The Nine Fetters
The afflictions' sixth gate — their distinct varieties — opens a long catalogue of roughly twenty different named ways scripture sorts the very same afflictions under different headings. This part takes up the first: the nine fetters, each explained through a fixed three-part pattern — the fetter's own essence, what being bound by it actually does to a mind, and the suffering it draws forth as a result.
1. Nine Fetters Named
何等差別故？謂諸煩惱依種種義立種種門差別，所謂結、縛、隨眠、隨煩惱、纏、暴流、軛、取、繫、蓋、株杌、垢、燒、害、箭、所有、惡行、漏、匱、熱、惱、諍、熾然、稠林、拘礙等。結有幾種？云何結？何處結耶？結有九種，謂愛結、恚結、慢結、無明結、見結、取結、疑結、嫉結、慳結。
What are their distinct varieties? The afflictions are given distinct names under many headings, according to many different senses — fetter, bond, latent tendency, secondary affliction, entanglement, flood, yoke, grasping, tie, hindrance, stump, stain, burning, harm, arrow, possession, misconduct, outflow, deprivation, fever, torment, contention, conflagration, thicket, and entrapment, among others.
How many fetters are there? What is a fetter? Where does a fetter bind? There are nine fetters: the fetter of craving, of hatred, of conceit, of delusion, of view, of clinging, of doubt, of envy, and of stinginess.
2. Craving, Hatred, and Conceit's Seven Forms
愛結者，謂三界貪愛結所繫故不厭三界，由不厭故廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。恚結者，謂於有情苦及順苦法心有損害，恚結所繫故，於恚境相心不棄捨，不棄捨故廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。
The fetter of craving: craving for the three realms. Bound by this fetter, one does not tire of the three realms, and through not tiring of them, engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The fetter of hatred: a mind that wishes harm toward the suffering of sentient beings and what accords with that suffering. Bound by this fetter, the mind will not release the object of its hatred, and through this failure to release, engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
慢結者，即七慢，謂慢、過慢、慢過慢、我慢、增上慢、下劣慢、邪慢。慢者，謂於下劣計己為勝，或於不相似計己相似，心舉為性。過慢者，謂於相似計己為勝，或復於勝計己相似，心舉為性。慢過慢者，謂於勝己計己為勝，心舉為性。我慢者，謂於五取蘊觀我我所，心舉為性。增上慢者，謂於未得上勝證法，計己已得上勝證法，心舉為性。下劣慢者，謂於多分勝計己少分劣，心舉為性。邪慢者，謂實無德計己有德，心舉為性。慢結所繫故，於我我所不能了知，不了知故執我我所，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。
The fetter of conceit: the seven forms of conceit — conceit, excessive conceit, conceit exceeding excessive conceit, self-conceit, presumptuous conceit, self-deprecating conceit, and wrongful conceit.
Conceit: exalting oneself over someone genuinely inferior, or considering oneself equal to someone one is not actually equal to — an exalted mind is its nature. Excessive conceit: exalting oneself over someone genuinely equal, or considering oneself equal to someone genuinely superior. Conceit exceeding excessive conceit: exalting oneself over someone genuinely superior to oneself. Self-conceit: an exalted mind regarding self and what-belongs-to-self, with respect to the five grasped aggregates. Presumptuous conceit: considering oneself to have already attained a superior realization not yet actually attained. Self-deprecating conceit: considering oneself only slightly inferior to those who are, in fact, vastly superior. Wrongful conceit: considering oneself to possess virtue one genuinely lacks.
Bound by the fetter of conceit, one is unable to genuinely understand self and what-belongs-to-self, and through this failure to understand, clings to self and what-belongs-to-self, engaging widely in the unwholesome and failing to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The seven forms of conceit are worth reading as a single graduated scale of self-exaltation, each one-upping the last: ordinary conceit exalts oneself over someone truly beneath one, or matches oneself against someone not truly equal; excessive conceit pushes the same error one notch further, matching oneself against a genuine equal or a genuine superior; and conceit exceeding excessive conceit pushes it furthest of all, claiming superiority even over someone who is, by any honest measure, genuinely one's superior. Self-conceit stands apart from the other six as the deepest root — the basic, ever-present exaltation bound up with taking the five aggregates as "self" at all — while presumptuous conceit (falsely believing oneself already realized), self-deprecating conceit (a form of false modesty that still smuggles in comparative self-regard), and wrongful conceit (claiming virtues one simply does not have) round out the remaining specific varieties.
