macchariya
Stinginess
[ mut-CHA-ree-ya ]
Seeing it in life
Macchariya hides one’s own prosperity from others. It is the opposite of generosity (dāna).
In short
Concealing one’s own success or possessions.
The analysis
Macchariya conceals one's own prosperity, possessions, or good qualities from others — a dosa-rooted cetasika distinct from issā (envy at others' success) though closely related: both involve a contracted, defended relationship to good fortune. Five kinds are traditionally listed: stinginess about dwelling, family, gain, praise, and doctrine.
Where it sits
Macchariya's direct opposite is dāna, generosity, rooted in alobha — where macchariya contracts around what one has, dāna opens outward.
The reluctance to mention a useful resource or contact, not from malice but from an unexamined sense that sharing it somehow diminishes one's own position, is macchariya, in its ordinary, everyday form.
Commonly mistaken for
Frugality or careful resource management. Macchariya is the unwholesome contraction around what one has, distinct from prudent, non-anxious stewardship.
Only about money. The five traditional kinds include withholding praise and even doctrine, not only material goods.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha II; Macchariya Sutta (AN 5.254).
Related terms