Asava
Āsava is a Pali term that is used in Buddhist scripture, philosophy, and psychology, meaning "influx, canker." It refers to the mental defilements of sensual pleasures, craving for existence, and ignorance, which perpetuate samsara, the beginningless cycle of rebirth, dukkha, and dying again.
Asavas are also translated as "karmic predilections" and "karmic propensities" in Buddhism. The term is also common in Jainist literature, and sometimes appears equivalently as Asrava or Anhaya. However, Buddhism rejects the karma and asava theories of Jainism, and presents a different version instead.
Etymology
According to Bhikkhu Bodhi,Ajahn Sucitto in his book Kamma and the end of Kamma describes āsavas as "underlying biases", which condition grasping through which samsara operates.
Meaning
Samsara
The āsavas are mental defilements that perpetuate samsara, the beginningless cycle of rebirth, dukkha, and dying again. Carr and Mahalingam:Bhikkhu Bodhi:
De Silva further explains:
The word canker suggests something that corrodes or corrupts slowly. These figurative meanings perhaps describe facets of the concept of āsava: kept long in storage, oozing out, taint, corroding, etc.
Number of ''āsavas''
Some Pali canons mention three āsava that sustain karmic flow. These three mentioned in the Nikāyas are "karmic propensities for sensual pleasures, karmic propensities for existence, and karmic propensities for ignorance ".Other Pali texts mention four āsava, adding diṭṭhāsava or "karmic propensities for a viewpoint or perspective".
In either case, these texts assert that the complete destruction of all these asavas is synonymous with complete Awakening.