3. Delusion, View, and Clinging
無明結者，謂三界無智無明結所繫故，於苦法集法不能解了，不解了故廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。見結者，即三見，謂薩迦耶見、邊執見、邪見。見結所繫故，於邪出離妄計追求妄興執著。於邪出離妄執著已，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。
The fetter of delusion: ignorance regarding the three realms. Bound by this fetter, one is unable to genuinely understand the dharmas of suffering and origination, and through this failure to understand, engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The fetter of view: the three views — the view of a substantial body, the extremist view, and wrong view. Bound by this fetter, one falsely conceives and falsely clings to a wrongful path of liberation, seeking and pursuing it. Having falsely clung to this wrongful liberation, one engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
取結者，謂見取，戒禁取。取結所繫故，於邪出離方便妄計執著。以妄執著邪出離方便故，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。疑結者，謂於諦猶豫。疑結所繫故，於佛法僧寶妄生疑惑。以疑惑故，於三寶所不修正行。以於三寶所不修正行故，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。
The fetter of clinging: clinging to views, and clinging to rules and rituals. Bound by this fetter, one falsely conceives and clings to a wrongful means to liberation. Through this false clinging to a wrongful means to liberation, one engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The fetter of doubt: hesitation regarding the truths. Bound by this fetter, one falsely gives rise to doubt regarding the Three Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. Through this doubt, one fails to cultivate correct conduct toward the Three Jewels. Through this failure, one engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The fetter of view and the fetter of clinging form a natural pair worth distinguishing precisely: the fetter of view is clinging to a mistaken belief about liberation itself — what it is, whether it involves annihilation or permanence, and the like — while the fetter of clinging is specifically clinging to a mistaken method or practice believed to actually achieve that liberation, such as pointless ascetic rules and rituals. One is an error about the goal; the other is an error about the path to it, and a person can hold either independently of the other.
4. Envy and Stinginess
嫉結者，謂耽著利養、不耐他榮發起心妬。嫉結所繫故，愛重利養、不尊敬法。重利養故，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。慳結者，謂耽著利養，於資生具其心悋惜。慳結所繫故，愛重畜積、不尊遠離。重畜積故，廣行不善、不行諸善，由此能招未來世苦，與苦相應。
The fetter of envy: attachment to one's own gain, unable to bear another's glory, giving rise to a jealous mind. Bound by this fetter, one values and esteems gain over honoring the Dharma. Through this valuing of gain, one engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
The fetter of stinginess: attachment to one's own gain, a miserly mind toward the means of livelihood. Bound by this fetter, one values and esteems hoarding over honoring renunciation. Through this valuing of hoarding, one engages widely in the unwholesome and fails to practice what is wholesome, thereby drawing forth future suffering, bound together with that suffering.
Every one of the nine fetters follows the same closing pattern precisely, and it is worth stating explicitly once, since the treatise itself repeats it nine times without variation: being bound leads to a specific failure of understanding or clinging, that failure leads to unwholesome conduct crowding out wholesome conduct, and that imbalance itself is what draws forth suffering in a future life. Envy and stinginess close the list as the two most obviously social of the nine — unlike craving, hatred, conceit, delusion, view, clinging, and doubt, which can all, in principle, operate in complete isolation, envy and stinginess only ever arise in relation to other people and what they have or might take.
Part 33 Complete
The nine fetters are now fully examined, each traced through the same three-part pattern of essence, effect, and resulting suffering. Part 34 continues the afflictions' distinct varieties with four further named schemes: the threefold bonds, the sevenfold latent tendencies, the secondary afflictions, and the eightfold entanglements.
Continue to Part 34 — Bonds, Latent Tendencies, and Entanglements →