{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an8.46/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an8.46","id":"suttacentral_an8.46","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an8.46/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near Kosamb\u012b in Ghosita\u2019s monastery. Now at that time Venerable Anuruddha had gone into retreat for the day\u2019s meditation. Then several deities of the Agreeable Host went up to Venerable Anuruddha, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him: \u201cHonorable Anuruddha, we are the deities called \u2018Agreeable\u2019. We wield authority and control over three things. We can turn any color we want on the spot. We can get any voice that we want on the spot. We can get any pleasure that we want on the spot. We are the deities called \u2018Agreeable\u2019. We wield authority and control over these three things.\u201d Then Venerable Anuruddha thought, \u201cIf only these deities would all turn blue, of blue color, clad in blue, adorned with blue!\u201d Then those deities, knowing Anuruddha\u2019s thought, all turned blue. Then Venerable Anuruddha thought, \u201cIf only these deities would all turn yellow \u2026\u201d \u201cIf only these gods would all turn red \u2026\u201d \u201cIf only these gods would all turn white \u2026\u201d Then those deities, knowing Anuruddha\u2019s thought, all turned white. Then one of those deities sang, one danced, and one snapped her fingers. Suppose there was a quintet made up of skilled musicians who had practiced well and kept excellent rhythm. They\u2019d sound graceful, tantalizing, sensuous, endearing, and intoxicating. In the same way the performance by those deities sounded graceful, tantalizing, sensuous, endearing, and intoxicating. But Venerable Anuruddha averted his senses. Then those deities, thinking \u201cMaster Anuruddha isn\u2019t enjoying this,\u201d vanished right there. Then in the late afternoon, Anuruddha came out of retreat and went to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened, adding: \u201cHow many qualities do ladies have so that\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014they are reborn in company with the Gods of the Agreeable Host?\u201d \u201cAnuruddha, when they have eight qualities ladies\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014are reborn in company with the Gods of the Agreeable Host. What eight? Take the case of a lady whose mother and father give her to a husband wanting what\u2019s best for her, out of kindness and sympathy. She would get up before him and go to bed after him, and be obliging, behaving nicely and speaking politely. She honors, respects, esteems, and venerates those her husband respects, such as mother and father, and ascetics and brahmins. And when they arrive she serves them with a seat and water. She\u2019s deft and tireless in her husband\u2019s household duties, such as knitting and sewing. She understands how to go about things in order to complete and organize the work. She knows what work her husband\u2019s domestic bondservants, servants, and workers have completed, and what they\u2019ve left incomplete. She knows who is sick, and who is fit or unwell. She distributes to each a fair portion of fresh and cooked foods. She ensures that any income her husband earns is guarded and protected, whether money, grain, silver, or gold. She doesn\u2019t overspend, steal, waste, or lose it. She\u2019s a lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, his teaching, and the Sa\u1e45gha. She\u2019s ethical. She doesn\u2019t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or consume intoxicants of beer, wine, and liquor. She\u2019s generous. She lives at home with heart rid of the stain of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, loving to let go, committed to charity, loving to give and to share. When they possess these eight qualities ladies\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014are reborn in company with the Gods of the Agreeable Host. She\u2019d never look down on her husband, who\u2019s always eager to work hard, always looking after her, and bringing whatever she wants. And a good woman never scolds her husband with jealous words. Being astute, she reveres those respected by her husband. She gets up early, works tirelessly, and manages the domestic help. She\u2019s agreeable to her husband, and preserves his wealth. A lady who fulfills these duties according to her husband\u2019s desire, is reborn among the gods called \u2018Agreeable\u2019.\u201d","title":"Anuruddha and the Agreeable Deities","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":673}