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InBuddhism, thefruits of the noble path (Sanskrit: āryamārgaphala, Pali: ariyamaggaphala; Tibetan: ’phags lam gyi ’bras bu; Chinese: shengdaoguo 聖道果) are four stages on the path to fullawakening (bodhi).[1]
These four fruits or states areSotāpanna (stream-enterer),Sakadāgāmi (once-returner),Anāgāmi (non-returner), and Arahant (conqueror, "worthy one"). Theearly Buddhist texts portray the Buddha as referring to people who are at one of these four states as "noble ones" (ārya, Pāli:ariya) and the community of such persons as the noblesangha.[2][3][4]
The teaching of the four stages of awakening was important to theearly Buddhist schools and remains so in theTheravada school. It is also included in theMahayana teachings on the various paths to awakening. However, their teaching on thebodhisattva path relies on different stages of awakening, calledbodhisattva stages, which are taught as an alternative path.
In theEarly Buddhist Texts, several types of Buddhist practitioners are described, according to their level of attainment. Those with no attainments are calledputhujjanas (Sanskrit:pṛthagjana), i.e. the unenlightened commoners or "worldly" people.[5] Those who have reached certain levels of spiritual attainment, i.e. noble persons (ariya-puggala,aryas) are often categorized into a standard set of four ascending types, but there are also longer descriptions with more types.
| Outcome | Further rebirths | Abandoned fetters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| stream-enterer (sotāpanna) | up to seven, in earthly or heavenly realms |
| lower fetters |
| once-returner (sakadagami) | one more, as a human | ||
| non-returner (anāgāmi) | one more, in apure abode |
| |
| arahant | none |
| higher fetters |
The main four types are the Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner and the Arahant. Each class of noble person is defined according to which of theten fetters they have eliminated from their mindstreams.
1. A "Stream-enterer" (Sotāpanna) is free from:
2. A "Once-returner" (Sakadāgāmin) has greatly attenuated:
3. A "Non-returner" (Anāgāmi) is totally free from:
4. AnArahant is free from all of the five lower fetters and the five higher fetters, which are:
An ordinary person who has not attained any of the four stages of awakening are called by thePali termputhujjana or theSanskrit:pṛthagjana (i.e. pritha: without, andjñana: knowledge). These are unenlightened commoners or "worldly" people trapped in the endless cycling ofsamsara in which one will continue to be reborn into many different lives.[5]
The doctrinal definition of an ordinary worldly person is any person with worldly desires and aspirations that is still bound by the ten fetters (saṃyojana).[5] Thus, a common worldly person can be a non-buddhist layperson or sage, a buddhist lay follower (anupāsaka), or a monk that has not attained any stage of awakening.[5] In contrast to them, a noble person (ārya-pudgala) has ended at least some of the fetters.[5] Regarding theSarvastivada andMahayana scheme ofthe five paths (pañca-mārga), the term pṛthagjana refers to anyone who has not yet reached the third path, called the ‘path of seeing’ (darśana-mārga).[5]
The Sangha of the Tathagata's disciples (Ariya Sangha) can be described as including four or eight kinds of individuals. There are four [groups of noble disciples] when path and fruit are taken as pairs, and eight groups of individuals, when each path and fruit are taken separately:
The first stage is that ofSotāpanna (Pali;Sanskrit:Srotāpanna), literally meaning "one who enters (āpadyate) the stream (sotas)," with the stream being the supermundaneNoble Eightfold Path regarded as the highest Dharma. The stream-enterer is also said to have "opened the eye of the Dharma" (dhammacakkhu, Sanskrit:dharmacakṣus). A stream-enterer reaches arahantship within seven rebirths upon opening the eye of the Dharma.
Because the stream-enterer has attained an intuitive grasp of Buddhist doctrine (samyagdṛṣṭi orsammādiṭṭhi, "right view") and has complete confidence orSaddha in theThree Jewels:Buddha,Dharma, andSangha, and has removed thesankharas that force rebirth in lower planes, that individual will not be reborn in any plane lower than the human (animal,preta, or inhell).
The second stage is that of theSakadāgāmī (Sanskrit:Sakṛdāgāmin), literally meaning "one who once (sakṛt) comes (āgacchati)". The once-returner will at most return to the realm of the senses (the lowest being human and the highest being the devas wielding power over the creations of others) one more time. Both the stream-enterer and the once-returner have abandoned the first three fetters. The stream-enterer and once-returner are distinguished by the fact that the once-returner has weakened lust, hate, and delusion to a greater degree. The once-returner therefore has fewer than seven rebirths. Once-returners do not have only one more rebirth, as the name suggests, for that may not even be said with certainty about the non-returner who can take multiple rebirths in the five "Pure Abodes". They do, however, only have one more rebirth in the realm of the senses, excluding, of course, the planes of hell, animals and hungry ghosts. A stream-enterer, having abandoned the first three fetters, is guaranteed enlightenment within seven lifetimes, in the human or heavenly realms.
A once-returner is the next step up; they have reduced sensual desire and ill-will even further. Similarly, and therefore, incapable of being reborn in any of the lower realms.
The third stage is that of theAnāgāmī (Sanskrit:Anāgāmin), literally meaning "one who does not (an-) come (āgacchati)". The non-returner, having overcome sensuality, does not return to the human world, or any unfortunate world lower than that, after death. Instead, non-returners arereborn in one of the five special worlds inRūpadhātu called theŚuddhāvāsa worlds, or "Pure Abodes", and there attainNirvāṇa; Pāli: Nibbana; some of them are reborn a second time in a higher world of the Pure Abodes.
AnAnāgāmī has abandoned the five lower fetters, out of ten total fetters, that bind beings to thecycle of rebirth. AnAnāgāmī is well-advanced.
The fourth stage is that ofArahant (Sanskrit:Arhat), a fully awakened person. They have abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death (Sanskrit:Parinirvāṇa, Pāli:Parinibbāna) will never be reborn in any plane or world, having wholly escapedsaṃsāra.[3] An Arahant has attained awakening by following the path given by the Buddha. InTheravada Buddhism the termBuddha is reserved for ones who "self-enlighten" such as Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, who discovered the path by himself.
Buddhist sources also explain how there are different ways to attain the path. The main division of noble ones is between thedharmānusārin (Pāli:dhammānusāri) "follower of the Dharma", who attains the status ofārya through their understanding of the Dharma. This contrasts with theśraddhānusārin ("follower of faith"), whose spiritual practice and realization are based on trust and confidence in the teachings as presented by others.[8]
Both the Sarvāstivāda tradition and the Theravāda tradition identify seven categories of noble individuals (ārya, Pāli:ariya) based on their progression in understanding and liberation. These are ranked according to their intellectual and spiritual development:[8]
TheSarvastivada tradition argued that the attainment of these paths was gradual. Meanwhile, theTheravada Abhidhamma tradition generally teaches that progress in understanding comesall at once, and that 'insight' (abhisamaya) does not come 'gradually' (successively –anapurva),"[9] this classification is further elaborated, with each of the four levels described as a path to be attained suddenly, followed by the realisation of the fruit of the path. According to the Theravada exegesis, the process of becoming an Arahat is therefore characterized by four distinct and sudden changes, although in the sutras it says that the path has a gradual development, with gnosis only after a long stretch, just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual inclination with a sudden drop only after a long stretch. TheMahasanghika had the doctrine ofekaksana-citt, "according to which a Buddha knows everything in a single thought-instant."[10][note 1]
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