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Equality (1st) · AN 4.55

Early Buddhist discourse · AN 4.55

Two mature trees growing beside each other on a quiet meadow edge.
About this textContext & reading guide

Nakula’s parents ask how a couple may remain together in this life and a future life; the reply emphasizes shared qualities of practice.

Equality (1st) · AN 4.55

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Bhaggas at Crocodile’s Bellow, in the deer park at Bhesakaḷā’s Wood.

Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to the home of the householder Nakula’s father, where he sat down on the seat spread out.

Then the householder Nakula’s father and the housewife Nakula’s mother went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. Nakula’s father said to the Buddha, “Sir, ever since we were both young, and Nakula’s mother was given to me in marriage, I can’t recall betraying her even in thought, still less in deed. We want to see each other in both this life and the next.”

Then Nakula’s mother said to the Buddha, “Sir, ever since we were both young, and I was given in marriage to Nakula’s father, I can’t recall betraying him even in thought, still less in deed. We want to see each other in both this life and the next.”

“Householders, if wife and husband want to see each other in both this life and the next, they should be equals in faith, ethics, generosity, and wisdom.

When both are faithful and bountiful,
disciplined, living righteously,
then wife and husband
say nice things to each other.

Their needs are amply satisfied,
so they live at ease.
Their enemies are downhearted,
when both are equal in ethics.

Having practiced the teaching here,
both equal in precepts and observances,
they delight in the heavenly realm,
enjoying all the pleasures they desire.”

Translations & sourcesEditions & translators
Read at SuttaCentral ↗

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato

Source edition · Dhammatalks.org ↗

The Atlas reader presents Bhikkhu Sujato’s SuttaCentral translation. This source link preserves the edition previously cited by the Atlas; wording and numbering can differ.

Edition & attribution

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0 1.0

Read at SuttaCentral ↗

SuttaCentral · Bilara translations · Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0 1.0

Introductions, reflection questions and added section headings are editorial material, separate from the attributed translation.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork created for Buddhist Atlas. It is an evocative companion, not a depiction of the text’s historical setting.

Source link checked October 21, 2026. The linked publisher provides the text and its usage terms.

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  • In the Buddha’s Words

    Broader context: a thematic anthology of early Buddhist discourses; this link does not claim that the anthology contains this specific text.

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