Bonds, Latent Tendencies, and Entanglements
The catalogue of named affliction-groupings continues: the three bonds mapped directly onto the three kinds of suffering, the seven latent tendencies mapped onto three fundamental kinds of seeking, a precise technical definition distinguishing "secondary affliction" from "affliction" proper, the eight entanglements that specifically obstruct meditation and precept-keeping, the four floods and four yokes that carry a being along through saṃsāra, and the four graspings that the treatise identifies as the deep root of every doctrinal dispute among rival schools.
1. Three Bonds
縛有三種，謂貪縛、瞋縛、癡縛。由貪縛故，縛諸有情令處壞苦。由瞋縛故，縛諸有情令處苦苦。由癡縛故，縛諸有情令處行苦。又依貪瞋癡故，於善加行不得自在，故名為縛。
There are three bonds: the bond of craving, of hatred, and of delusion. Through the bond of craving, sentient beings are bound into the suffering of change. Through the bond of hatred, sentient beings are bound into the suffering of suffering. Through the bond of delusion, sentient beings are bound into the suffering of conditioned existence itself. Further, relying on craving, hatred, and delusion, one loses free mastery over one's own wholesome efforts — this is why they are called bonds.
2. Seven Latent Tendencies, Matched to Three Seekings
隨眠有七，謂欲愛隨眠、瞋恚隨眠、有愛隨眠、慢隨眠、無明隨眠、見隨眠、疑隨眠。欲愛隨眠者，謂欲貪品麁重。瞋恚隨眠者，謂瞋恚品麁重。有愛隨眠者，謂色無色貪品麁重。慢隨眠者，謂慢品麁重。無明隨眠者，謂無明品麁重。見隨眠者，謂見品麁重。疑隨眠者，謂疑品麁重。
There are seven latent tendencies: the latent tendency of desire-craving, of hatred, of craving for continued existence, of conceit, of delusion, of view, and of doubt. Desire-craving's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of desire-realm craving. Hatred's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of hatred. Craving-for-existence's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of craving for the form and formless realms. Conceit's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of conceit. Delusion's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of delusion. View's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of view. Doubt's latent tendency is the underlying heaviness of doubt.
若未離欲求者，由欲愛瞋恚隨眠之所隨增。未離有求者，由有愛隨眠之所隨增。未離邪梵行求者，由慢、無明、見、疑隨眠之所隨增。由彼眾生得少對治便生憍慢，愚於聖諦，虛妄計度外邪解脫解脫方便，於佛聖教正法毘柰耶中猶豫疑惑。
One not yet free of the seeking for sensual pleasure is increased by the latent tendencies of desire-craving and hatred. One not yet free of the seeking for continued existence is increased by the latent tendency of craving for existence. One not yet free of the seeking for wrongful austerity is increased by the latent tendencies of conceit, delusion, view, and doubt — since such beings, having attained some slight antidote, grow conceited on that basis, remain foolish regarding the noble truths, falsely speculate about liberation and its methods along heretical, wrongful lines, and grow hesitant and doubtful even toward the Buddha's own true teaching and discipline.
The mapping onto "three seekings" here is worth spelling out, since it appears elsewhere in this treatise's own tenfold classification of persons: the seeking for sensual pleasure names an ordinary being's pursuit of desire-realm gratification; the seeking for continued existence names the more refined pursuit of higher, subtler forms of existence (the form and formless realms); and the seeking for wrongful austerity names a rival ascetic or philosopher's own mistaken pursuit of liberation through incorrect views and practices. Each of the seven latent tendencies is defined the same way each affliction was defined much earlier in this treatise (as "underlying heaviness," 麁重, the same term used throughout for a dormant, not-yet-manifest capacity to produce active affliction) — a latent tendency is not the active affliction itself, occurring in a given moment, but the standing disposition, still present even when the affliction is not currently manifesting, that makes its future arising possible.
