One whose faith is unshaken, whose virtue is good, who trusts the Saṅgha and sees uprightly, is called not poor, and his life is not in vain.
- When chanted
- Recited among the reflections on the qualities that constitute a person's true wealth, and as an exhortation to the fourfold ground of faith, virtue, confidence and right view.
A note on this chant. The book prints this chant in Pali only, with no Thai translation. The English here is a working translation prepared for this edition — it is not the book's own, and has not yet been checked by a teacher.
Historical background
The noble wealth, ariyadhana, is a standard enumeration of the goods that cannot be lost to theft, fire or the state — usually given as seven, though these verses treat four of them: faith, virtue, confidence in the Saṅgha, and upright vision. The title of the chant names the whole category and the verses illustrate it.
The page prints the chant in two columns, both Pali, with each printed row forming one complete line of the metre. There is no Thai translation on this page, so the entry stands at two of the five layers and the English is my own off the Pali.
Meaning and purpose
The first four lines build a single conditional sentence and withhold its conclusion until the end. Whose faith in the Tathāgata is unshaken and well established; whose virtue is good, dear to the noble ones and praised; who has confidence in the Saṅgha and whose seeing is upright — of such a person they say he is not poor.
The force of the passage lies in that word. อะทะลิทโท, not poor, is a negation rather than a claim of riches, and it answers an assumption rather than making a boast. A person possessing none of the ordinary forms of wealth might be called destitute; these verses deny it, on the grounds of holdings of a different kind. The line that follows completes the thought without metaphor: his life is not in vain.
The closing couplet turns the description into instruction. Therefore let the wise one pursue faith, virtue, confidence and the vision of Dhamma, remembering the teaching of the Buddhas. The four items are simply repeated from the first half in the same order, so the exhortation adds nothing new — it only asks that what has just been described be taken up.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 31 →
อะริยะธะนะ: The Noble Wealth
ยัสสะ สัทธา ตะถาคะเต อะจะลา สุปะติฏฐิตา
yassa saddhā tathāgate acalā supatiṭṭhitā
Whose faith in the Tathāgata is unshaken and well established,
สีลัญจะ ยัสสะ กัล๎ยาณัง อะริยะกันตัง ปะสังสิตัง,
sīlañca yassa kalyāṇaṃ ariyakantaṃ pasaṃsitaṃ,
and whose virtue is good, dear to the noble ones and praised,
สังเฆ ปะสาโท ยัสสัตถิ อุชุภูตัญจะ ทัสสะนัง
saṅghe pasādo yassatthi ujubhūtañca dassanaṃ
who has confidence in the Saṅgha, and whose seeing is upright —
อะทะลิทโทติ ตัง อาหุ อะโมฆันตัสสะ ชีวิตัง.
adaliddoti taṃ āhu amoghantassa jīvitaṃ.
him they call not poor, and his life is not in vain.
อะนุยุญเชถะ: The Exhortation
ตัส๎มา สัทธัญจะ สีลัญจะ ปะสาทัง ธัมมะทัสสะนัง
tasmā saddhañca sīlañca pasādaṃ dhammadassanaṃ
Therefore faith and virtue, confidence and the vision of Dhamma —
อะนุยุญเชถะ เมธาวี สะรัง พุทธานะ สาสะนันติ.
anuyuñjetha medhāvī saraṃ buddhāna sāsananti.
let the wise one pursue them, remembering the teaching of the Buddhas.
อะริยะธะนะคาถา นิฏฐิตา
ariyadhanagāthā niṭṭhitā
Here end the Verses on the Noble Treasure.