{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an8.49/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an8.49","id":"suttacentral_an8.49","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an8.49/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in the stilt longhouse of Mig\u0101ra\u2019s mother in the Eastern Monastery. Then Vis\u0101kh\u0101, Mig\u0101ra\u2019s mother, went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to her: \u201cVis\u0101kh\u0101, a lady who has four qualities is practicing to win in this life, and she succeeds at it. What four? It\u2019s when a lady is well-organized at work, manages the domestic help, acts lovingly toward her husband, and preserves his earnings. And how is a lady well-organized at work? It\u2019s when she\u2019s deft and tireless in doing domestic duties for her husband, such as knitting and sewing. She understands how to go about things in order to complete and organize the work. That\u2019s how a lady is well-organized at work. And how does a lady manage the domestic help? It\u2019s when 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. That\u2019s how a lady manages the domestic help. And how does a lady act lovingly toward her husband? It\u2019s when a lady would not transgress in any way that her husband would not consider agreeable, even for the sake of her own life. That\u2019s how a lady acts lovingly toward her husband. And how does a lady preserve his earnings? It\u2019s when 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. That\u2019s how a lady preserves his earnings. A lady who possesses these four qualities is practicing to win in this life, and she succeeds at it. A lady who has four qualities is practicing to win in the next life, and she succeeds at it. What four? It\u2019s when a lady is accomplished in faith, ethics, generosity, and wisdom. And how is a lady accomplished in faith? It\u2019s when a lady has faith in the Realized One\u2019s awakening: \u2018That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.\u2019 That\u2019s how a lady is accomplished in faith. And how is a lady accomplished in ethics? It\u2019s when a lady doesn\u2019t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or consume intoxicants of beer, wine, and liquor. That\u2019s how a lady is accomplished in ethics. And how is a lady accomplished in generosity? It\u2019s when 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. That\u2019s how a lady is accomplished in generosity. And how is a lady accomplished in wisdom? It\u2019s when a lady is wise. She has the wisdom of arising and passing away which is noble, penetrative, and leads to the complete ending of suffering. That\u2019s how a lady is accomplished in wisdom. A lady who possesses these four qualities is practicing to win in the next life, and she succeeds at it. She\u2019s organized at work, and manages the domestic help. She\u2019s agreeable to her husband, and preserves his wealth. Faithful, accomplished in ethics, bountiful, rid of stinginess, she always purifies the path to well-being in lives to come. And so, a lady in whom these eight qualities are found is known as virtuous, firmly principled, and truthful. Accomplished in sixteen respects, complete with the eight factors, a virtuous laywoman such as she is reborn in the realm of the Agreeable Gods.\u201d","title":"Winning in This Life (1st)","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":617}