8.46. Anuruddha

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Kosambī in Ghosita’s Park. Now on that occasion the Venerable Anuruddha had gone off to pass the day and was in seclusion when a number of agreeable-bodied deities approached him, paid homage to him, stood to one side, and said to him:

“Bhante Anuruddha, we agreeable-bodied deities exert mastery and exercise control over three things. We immediately acquire whatever color we want. We immediately acquire whatever pleasure we want. And we immediately acquire whatever voice we want. We agreeable-bodied deities exert mastery and exercise control over these three things.”

Then the Venerable Anuruddha thought: “May all these deities become blue, of blue complexion, with blue clothes and blue ornaments.” Having known the Venerable Anuruddha’s thought, those deities all became blue, of blue complexion, with blue clothes and blue ornaments. Then the Venerable Anuruddha thought: “May all these deities become yellow … red … white, of white complexion, with white clothes and white ornaments.” Having known the Venerable Anuruddha’s thought, those deities all became white, of white complexion, with white clothes and white ornaments.

Then one of those deities sang, one danced, and one snapped her fingers. Just as, when a musical quintet is well trained and its rhythm well coordinated, and it is composed of skilled musicians, its music is exquisite, tantalizing, lovely, captivating, and intoxicating, just so those deities’ performance was exquisite, tantalizing, lovely, captivating, and intoxicating. Thereupon the Venerable Anuruddha drew in his sense faculties. Then those deities, thinking: “Master Anuruddha is not enjoying this,” disappeared right on the spot.

Then, in the evening, the Venerable Anuruddha emerged from seclusion and approached the Blessed One. He paid homage to the Blessed One, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Here, Bhante, I had gone off to pass the day and was in seclusion … He reports everything that happened down to: … Then those deities, thinking: ‘Master Anuruddha is not enjoying this,’ disappeared right on the spot.

“Bhante, how many qualities should a woman possess so that, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in companionship with the agreeable-bodied deities?”

“If she possesses eight qualities, Anuruddha, a woman, with the breakup of the body, after death, is reborn in companionship with the agreeable-bodied deities. What eight?

(1) “Here, Anuruddha, to whichever husband her parents give her—doing so out of a desire for her good, seeking her welfare, taking compassion on her, acting out of compassion for her—a woman rises before him and retires after him, undertaking whatever needs to be done, agreeable in her conduct and pleasing in her speech.

(2)“She honors, respects, esteems, and venerates those whom her husband respects—his mother and father, ascetics and brahmins—and when they arrive she offers them a seat and water.

(3) “She is skillful and diligent in attending to her husband’s domestic chores, whether knitting or weaving; she possesses sound judgment about them in order to carry out and arrange them properly.

(4) “She finds out what her husband’s domestic helpers —whether slaves, messengers, or workers—have done and left undone; she finds out the condition of those who are ill; and she distributes to each an appropriate portion of food.

(5) “She guards and protects whatever income her husband brings home—whether money, grain, silver, or gold—and she is not a spendthrift, thief, wastrel, or squanderer of his earnings.

(6) “She is a female lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha.

(7) “She is virtuous, abstaining from the destruction of life, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct, false speech, and liquor, wine, and intoxicants, the basis for heedlessness.

(8) “She is generous, one who dwells at home with a heart devoid of the stain of miserliness, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in relinquishment, devoted to charity, delighting in giving and sharing.

“Possessing these eight qualities, Anuruddha, a woman, with the breakup of the body, after death, is reborn in companionship with the agreeable-bodied deities.”

She does not despise her husband,
the man who constantly supports her,
who ardently and eagerly
always brings her whatever she wants.

Nor does a good woman scold her husband
with speech caused by jealousy;
the wise woman shows veneration
to all those whom her husband reveres.

She rises early, works diligently,
manages the domestic help;
she treats her husband in agreeable ways
and safeguards the wealth he earns.

The woman who fulfills her duties thus,
following her husband’s will and wishes,
is reborn among the devas
called “the agreeable ones.”