One day, while collecting alms, Buddha came to the house of his rich admirer Anatgapindika and heard shouting and arguing in his house. Buddha asked:
- Why are the people in your house so noisy? You might think that the fishermen had their fish stolen.
The owner of the house shared his grief with Buddha. He said that a daughter-in-law from a very rich family had entered his house and did not want to listen to her husband or his parents and did not want to pay due respect to the Buddha.
Buddha called his daughter-in-law:
- Come here, Sujata.
She replied:
“I’m coming, sir,” and came to the Buddha.
He told her:
— There are seven differences in wives, Sujata. What are these seven differences? The one who is like a murderer; she who is like a thief; she who is like a mistress; one who is like a mother; the one who is like a sister; one who is like a friend; one who is like a maidservant. Here, Sujata, are the seven differences between wives that a husband can have. Which one do you belong to?
And Sujata, forgetting all her stubbornness and arrogance, modestly answered:
“I don’t understand, lord, the true meaning of what the Great One briefly told me.”
- Listen, Sujata, and keep everything in your heart.
And the Buddha described to her seven different wives, starting with the worst, who gives herself to others, hates her husband and plots against his life, and ending with the best, who is like a maid - always fulfills the will of her husband and is resigned to everything he says and does.
“These, Sujata, are the seven differences between wives.” Which one do you belong to?
“From today, sir, you can consider me that wife who, like a maid, always fulfills her husband’s will and is resigned to everything he does.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru