[Verse 1]
Earn your wealth by honest ways,
Do no harm throughout your days.
Use what you have to live with care,
And open your hands so you can share.
Let possessions serve your life,
Do not let them create your strife.
When wealth arrives, let wisdom stay,
Hold it lightly and walk the way.
[Pre-Chorus]
Five precepts guard the heart from fear,
Keep compassion always near.
Guard the body, speech, and mind,
Let wholesome actions be your guide.
[Chorus]
Have wealth, but do not become its slave,
Hold your views, but do not let them enslave.
Learn to give, learn to release,
See the truth and cultivate peace.
Do not kill, do not steal,
Guard desire with wisdom real.
Speak no lies and do not lose
Your mindful heart to intoxicants and views.
[Verse 2]
When opinions disagree,
Do not let anger govern thee.
Listen deeply, question well,
Let wisdom guide the words you tell.
An elder is not old in years alone,
True maturity through practice is shown.
Learning, virtue, discipline, and care
Are the qualities that make wisdom rare.
[Pre-Chorus]
Even in a forest far away,
The restless mind may still remain.
Practice concentration every day,
Let mindfulness clear the way.
[Chorus]
Have wealth, but do not become its slave,
Hold your views, but do not let them enslave.
Learn to give, learn to release,
See the truth and cultivate peace.
Do not kill, do not steal,
Guard desire with wisdom real.
Speak no lies and do not lose
Your mindful heart to intoxicants and views.
[Bridge]
Greed and hatred, delusion too,
Anger and resentment must be seen through.
Contempt and jealousy, stinginess and pride,
Let wisdom dissolve them from inside.
When these ten defilements fade away,
The heart grows clearer day by day.
Freedom begins when grasping ends,
And wisdom becomes the mind's true friend.
[Final Chorus]
Have wealth, but do not become its slave,
Give with kindness, live with grace.
Let possessions come and go,
While wisdom guides the life you know.
Whatever wealth the world may bring,
Let Dhamma be the greater thing.
A peaceful heart, a generous way—
That is the wealth that does not decay.
The Upāsakavagga: Ethical Wealth, Peaceful Living, Right View, and the Abandoning of Defilements
The Upāsakavagga, the fifth chapter of the second fifty in Volume 24 of the Aṅguttara Nikāya, contains ten discourses: the Kāmabhogī, Vera, Diṭṭhi, Vajjiya, Uttiya, Kokanuda, Āhuneyya, Thera, Upāli, and Abhabba Suttas.
Together, these discourses address wealth, ethical conduct, freedom from hostility, views, dialogue, spiritual qualities, meditation, and the abandonment of defilements.
1. The Kāmabhogī Sutta — Wealth Under the Guidance of Dhamma
The Kāmabhogī Sutta describes ten kinds of people who enjoy material wealth. Their conduct is examined according to three dimensions: how wealth is acquired, how it is used for one's own well-being, and whether it is shared or used for meritorious purposes.
The discourse identifies as especially distinguished the person who acquires wealth righteously and without harming others, uses it appropriately, shares it, performs meritorious deeds, and does not become attached to or obsessed with possessions.
The Buddha compares such a person to the finest clarified butter, emphasizing that the value of wealth depends not merely on possession, but on the way it is acquired, used, shared, and held in the mind.
2. The Vera Sutta — The Five Ways of Preventing Hostility
The Vera Sutta describes an ethical follower who avoids five actions that create grounds for hostility: killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants.
The discourse also connects spiritual attainment with confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, ethical conduct, and insight into dependent origination.
3. The Diṭṭhi Sutta — Examining Views with Wisdom
The Diṭṭhi Sutta presents a discussion involving Anāthapiṇḍika and other religious wanderers concerning philosophical views about the world.
The teaching emphasizes examining conditioned phenomena as impermanent and unsatisfactory rather than identifying them as a permanent self.
4. The Vajjiya Sutta — Reasoned Dialogue and the Distinction Between Wholesome and Unwholesome
Vajjiya Māhita, a lay follower, responds to criticisms of the Buddha by explaining that the Buddha did not condemn every form of ascetic practice indiscriminately. Rather, he criticized what should be criticized and praised what should be praised.
The discourse presents the importance of distinguishing wholesome and unwholesome conduct rather than making sweeping judgments.
5. The Uttiya Sutta — Practice for Higher Knowledge
The Uttiya Sutta concerns questions posed by the wanderer Uttiya to the Buddha. Its central direction is toward practice leading to higher knowledge and liberation, rather than remaining confined to theoretical speculation.
6. The Kokanuda Sutta — Avoiding Attachment to Extreme Views
The Kokanuda Sutta presents questions concerning views such as whether the world is eternal or not eternal and what should be regarded as ultimately true.
Its broader lesson is the importance of distinguishing knowledge based on conditions from attachment to fixed views. The purpose of Dhamma discussion is understanding and liberation rather than merely winning an argument.
7. The Āhuneyya Sutta — Qualities That Make a Person Worthy of Respect
The Āhuneyya Sutta describes ten kinds of individuals who are worthy of offerings, hospitality, gifts, and respectful homage.
The emphasis is on spiritual qualities and conduct rather than social status alone.
8. The Thera Sutta — True Elderhood Requires Virtue
The Thera Sutta describes a senior monk who possesses ten qualities, including long experience, ethical discipline, and extensive learning.
The teaching therefore presents spiritual seniority as something associated with training, knowledge, discipline, and character, rather than merely the passage of time.
9. The Upāli Sutta — Solitude Requires Mental Preparation
The Upāli Sutta concerns Venerable Upāli's wish to practice alone in the forest. The Buddha explains that someone who has not sufficiently developed concentration may become mentally overwhelmed or distracted when entering a secluded environment.
The teaching suggests that physical solitude does not automatically create mental peace. The mind itself must be cultivated.
10. The Abhabba Sutta — Abandoning Ten Defilements
The Abhabba Sutta concludes the Upāsakavagga by identifying ten qualities that must be abandoned for the realization of arahantship.
They are greed, hatred, delusion, anger, resentment, depreciation, hostility, jealousy, stinginess, and conceit.
The Central Message of the Upāsakavagga
The ten discourses can be understood as a practical sequence:
Acquire wealth ethically → Use it wisely → Share it → Keep the precepts → Prevent hostility → Examine views → Listen to Dhamma → Respect genuine virtue → Cultivate the mind → Abandon defilements
The Upāsakavagga therefore connects Buddhist practice with ordinary life. Wealth, social relationships, disagreement, learning, speech, meditation, and inner transformation are all treated as fields of ethical and spiritual development.
Its central message can be expressed as follows:
A lay follower can live with wealth without being possessed by wealth, hold views without being enslaved by views, live peacefully with others, and continually purify the mind of defilements.
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