Saṁyojanasutta — Dhanavagga — the first chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single seven-item list, stated bare with no reversal — opening a three-discourse family on the fetters
Length
under 30 seconds to read
Northern parallel
The sevenfold division of fetters, distinct from the more commonly cited ten fetters (saṁyojana) elsewhere in this literature, recurs across the Chinese Āgamas' Abhidharma-adjacent material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the briefest discourse in this chapter so far, a single bare list
Why this discourse
AN 7.8 names seven fetters — attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire for continued existence, and ignorance — with no elaboration, no reversal, and no further teaching, opening a three-discourse family that AN 7.9 and 7.10 will each treat differently: one by stating the fetters' purpose and full removal, the other by substituting its final two items entirely.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
There are seven fetters: attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire for continued existence, and ignorance.
A sevenfold list, distinct from the more familiar ten fetters
This literature elsewhere more commonly names ten fetters (dasa saṁyojanāni) removed progressively across the four stages of awakening. This discourse's seven-item list overlaps with several of those ten — views, doubt, conceit, and ignorance recur in both — but is not identical to it, reflecting this chapter's own numerical theme of seven rather than the more commonly cited count.
Attraction and aversion, opening the list
Anurodha (compliance, attraction) and virodha (repulsion, aversion) open this list as a matched pair — being drawn toward what is pleasant and pushed away from what is unpleasant — before the list turns to more specifically doctrinal fetters: views, doubt, and conceit.
The first of three discourses on this exact theme
AN 7.9, immediately following, states this identical list's purpose and its complete removal in far fuller language; AN 7.10 restates the list's first five items but substitutes its own final two, jealousy and stinginess, for this discourse's desire for continued existence and ignorance.
Key terms
anurodha, virodha — “attraction, aversion” — the opening pair of this discourse's seven fetters, being drawn toward the pleasant and pushed from the unpleasant.
diṭṭhi, vicikicchā, māna — “views, doubt, conceit” — the third, fourth, and fifth items, each also named among the more commonly cited ten fetters elsewhere in this literature.
bhavarāga — “desire for continued existence” — the sixth item, closing this particular version of the list.
avijjā — “ignorance” — the seventh and final item, the last fetter removed at full awakening in this literature's broader account.
saṁyojana — “fetter” — this discourse's own title term, here counted sevenfold rather than the more familiar tenfold division.
The text
The discourse in full: seven fetters, named bare. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The seven fetters
§1“Mendicants, there are these seven fetters. What seven? The fetters of attraction, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire for continued existence, and ignorance. These are the seven fetters.”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What seven fetters does this discourse name?
Correct: B. A sevenfold list distinct from, though overlapping with, the more commonly cited ten fetters.
Question 2 of 6
How does this list relate to the more commonly cited ten fetters elsewhere in this literature, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A count shaped by this book's own numerical theme, not a simple subset.
Question 3 of 6
What pair opens this discourse's list?
Correct: B. A matched pair before the list turns to more doctrinal items.
Question 4 of 6
What does this discourse open, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The first of three related but distinct treatments of this theme.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 7.8?
Correct: B. A bare formula, the briefest discourse in this chapter so far.
Question 6 of 6
What does avijjā mean?
Correct: B. The seventh and final fetter named, the last removed at full awakening in this literature's broader account.
