The Buddha describes the five shackles of the heart—firstly, a mendicant isn’t free of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for sensual pleasures, this being so, their mind doesn’t incline toward keenness, commitment, persistence, and striving, this is the first shackle of the heart, and furthermore, a mendicant isn’t free of greed for the body, and they’re not free of greed for form.

AN 5.206 Shackles

“Pañcime, bhikkhave, cetasovinibandhā. Katame pañca? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti avigatacchando avigatapemo avigatapipāso avigatapariḷāho avigatataṇho. Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti avigatacchando avigatapemo avigatapipāso avigatapariḷāho avigatataṇho, tassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya. Yassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya, ayaṁ paṭhamo cetasovinibandho.

Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye avītarāgo hoti …pe… rūpe avītarāgo hoti …pe… yāvadatthaṁ udarāvadehakaṁ bhuñjitvā seyyasukhaṁ passasukhaṁ middhasukhaṁ anuyutto viharati …pe… aññataraṁ devanikāyaṁ paṇidhāya brahmacariyaṁ carati: ‘imināhaṁ sīlena vatena tapena brahmacariyena devo bhavissāmi devaññataro vā’ti. Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu aññataraṁ devanikāyaṁ paṇidhāya brahmacariyaṁ carati: ‘imināhaṁ sīlena vatena tapena brahmacariyena devo bhavissāmi devaññataro vā’ti, tassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya. Yassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya, ayaṁ pañcamo cetasovinibandho. Ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca cetasovinibandhā”ti.

Chaṭṭhaṁ.

Reference Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0).

“Pañcime, bhikkhave, cetasovinibandhā.

“Mendicants, there are these five shackles of the heart.

Katame pañca?

What five?

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti avigatacchando avigatapemo avigatapipāso avigatapariḷāho avigatataṇho.

Firstly, a mendicant isn’t free of greed, desire, fondness, thirst, passion, and craving for sensual pleasures.

Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāmesu avītarāgo hoti avigatacchando avigatapemo avigatapipāso avigatapariḷāho avigatataṇho, tassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya.

This being so, their mind doesn’t incline toward keenness, commitment, persistence, and striving.

Yassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya, ayaṁ paṭhamo cetasovinibandho.

This is the first shackle of the heart.

Puna caparaṁ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye avītarāgo hoti …pe…

Furthermore, a mendicant isn’t free of greed for the body …

rūpe avītarāgo hoti …pe…

They’re not free of greed for form …

yāvadatthaṁ udarāvadehakaṁ bhuñjitvā seyyasukhaṁ passasukhaṁ middhasukhaṁ anuyutto viharati …pe…

They eat as much as they like until their belly is full, then indulge in the pleasures of sleeping, lying down, and drowsing …

aññataraṁ devanikāyaṁ paṇidhāya brahmacariyaṁ carati: ‘imināhaṁ sīlena vatena tapena brahmacariyena devo bhavissāmi devaññataro vā’ti.

They lead the spiritual life hoping to be reborn in one of the orders of gods, thinking: ‘By this precept or observance or fervent austerity or spiritual practice, may I become one of the gods!’

Yo so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu aññataraṁ devanikāyaṁ paṇidhāya brahmacariyaṁ carati: ‘imināhaṁ sīlena vatena tapena brahmacariyena devo bhavissāmi devaññataro vā’ti, tassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya.

This being so, their mind doesn’t incline toward keenness, commitment, persistence, and striving.

Yassa cittaṁ na namati ātappāya anuyogāya sātaccāya padhānāya, ayaṁ pañcamo cetasovinibandho.

This is the fifth shackle of the heart.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca cetasovinibandhā”ti.

These are the five shackles of the heart.”

Chaṭṭhaṁ.

Topics & Qualities:

Craving

Craving

A driving ‘thirst’ that reaches out toward experiences, identities, or outcomes as the place to find satisfaction—“if only I had that.” It spins stories of lack, binds the mind to becoming, and invariably leads to suffering.

Also known as: wanting, yearning, longing, lit. thirst
Pāli: taṇha, abhijjhā
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Desire

Desire

A wholesome motivation, interest, or objective that acts as the starting point for effort and application of will.

Also known as: aspiration, interest, wish, having an objective, intention, impulse
Pāli: chanda
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Greed

Greed

A grasping mental quality of craving, possessiveness, or lustful wanting that clings to objects or experiences; it fuels attachment and obstructs renunciation and contentment

Also known as: acquisitiveness, avarice, covetousness, rapacity, money grabbing, grabbiness
Pāli: lobha, gedha
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Passion

Passion

Intense desire or lust that dyes the mind. It fixates on the features of objects, coloring perception with infatuation and making it difficult to see things as they truly are.

Also known as: burning fever, intense desire, strong emotion, infatuation, obsession, lust
Pāli: rāga
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Spiritual life

Spiritual life

A life of celibacy, contemplation, and ethical discipline lived for the sake of liberation; oriented toward inner development rather than sensual pleasures

Also known as: abstinence, celibacy, chastity, holy life, sexual restraint
Pāli: brahmacariya
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Vigour

Vigour

Energetic effort and resilience in practice. It is the refusal to shrink back, the 'uphill' force that initiates and sustains wholesome actions against the gravity of habit.

Also known as: energy, effort, enthusiasm, zeal, application of will, persistence
Pāli: vīriya
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Last updated on July 27, 2026