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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.122

Things That Tighten Fetters

Saṃyojaniyadhammasutta — Lokakāmaguṇavagga

Setting
Not stated
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A single brief declaration, defining the things that tighten the fetters and the fetter itself, run across all six kinds of sense object
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and direct, best read alongside its own earlier counterpart

Why this discourse

This discourse shares its own title and opening formula word for word with SN 35.109, already published on this site as the ninth vagga's own “Things That Tighten Fetters,” with one deliberate difference: SN 35.109 names the six sense faculties themselves — the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — as the things that tighten the fetters, while this discourse names the six kinds of sense object — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas, each described with this book's own standard likable-desirable-agreeable formula — instead. Both discourses agree that the fetter itself is neither the faculty nor the object but the desire and greed a mendicant brings to either. The pairing spans two different vaggas of this same book, a wider separation than this vagga's own internal pairs (SN 35.114-115, SN 35.118-119), and gives this vagga's own closing pair (with SN 35.123 immediately following) a structural echo of Yogakkhemivagga's own closing pair (SN 35.109-110), now applied to sense objects rather than sense faculties.

Reading guide

The same title, a different anchor

SN 35.109 already asked this exact question of the six sense faculties themselves. This discourse asks the identical question of what those faculties encounter — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — rather than the faculties doing the encountering.

Object, not organ

Where SN 35.109 says simply “the eye is something that tightens the fetters,” this discourse instead describes sights known by the eye as likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing — this book's own recurring six-part description of an object, not an organ.

The fetter itself, unchanged either way

Both discourses agree on what the fetter actually is: not the faculty, not the object, but the desire and greed (chandarāgo) a mendicant brings to either one. The thing that tightens differs; the fetter itself does not.

A pairing spanning two vaggas

Unlike this vagga's own internal pairs, this discourse and SN 35.109 sit ten discourses and a vagga boundary apart, confirmed as a deliberate matched set by their identical title and opening formula rather than by physical proximity.

Key terms

saṃyojaniyā dhammā — things that tighten the fetters — this discourse's own title term, shared word for word with SN 35.109
saṃyojanaṃ — the fetter itself — defined identically in both discourses as the desire and greed brought to whatever tightens it
cakkhuviññeyyā rūpā — sights known by the eye — this discourse's own anchor, an object, where SN 35.109 anchors on the eye itself, an organ
chandarāgo — desire and greed — the single element both discourses name as the fetter proper, regardless of what it is directed toward
iṭṭhā kantā manāpā piyarūpā kāmūpasaṃhitā rajanīyā — likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing — this book's own standard formula, here describing the sense objects SN 35.109 did not need, since it anchored on the faculties instead

The text

The complete discourse: the announcement, then the definition of things that tighten the fetters and the fetter itself, run across all six kinds of sense object. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, I will teach you the things that tighten the fetters, and the fetter. Listen … What are the things that tighten the fetters? And what is the fetter?

§2There are sights known by the eye, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These are called the things that tighten the fetters. The desire and greed for them is the fetter. There are sounds … smells … tastes … touches … thoughts known by the mind, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These are called the things that tighten the fetters. The desire and greed for them is the fetter.”

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Self-check quiz

5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 5
What already-published discourse, in an earlier vagga of this same book, shares this discourse's own exact title and opening formula?
Correct: A. Both titled “Things That Tighten Fetters,” with the identical opening declaration.
Question 2 of 5
What does this discourse name as the things that tighten the fetters, unlike SN 35.109's own anchor?
Correct: A. SN 35.109 anchors on the faculties (the eye itself); this discourse anchors on what the faculties encounter.
Question 3 of 5
What do both discourses agree the fetter itself actually is?
Correct: A. Chandarāgo — identical in both discourses, regardless of whether the anchor is faculty or object.
Question 4 of 5
How far apart do this discourse and its own SN 35.109 counterpart sit?
Correct: A. A pairing confirmed by identical wording rather than physical proximity — SN 35.109 sits in Yogakkhemivagga, this discourse in Lokakāmaguṇavagga.
Question 5 of 5
What formula does this discourse use to describe each kind of sense object?
Correct: A. This book's own standard six-part description, not needed by SN 35.109's faculty-anchored version.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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