Overview
Similar to the Taints, the Fetters (Saṃyojana) are the specific defilements that bind beings to the wheel of saṃsāra. This Dyad isolates the precise mental factors that act as these binding chains.
The List
- Saṃyojanā dhammā - States that are fetters: Though the Suttas list 10 fetters, the Abhidhamma reduces them functionally to eight specific mental factors: Greed (covering lust for sense/form/formless realms), Hatred (ill-will), Conceit, Wrong View (covering identity view and rites/rituals), Doubt, Sloth, Restlessness, and Delusion (ignorance).
- No saṃyojanā dhammā - States that are not fetters: Everything else in reality. All consciousnesses, the remaining mental factors, matter, and Nibbāna.
Textual References
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Duka) – Refines the sutta teachings by isolating the exact elements within the aggregate of formations that act as the chains of rebirth.