āsava
Taints, cankers
[ AA-sa-va ]
Seeing it in life
The āsavas are deep-seated defilements that flow out toward objects. Their destruction (āsava-kkhaya) is arahantship.
In short
Sensuality, becoming, views, ignorance.
The analysis
The āsavas are deep-seated defilements traditionally enumerated as four: kāmāsava (the taint of sensuality), bhavāsava (the taint of becoming), diṭṭhāsava (the taint of views), avijjāsava (the taint of ignorance) — described as flowing out toward their objects, a continuous outward seepage rather than a discrete event. Their complete destruction (āsavakkhaya) is a traditional synonym for arahantship itself.
Where it sits
Āsavakkhaya, the destruction of the taints, functions as functionally equivalent to reaching arahantship — the four āsavas map closely onto but aren't identical to the ten fetters, a somewhat different, overlapping lens on similar underlying defilements.
No single everyday moment illustrates the āsavas cleanly — they're described as a background outflow, closer to a chronic condition of unawakened mind than a specific arising thought.
Commonly mistaken for
The same list as the ten fetters. The āsavas are a related but distinct fourfold classification, offering a different analytical grouping.
Something that arises only occasionally. The 'flowing' imagery suggests a continuous outward seepage characteristic of the unawakened mind generally.
Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2); Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha VII.
Related terms