Connected Discourses on Women

1“Bhikkhus, when a woman possesses five factors she is extremely disagreeable to a man. What five? She is not beautiful, not wealthy, not virtuous; she is lethargic; and she does not beget children. When a woman possesses these five factors she is extremely disagreeable to a man.

2“Bhikkhus, when a woman possesses five factors she is extremely agreeable to a man. What five? She is beautiful, wealthy, and virtuous; she is clever and industrious; and she begets children. When a woman possesses these five factors she is extremely agreeable to a man.”

2. Agreeable and Disagreeable (2)

1“Bhikkhus, when a man possesses five factors he is extremely disagreeable to a woman. What five? He is not handsome, not wealthy, not virtuous; he is lethargic; and he does not beget children. [239] When a man possesses these five factors he is extremely disagreeable to a woman.

2“Bhikkhus, when a man possesses five factors he is extremely agreeable to a woman. What five? He is handsome, wealthy, and virtuous; he is clever and industrious; and he begets children. When a man possesses these five factors he is extremely agreeable to a woman.”

(The same as the above.)

3. Peculiar

1“Bhikkhus, there are five kinds of suffering peculiar to women,²⁶² Mātugāmassa āveṇikāni dukkhāni. Spk: Particular (to women); not shared by men. which women experience but not men. What five?

2“Here, bhikkhus, even when young, a woman goes to live with her husband’s family and is separated from her relatives. This is the first kind of suffering peculiar to women….

3“Again, a woman is subject to menstruation. This is the second kind of suffering peculiar to women….

4“Again, a woman becomes pregnant. This is the third kind of suffering peculiar to women….

5“Again, a woman gives birth. This is the fourth kind of suffering peculiar to women….

6“Again, a woman is made to serve a man. This is the fifth kind of suffering peculiar to women….

7“These, bhikkhus, are the five kinds of suffering peculiar to women, which women experience but not men.” [240]

4. Three Qualities

1“Bhikkhus, when a woman possesses three qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is generally reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the nether world, in hell. What are the three? Here, bhikkhus, in the morning a woman dwells at home with her heart obsessed by the taint of selfishness; at noon she dwells at home with her heart obsessed by envy; in the evening she dwells at home with her heart obsessed by sensual lust. When a woman possesses these three qualities … she is generally reborn in a state of misery … in hell.”

(Anuruddha: (i) The Dark Side)

5. Angry

1Then the Venerable Anuruddha approached the Blessed One … and said to him:²⁶³ I follow the arrangement of Be, which includes the opening paragraph under the fifth sutta of this vagga and records 37:5–24 as addressed solely to Anuruddha. Ee places the introductory paragraph here (and in “The Bright Side”) before the first sutta of each series. In this respect Se corresponds with Be. In Se, however, only the first sutta in each series, dark and bright, is addressed to Anuruddha. Se then repeats the same sutta but addressed to the bhikkhus, and then records the following suttas in each series as addressed solely to the bhikkhus. For this reason Se winds up with two suttas more than Be and Ee, namely, the two addressed only to Anuruddha. These suttas lack yebhuyyena , “generally (reborn),” found in the preceding sutta. Anuruddha excelled in the exercise of the divine eye, which discerns the passing away and rebirth of beings, and also seems to have had frequent encounters with women, both human and celestial (see 9:6). For a biographical sketch, see Hecker, “Anuruddha: Master of the Divine Eye,” in Nyanaponika and Hecker, Great Disciples of the Buddha, pp. 185–210.
“Here, venerable sir, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I see women, with the breakup of the body, after death, being reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the nether world, in hell. When a woman possesses how many qualities, venerable sir, is she reborn thus?”

2“When, Anuruddha, a woman possesses five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the nether world, in hell. What five?

3“She is without faith, shameless, unafraid of wrongdoing, angry, unwise. When a woman possesses these five qualities [241] she is reborn in a state of misery ... in hell.”

6-13. Malicious, Etc.

1“When, Anuruddha, a woman possesses five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the nether world, in hell. What five?

2“She is without faith, shameless, unafraid of wrongdoing, malicious, [envious ... stingy … of loose conduct ... immoral … unlearned ... lazy ... muddle-minded,]²⁶⁴ In 37:7–13, the terms in square brackets successively replace “malicious” as the fourth item in the list. unwise. When a woman possesses these five qualities she is reborn in a state of misery ... in hell.” [242–43]

14. The Five

1“When, Anuruddha, a woman possesses five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a state of misery, in a bad destination, in the nether world, in hell. What are the five?

2“She destroys life, takes what is not given, engages in sexual misconduct, speaks falsehood, and indulges in wine, liquor, and intoxicants that cause negligence. When a woman possesses these five qualities she is reborn in a state of misery ... in hell.”

1“When, Anuruddha, a woman possesses five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world. What are the five?

2“She has faith, she has a sense of shame, she is afraid of wrongdoing, she is without malice, [without envy ... not stingy ... not of loose conduct ... virtuous ... learned ... energetic ... mindful,] ²⁶⁵ In 37:17–23, the terms in square brackets successively replace “without malice” as the fourth item in the list. wise. When a woman possesses these five qualities she is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.” [245]

24. The Five Precepts

1“When, Anuruddha, a woman possesses five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world. What are the five?

2“She abstains from the destruction of life, abstains from taking what is not given, abstains from sexual misconduct, abstains from false speech, abstains from wine, liquor, and intoxicants that cause negligence. When a woman possesses these five qualities, with the breakup of the body, after death, she is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.” [246]

1“Bhikkhus, there are five powers of a woman. What are the five? The power of beauty, the power of wealth, the power of relatives, the power of sons, the power of virtue. These are the five powers of a woman. When a woman possesses these five powers, she dwells confident at home.”

