviates here but there is not one case where he has translated the virtues in full. The missing lines (on taking what is not given, 'carnal lusts' and lying — adinnādānā paṭivirato hoti, kāmesumicchācārā paṭivirato hoti, musā-vādā paṭivirato hoti) are supplied from the previous volume of the G.S., translated by Woodward.

Aṇguttara Nikāya Sattaka Nipāta Dhana Vaggo

The Book of the Gradual Sayings The Book of the Sevens Chapter I: Treasures

Sutta 6

Dhana Sutta

Treasures in Detail

Aṇguttara Nikāya
Sattaka Nipāta
Dhana Vaggo

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Sevens
Chapter I: Treasures