Seven noble riches
Seven noble riches (Skt. saptadhanāni; Tib. འཕགས་པའི་ནོར་བདུན་, pakpé nor dün, Wyl. ‘phags pa’i nor bdun) —
- faith
- discipline
- generosity (Tib. tongwa, Wyl. gtong ba)
- learning (Tib. ཐོས་པ་, Wyl. thos pa)
- dignity
- propriety
- wisdom (Tib. sherab; Wyl. shes rab)
One speaks of faith, which is like a river; discipline which is like a flower; generosity, which is like a jewel; learning, which is like an ocean; samaya, which is like a crystal; a sense of moral shame, which is undeceiving like one's own parents; and wisdom, which is like the sun.[1] The direct translation of this term is the Seven Riches of an Arya.
Quotations
དད་དང་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་ཐོས་དང་གཏོང་བ་དང་། །
དྲི་མེད་ངོ་ཚ་ཤེས་དང་ཁྲེལ་ཡོད་དང་།
ཤེས་རབ་ནོར་བདུན་ལགས་པར་ཐུབ་པས་གསུངས། །
Faith and discipline, learning, generosity,
An untainted sense of shame and decency,
And wisdom, are the seven riches spoken of by the Buddha.
Know, other worldly riches have no value.
- Nagarjuna, Letter to a Friend, verse 32
Alternative Versions
- 5. a sense of moral shame in front of others
- 5. samaya
- 6. a sense of ethical conscience in regard to oneself[2]
- 5. a sense of shame with respect to oneself (Padmakara)
- 6. a sense of decency with regard to others (Padmakara)