PED defn.
āsava c
āsava: 1. that which flows; 2. spirit; 3. discharge from a sore; 4. ideas which intoxicate the mind. (m.)
Āsava [fr. ā + sru, would corresp. to a Sk. *āsrava, cp. Sk. āsrāva. The BSk. āśrava is a (wrong) sankritisation of the Pāli āsava, cp. Divy 391 & kṣīnāśrava] that which ; flows (out or on to) outflow & influx. 1. spirit, the intoxicating extract or secretion of a tree or flower, O. C in Vin ;iv.110 (four kinds); B. on D iii.182 (five kinds DhsA 48; KhA 26; J iv.222; vi.9.
2. discharge from a sore, A i.124, 127 = Pug 30.
3. in psychology t.t. for certain specified ideas which intoxicate the mind (bemuddle it, befoozle it, so that it cannot rise to higher things). Freedom from the "Āsavas" constitutes Arahantship, & the fight for the extinction of these āsavas forms one of the main duties of man. On the difficulty of translating the term see ;Cpd. 227. See also discussion of term āsava (= āsavantī ti āsavā) at DhsA 48 (cp Expositor pp. 63 sq). See also Cpd. 227 sq., & especially ;Dhs trsl. 291 sq. -- The 4 āsavas are kām˚, bhav˚ diṭṭh˚, avijj˚;, i. e. sensuality, rebirth (lust of life), speculation and ignorance. -- They are mentioned as such at D ii.81, 84, 91, 94, 98, 123, 126; A i.165 sq., 196 ii.211; iii.93, 414; iv.79; Ps i.94, 117; Dhs 1099, 1448 Nd2 134; Nett 31, 114 sq. -- The set of 3, which is probably older (kāma˚, bhava˚, avijjā˚) occurs at M i. 55 A i.165; iii.414; S iv.256; v.56, 189; It 49; Vbh 364 For other connections see Vin i.14 (anupādāya āsavehi cittani vimucciŋsu), 17, 20, 182; ii.202; iii.5 (˚samudaya ˚nirodha etc.); D i.83, 167; iii.78, 108, 130, 220, 223 230, 240, 283; M i.7 sq., 23, 35, 76, 219, 279, 445 (˚ṭhāniya); ii.22; iii.72, 277; S ii.187 sq. (˚ehi cittaŋ vimucci); iii.45 (id.); iv.107 (id.), 20; v.8, 28, 410; A i.85 sq. (vaḍḍhanti), 98, 165 (˚samudaya, ˚nirodha etc.) 187; ii.154 (˚ehi cittaŋ vimuttaŋ), 196; iii.21, 93 (˚samudaya, ˚nirodha etc.), 245, 387 sq., 410, 414; iv.13, 146 (˚pariyādāna end of the ā.), 161 (˚vighāta -- pariḷāha); v.70 237; Th 2, 4, 99, 101 (pahāsi āsave sabbe); Sn 162 374, 535 (pl. āsavāni), 546, 749, 915, 1100; Dh 93 253, 292; Nd1 331 (pubb˚); Vbh 42, 64, 426; Pug 11 13, 27, 30 sq.; Miln 419; DhsA 48; ThA 94, 173; KhA 26; DA i 224; Sdhp 1; Pgdp 65 (piyāsava -- surā, meaning?).
Referring specially to the extinction (khaya) of the āsavas & to Arahantship following as a result are the foll. passages: (1) ;āsavānaŋ khaya D i.156; S ii.29 214; iii 57, 96 sq, 152 sq; iv.105, 175; v.92, 203 220, 271, 284; A i.107 sq., 123 sq., 232 sq., 273, 291 ii.6, 36, 44 sq., 149 sq., 214; iii 69, 114, 131, 202, 306 319 sq.; iv.83 sq., 119, 140 sq., 314 sq.; v.10 sq., 36, 69, 94 sq, 105, 132, 174 sq., 343 sq.; It 49; Pug 27, 62; Vbh 334, 344; Vism 9; DA i.224; cp. ˚parikkhaya A v 343 sq. See also arahatta formula C. -- (2) khīṇāsava (adj. one whose Āsavas are destroyed (see khīṇa) S i.13, 48 53, 146; ii 83, 239; iii.199, 128, 178; iv.217; A i 77 109, 241, 266; iv.120, 224, 370 sq.; v 40, 253 sq.; Ps ii 173; cp. parikkhīṇā āsavā A iv.418, 434, 451 sq. āsavakhīṇa Sn 370. -- (3) anāsava (adj.) one who is free from the āsavas, an Arahant Vin ii.148 = 164; D iii.112; S i 130; ii.214, 222; iii.83; iv.128; A i.81, 107 sq., 123 sq., 273, 291; ii.6, 36, 87, 146; iii.19, 29, 114 166; iv.98, 140 sq., 314 sq., 400; A v.10 sq., 36, 242 340; Sn 1105, 1133; Dh 94, 126, 386; Th i.100; It 75; Nd2 44; Pv ii.615; Pug 27; Vbh 426; Dhs 1101, 1451 VvA 9. Cp. nirāsava ThA 148. -- Opp. sāsava S iii 47 v.232; A i.81 v.242; Dhs 990; Nett 10; Vism 13, 438.