3. Secondary Affliction, Precisely Defined
隨煩惱者，謂所有諸煩惱皆是隨煩惱。有隨煩惱非煩惱，謂除煩惱所餘染污行蘊所攝一切心所法。此復云何？謂除貪等六煩惱所餘染污行蘊所攝忿等諸心所法。又貪瞋癡名隨煩惱心所法，由此隨煩惱隨惱於心，令不離染、令不解脫、令不斷障，故名隨煩惱。如世尊說：汝等長夜為貪瞋癡隨所惱亂，心恒染污。
What are secondary afflictions? Every affliction is itself also a secondary affliction. But there are secondary afflictions that are not themselves root afflictions: every defiled mental factor within the aggregate of formations apart from the root afflictions themselves. What are these, more specifically? Wrath and the rest — every defiled mental factor within the aggregate of formations apart from the six root afflictions, craving and the rest.
Craving, hatred, and delusion are further named secondary-afflicting mental factors, since it is by means of these that a mind is continually tormented, kept from leaving defilement behind, kept from liberation, and kept from severing its own obstructions — this is why they are called secondary afflictions. As the World-Honored One said: for a long night indeed have you been tormented by craving, hatred, and delusion, your minds constantly defiled.
This passage settles a terminological point that could otherwise cause real confusion when reading across this treatise's many affliction-lists: "secondary affliction" (隨煩惱) is used in two senses at once, one broad and one narrow. In the broad sense, every affliction whatsoever — including the six root afflictions themselves — counts as a secondary affliction, since all of them equally "torment" (隨惱) the mind. In the narrow, more technical sense — the one used when the treatise earlier catalogued the twenty secondary afflictions in Part 6 as a distinct category alongside the root afflictions — "secondary affliction" refers specifically to the derivative defiled mental factors (wrath, resentment, envy, and the rest) that are not themselves among the six root afflictions. The treatise flags craving, hatred, and delusion as a special case even within the narrow sense: though they are root afflictions properly speaking, the scriptural quotation the treatise cites treats them as the paradigm case of what "tormenting" the mind actually looks like, since these three, more than any others, are what keep a mind perpetually agitated, unfree, and unable to sever its own obstructions.
4. Eight Entanglements
纏有八種，謂惛沈、睡眠、掉舉、惡作、嫉、慳、無慚、無愧。數數增盛纏繞於心，故名為纏。謂隨修習止舉捨相，及彼所依梵行等所攝淨尸羅時，纏繞於心。
There are eight entanglements: torpor, sleep, restlessness, regret, envy, stinginess, lack of shame, and lack of embarrassment. Repeatedly intensifying and winding around the mind, they are called entanglements — winding around the mind precisely while one is cultivating the marks of stillness, uplift, and equanimity, and while one is maintaining the pure moral discipline that chaste conduct and the like depend on.
T1606 notes what unites these particular eight, out of the full catalogue of secondary afflictions already given in Part 6: each specifically targets one of two practical undertakings a serious practitioner is actually engaged in — either meditation itself (torpor and sleep directly oppose the alertness meditation requires; restlessness and regret directly oppose its settling; envy and stinginess disrupt the equanimity meditation is meant to cultivate) or the maintenance of pure moral discipline (lack of shame and lack of embarrassment directly undermine the inner and outer restraint precept-keeping depends on). "Entanglement" (纏) is thus a functionally defined category — not simply "affliction in general" but specifically the eight afflictions most likely to actively wind around and obstruct someone in the very act of practicing.
5. Four Floods and Four Yokes
暴流有四，謂欲暴流、有暴流、見暴流、無明暴流。隨流漂鼓是暴流義，隨順雜染故。初是習欲求者，第二是習有求者，後二是習邪梵行求者，能依所依相應道理故。
There are four floods: the flood of sensual desire, the flood of continued existence, the flood of view, and the flood of delusion. Being swept along and tossed by the current is what "flood" means, since it accords with defilement's own momentum. The first belongs to one habituated to the seeking for sensual pleasure; the second to one habituated to the seeking for continued existence; the last two to one habituated to the seeking for wrongful austerity — following the fitting logic of what depends on what.
