The five nīvaraṇas are the mental states that obstruct meditation and cloud understanding. The Buddha compared them to debt, illness, prison, slavery and a desert journey, and their removal to freedom. Concentration suppresses them; the factors of awakening are their opposites.
Five hindrances
Sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt: the obstacles to concentration.
Also: nivaranas