Benefits to be Obtained (from Wealth)
Ādiya Sutta (AN 5:41)
The verse from this discourse is often chanted by monks as a blessing at meals or other offerings.
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Then Anāthapiṇḍika the householder went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him: “There are these five benefits that can be obtained from wealth. Which five?
“There is the case where the disciple of the noble ones—using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained—provides himself with pleasure & satisfaction, and maintains that pleasure rightly. He provides his mother & father with pleasure & satisfaction, and maintains that pleasure rightly. He provides his children, his wife, his slaves, servants, & assistants with pleasure & satisfaction, and maintains that pleasure rightly. This is the first benefit that can be obtained from wealth.
“And further, the disciple of the noble ones—using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained—provides his friends & associates with pleasure & satisfaction, and maintains that pleasure rightly. This is the second benefit that can be obtained from wealth.
“And further, the disciple of the noble ones—using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained—wards off calamities coming from fire, flood, kings, thieves, or hateful heirs, and keeps himself safe. This is the third benefit that can be obtained from wealth.
“And further, the disciple of the noble ones—using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained—performs the five oblations: to relatives, guests, the dead, kings, & devas. This is the fourth benefit that can be obtained from wealth.
“And further, the disciple of the noble ones—using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained—institutes offerings of supreme aim, heavenly, resulting in happiness, leading to heaven, given to contemplatives & brahmans who abstain from intoxication & heedlessness, who endure all things with patience & humility, each taming himself, each restraining himself, each taking himself to unbinding. This is the fifth benefit that can be obtained from wealth.
“If it so happens that, when a disciple of the noble ones obtains these five benefits from wealth, his wealth goes to depletion, the thought occurs to him, ‘Even though my wealth has gone to depletion, I have obtained the five benefits that can be obtained from wealth,’ and he feels no remorse. If it so happens that, when a disciple of the noble ones obtains these five benefits from wealth, his wealth increases, the thought occurs to him, ‘I have obtained the five benefits that can be obtained from wealth, and my wealth has increased,’ and he feels no remorse. So he feels no remorse in either case.”
‘My wealth has been enjoyed,
my dependents supported,
protected from calamities by me.
I have given supreme offerings
& performed the five oblations.
I have provided for the virtuous,
the restrained,
followers of the holy life.
For whatever aim a wise householder
would desire wealth,
that aim have I attained.
I have done what will not lead to future distress.’
When this is recollected by a mortal,
a person established
in the Dhamma of the noble ones,
he is praised in this life
and, after death, rejoices in heaven.