軛有四種，謂欲軛、有軛、見軛、無明軛。障礙離繫是軛義，違背清淨故。此亦隨其次第習三求者相應現行。
There are four yokes: the yoke of sensual desire, the yoke of continued existence, the yoke of view, and the yoke of delusion. Obstructing release from bondage is what "yoke" means, since it runs contrary to purity. These, too, correspondingly manifest according to the same three kinds of seeking, in the same order.
Floods and yokes share identical membership (sensual desire, continued existence, view, and delusion) and the identical mapping onto the three seekings already explained for the latent tendencies above — the treatise distinguishes them purely by function, not by different content: a flood names the same affliction considered as something that sweeps a being helplessly along, like a current one cannot resist; a yoke names that same affliction considered instead as something that actively obstructs release, like a burden harnessed onto an ox that prevents it from moving freely. The same underlying afflictive reality, examined through two different metaphors, each capturing a genuinely different aspect of what it actually does to a bound mind.
6. Four Graspings, and the Root of Every Doctrinal Dispute
取有四種，謂欲取、見取、戒禁取、我語取。執取諍根執取後有，是取義。所以者何？由貪著欲繫縛耽染為因，諸在家者更相鬪諍，此諍根本是第一取。由貪著見繫縛耽染為因，諸出家者更相鬪諍，此諍根本是後三取。
There are four graspings: grasping at sensual desire, at views, at rules and rituals, and at the discourse of self. Grasping the root of contention, and grasping at future existence — this is what "grasping" means. Why? Because, caused by attachment, bondage, and absorption in sensual desire, householders quarrel with one another — the root of this contention is the first grasping. Because, caused by attachment, bondage, and absorption in views, renunciants quarrel with one another — the root of this contention is the latter three graspings.
六十二見趣，是見取。各別禁戒多分苦行，是戒禁取。彼所依止薩迦耶見，是我語取。由見取、戒禁取，諸外道輩更相諍論。由我語取，諸外道輩互無諍論，與正法者互有諍論。如是執著諍論根本，復能引取後有苦異熟，故名為取。
The sixty-two speculative views are grasping at views. The various individually held precepts and vows, mostly ascetic practices, are grasping at rules and rituals. The view of a substantial body that all of these rest on is grasping at the discourse of self. Through grasping at views and grasping at rules and rituals, rival schools quarrel with one another. Through grasping at the discourse of self, rival schools do not quarrel among themselves, but do quarrel with those who hold the true teaching. Such clinging to the very root of contention further draws forth the painful ripened result of future existence — this is why it is called grasping.
The distinction the treatise draws here is genuinely sharp and worth pausing on: grasping at views and at rules and rituals cause rival schools to quarrel with one another, since each school holds its own specific, mutually incompatible doctrines and practices — but grasping at the discourse of self does not cause quarrels among the rival schools themselves, since virtually every non-Buddhist school shares this same underlying self-view in common, differing only in their further elaborations built on top of it. It is only when a self-affirming outside school encounters the Buddhist teaching of selflessness that this fourth grasping becomes a live point of contention. This is a genuinely perceptive piece of intellectual history embedded in a technical Abhidharma list: the treatise is observing that ancient India's rival philosophical schools, despite their many surface disagreements, largely converged on positing some kind of self — which is precisely why the specifically Buddhist denial of any such self, uniquely among the available options, provoked disputes cutting across every other school's internal quarrels.
Part 34 Complete
Six further named affliction-schemes are now examined: the three bonds, seven latent tendencies, secondary afflictions properly defined, eight entanglements, four floods and yokes, and four graspings. Part 35 continues the catalogue with the remaining named schemes — ties, hindrances, and stumps — before the list's final stretch.
Continue to Part 35 — Ties, Hindrances, and Stumps →