Kāmabhū visits Ānanda at Ghositārāma in Kosambī and asks him whether the senses are the bonds of objects or objects the bonds of senses. Ānanda answers that neither is true; the bond is the desire and lust that arise owing to the senses and the objects with which they come in contact. The Buddha, for instance, is free from such bondage (S.iv.165).

The same question is asked of Sāriputta by Mahā-Koṭṭhika, who receives the same reply (S.iv.162 f).