an.4.7 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

They Adorn

“Bhikkhus, these four kinds of persons who are competent, disciplined, self-confident, learned, experts on the Dhamma, practicing in accordance with the Dhamma, adorn the Saṅgha. What four?

(1) “A bhikkhu who is competent, disciplined, self-confident, learned, an expert on the Dhamma, practicing in accordance with the Dhamma, adorns the Saṅgha. (2) A bhikkhunī who is competent … (3) A male lay follower who is competent … (4) A female lay follower who is competent, disciplined, self-confident, learned, an expert on the Dhamma, practicing in accordance with the Dhamma, adorns the Saṅgha.

“Bhikkhus, these four kinds of persons who are competent, disciplined, self-confident, learned, upholders of the Dhamma, practicing in accordance with the Dhamma, adorn the Saṅgha.”

One who is competent and self-confident,
learned, an expert on the Dhamma,
practicing in accord with the Dhamma,
is called an adornment of the Saṅgha.

A bhikkhu accomplished in virtue,
a learned bhikkhunī,
a male lay follower endowed with faith,
a female lay follower endowed with faith:
these are the ones that adorn the Saṅgha;
these are the Saṅgha’s adornments.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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Beautification

“Mendicants, these four competent, educated, assured, learned people—who have memorized the teachings and practice in line with the teachings—beautify the Saṅgha.
What four?
A monk,
a nun,
a layman,
and a laywoman.
These four competent, educated, assured, learned people—who have memorized the teachings and practice in line with the teachings—beautify the Saṅgha.
Whoever is competent and assured,
learned, a memorizer of the teachings,
who lives in line with the teachings—
such a person is said to beautify the Saṅgha.
A monk accomplished in ethics,
and a learned nun,
a faithful layman,
and a faithful laywoman, too:
these beautify the Saṅgha,
they are the beautifiers of the Saṅgha.”