煩悩
Meanings
worldly desires; evil passions; appetites of the flesh
General term for desires and attachments that disturb the mind, often used in everyday or literary contexts to refer to human cravings.
Lead a life steeped in worldly desires.
He began training to cut off his worldly desires.
klesha; defilements
Buddhist technical term for mental afflictions such as greed, hatred, and ignorance that cause suffering and bind beings to the cycle of rebirth.
In Buddhism, extinguishing the kleshas is considered the path to enlightenment.
Usage patterns
- 〈人〉が煩悩を捨てるfor someone to renounce worldly desires
The monk renounced his worldly desires and devoted himself to ascetic practice.
- 煩悩を断つto cut off/eliminate one's worldly desires
The ascetic monks continued their harsh training in order to cut off their worldly desires.
- 煩悩に打ち勝つto overcome one's worldly desires
He overcame his worldly desires and kept a calm mind.
- 煩悩に負けるto succumb to one's worldly desires
I gave in to temptation and ate sweets again.
Expressions
- 煩悩の犬は追えども去らずone cannot escape from one's worldly desires; the hounds of earthly desires would return each time they are driven away