26. Having Won Over

1“Bhikkhus, there are five powers of a woman…. (as above ) ... When a woman possesses these five powers, she dwells at home having won over her husband.”²⁶⁶ Sāmikaṁ pasayha agāraṁ ajjhāvasati. Spk glosses pasayha with abhibhavitvā, and in the next sutta abhibhuyya vattati with abhibhavati ajjhottharati. In this way the two become simply verbal variants on the same idea.

27. Under Her Control

1“Bhikkhus, there are five powers of a woman…. (as above ) ... When a woman possesses these five powers, she abides with her husband under her control.”

28. One

1“Bhikkhus, when a man possesses one power, he abides with a woman under his control. What is that one power? The power of authority. When a woman has been overcome by the power of authority, neither the power of beauty can rescue her, nor the power of wealth, nor the power of relatives, nor the power of sons, nor the power of virtue.” [247]

29. In That Respect

1“Bhikkhus, there are these five powers of a woman. What are the five? The power of beauty, the power of wealth, the power of relatives, the power of sons, the power of virtue.

2“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of beauty but not the power of wealth, then she is deficient in that respect. But if she possesses the power of beauty and the power of wealth too, then she is complete in that respect.

3“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty and wealth, but not the power of relatives, then she is deficient in that respect. But if she possesses the powers of beauty and wealth, and the power of relatives too, then she is complete in that respect.

4“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, and relatives, but not the power of sons, then she is deficient in that respect. But if she possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, and relatives, and the power of sons too, then she is complete in that respect.

5“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, relatives, and sons, but not the power of virtue, then she is deficient in that respect. But if she possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, relatives, and sons, and the power of virtue too, then she is complete in that respect.

6“These are the five powers of a woman.”

30. They Expel

1“Bhikkhus, there are these five powers of a woman ... [248] … the power of virtue.

2“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of beauty but not the power of virtue, they expel her; they do not accommodate her in the family.²⁶⁷ Nāsent’ eva naṁ, kule na vāsenti. Spk gives us a glimpse of the social mores of the period: “Saying, ‘You immoral, unchaste adulteress,’ they take her by the neck and eject her; they do not accommodate her in that family.”

3“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty and wealth, but not the power of virtue, they expel her; they do not accommodate her in the family.

4“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, and relatives, but not the power of virtue, they expel her; they do not accommodate her in the family.

5“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the powers of beauty, wealth, relatives, and sons, but not the power of virtue, they expel her; they do not accommodate her in the family.

6“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of virtue but not the power of beauty, they accommodate her in the family; they do not expel her.²⁶⁸ Vāsent’ eva naṁ kule, na nāsenti. Spk: “Reflecting, ‘What does beauty or wealth, etc., matter when she is virtuous and upright?’ the relatives accommodate her in that family; they do not expel her.”

7“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of virtue but not the power of wealth, they accommodate her in the family; they do not expel her.

8“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of virtue but not the power of relatives, they accommodate her in the family; they do not expel her.

9“If, bhikkhus, a woman possesses the power of virtue but not the power of sons, they accommodate her in the family; they do not expel her.

10“These are the five powers of a woman.”

31. The Cause

1“Bhikkhus, there are these five powers of a woman … the power of virtue.

2“Bhikkhus, it is not because of the power of beauty, or the power of wealth, or the power of relatives, or the power of sons, that with the breakup of the body, after death, a woman is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world. It is because of the power of virtue that a woman is reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world.

3“These are the five powers of a woman.” [249]

32. Situations

1“Bhikkhus, there are five situations that are difficult to obtain for a woman who has not done merit. What are the five?

2“She may wish: ‘May I be born into a suitable family!’ This is the first situation that is difficult to obtain for a woman who has not done merit.

3“She may wish: ‘Having been born into a suitable family, may I marry into a suitable family!’ This is the second situation….

4“She may wish: ‘Having been born into a suitable family and having married into a suitable family, may I dwell at home without a rival!’²⁶⁹ Asapattī. That is, without another wife of her husband. It was not unusual at the time for affluent men to take a second wife or concubine, especially if the first wife turned out to be barren. See Singh, Life in North-Eastern India, pp. 38–41. This is the third situation….

5“She may wish: ‘Having been born into a suitable family … dwelling at home without a rival, may I bear sons!’ This is the fourth situation…. [250]

6“She may wish: ‘Having been born into a suitable family … having borne sons, may I abide with my husband under my control! ’ This is the fifth situation….

7“These are the five situations that are difficult to obtain for a woman who has not done merit.

8“Bhikkhus, there are five situations that are easy to obtain for a woman who has done merit. What are the five?

9“She may wish: ‘May I be born into a suitable family!’ This is the first situation….

10“She may wish: ‘Having been born into a suitable family … having borne sons, may I abide with my husband under my control! ’ This is the fifth situation….

11“These are the five situations that are easy to obtain for a woman who has done merit.”

33. Confident

1“Bhikkhus, when a woman possesses five qualities she dwells confident at home. What are the five? She abstains from the destruction of life, abstains from taking what is not given, abstains from sexual misconduct, abstains from false speech, abstains from wine, liquor, and intoxicants that cause negligence. When a woman possesses these five qualities she dwells confident at home.”

34. Growth

1“Bhikkhus, growing in five areas of growth, a woman noble disciple grows with a noble growth, and she acquires the essence, acquires the best, of this bodily existence. What are the five? She grows in faith, in virtue, in learning, in generosity, and in wisdom. Growing in these five areas of growth, a woman noble disciple grows with a noble growth, and she acquires the essence, acquires the best, of this bodily existence.

2“When she grows here in faith and virtue,
In wisdom, generosity, and learning,
The virtuous woman lay disciple
Acquires right here the essence for herself.”

[251]