Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Material wealth, however vast, can be taken by fire, water, rulers, thieves, or unloved heirs; the seven kinds of spiritual wealth — faith, ethics, conscience, prudence, learning, generosity, and wisdom — cannot be taken by any of them.
The Buddha grants the premise before reframing it
Asked to marvel at another man's riches, the Buddha does not deny or minimize the sum Ugga names — “that is wealth, I can't deny it” — before immediately naming five specific threats material wealth remains exposed to. The reframing works by acknowledging the premise fully, not by dismissing it.
The identical seven-item list as AN 7.5, in a new context
Checked term by term against AN 7.5, this discourse's seven kinds of wealth — faith, ethics, conscience, prudence, learning, generosity, wisdom — and its closing verse are identical. What is new is the narrative frame: a specific interlocutor, a specific named rich man, and a specific sum, giving abstract content concrete stakes.
Five named threats, not a vague warning
Fire, water, rulers, thieves, and unloved heirs (aggi, udaka, rājāno, corā, appiyā dāyādā) are named specifically rather than left as a general caution — four external forces and, notably, one internal to the family itself, an heir who does not love the one whose wealth they inherit.
Key terms
The text
Ugga marvels at Migāra's fortune
§1Then Ugga the government chief minister went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him,
Wealth, and what threatens it
§2“It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing! Migāra of Rohaṇa is so rich, so very wealthy.” “But Ugga, how rich is he?” “He has a hundred thousand gold coins, not to mention the silver coins!” “Well, Ugga, that is wealth, I can’t deny it. But fire, water, rulers, thieves, and unloved heirs all take a share of that wealth. There are these seven kinds of wealth that they can’t take a share of. What seven? The wealth of faith, ethics, conscience, prudence, learning, generosity, and wisdom. There are these seven kinds of wealth that fire, water, rulers, thieves, and unloved heirs can’t take a share of.
The seven kinds of wealth no threat can take
§3Faith and ethical conduct are kinds of wealth, as are conscience and prudence, learning and generosity, and wisdom is the seventh kind of wealth. When a woman or man has these kinds of wealth, they’re really rich in the world, invincible among gods and humans. So let the wise devote themselves to faith, ethical behavior, confidence, and insight into the teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.”
Self-check quiz
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