Interest

Interest (Skt. chanda; Tib. འདུན་པ་, Wyl. ‘dun pa) — one of the fifty-one mental states defined in Abhidharma literature. According to the Compendium of Abhidharma, it belongs to the subgroup of the five object-determining mental states.

Definition

Tib. འདུན་པ་ནི་འདོད་པའི་དངོས་པོ་ལ་དེ་དང་ལྡན་པར་བྱེད་པ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་རྩོམ་པའི་རྟེན་བྱེད་པ།
Interest is to try to possess a desired object. It supports application of diligence. (Rigpa Translations)
Intention is to try to possess a desired object. It supports application of exertion. (Erik Pema Kunsang)

The Ornament of Abhidharma says: "observing the six objects, there will be a desire to engage with them, a wish to pursue them."

↑ Tony duff: There is no specific term for this mental state in English, however it means for the mind to be inclined towards something and to have intention to pursue that thing. Thus it implies interest in and intention towards. It includes aspiration as described in the verb description but aspiration does not refer to fully formed content of mind. The term means that state of mind in which mind has taken interest in, is turned towards, and pursues after something. (Thus) it is not yearning or zeal as some have given. It is more like "purposeful intent / motivatedness".