Śrāvaka (Sanskrit) orSāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used inBuddhism andJainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for theJain community itself (for example seeSarak andSarawagi). Śrāvakācāras are the lay conduct outlined within the treaties byŚvetāmbara orDigambara mendicants. "In parallel to the prescriptive texts, Jain religious teachers have written a number of stories to illustrate vows in practice and produced a rich répertoire of characters."^[1]

In Buddhism, the term is sometimes reserved for distinguished disciples of the Buddha.

Inearly Buddhism, a śrāvaka or śrāvikā is a disciple who accepts:

• theBuddha as their teacher
• the Buddha's teaching (theDharma), including understanding theFour Noble Truths, ridding oneself of theunreality of the phenomenal, and pursuingnirvana. See, for instance, theAnguttara Nikaya's secondMetta Sutta (AN 4.126)^[2] when, taken in consideration of the first "Metta Sutta" (AN 4.125),^[3] a disciple is described as one who "regards whatever phenomena there that are connected with form, feeling, perception, fabrications, & consciousness, as inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction, alien, a disintegration, an emptiness, not-self."
• the community rules of conduct: theFive Precepts for laypersons, theprātimokṣa for monastics.^[4]

In theNikāya, depending on the context, a sāvaka can also refer to a disciple of a teacher other than the Buddha.^[5]

In Theravada Buddhism, a śrāvaka or śrāvikāt refers to one who followed in the tradition of the senior monks of the first Buddhist sangha and community. In thePāli Canon, the term "disciple" transcends monastic-lay divisions and can refer to anyone from the following "four assemblies":^[6]

• bhikkhus ("monks")
• bhikkuṇīs ("nuns")
• upāsakas and upāsikā (laypersons of both sexes)

Buddhist texts further mention four types of disciples based on spiritual accomplishment:^[7][8][9]

• "Chief Disciple" (Pāli:aggasāvaka; Sanskrit:agraśrāvaka): in the Pali canon, these areSāriputta and(Mahā)moggallāna
• "Foremost Disciple" (Pāli:etadaggasāvaka; Sanskrit:etadagraśrāvaka): referring to those disciples who are recognized as the best in their respective attribute
• "Great Disciple" (Pāli:mahāsāvaka; Sanskrit:mahāśrāvaka): examples areMahākassapa,Ānanda,Anuruddha and Mahākaccāna.^[10]
• "Ordinary Disciple" (Pāli:pakatisāvaka; Sanskrit:prakṛtiśrāvaka): constituting the majority of disciples, while devoted to the Buddha and his teaching and while having planted seeds for future liberation, they have not yet irreversibly entered the path to emancipation and are still subject to infinite rebirths.^[11]

In the Pali commentaries, the termariyasāvaka is explained as "the disciple of the Noble One (i.e. Buddha)".^[12] Accordingly,Soma Thera andThanissaro Bhikkhu translate this term as "The disciple of the Noble Ones"^[13]

However Bhikkhu Bodhi interprets this term as "noble disciple", and according to him, in the Pali suttas, this term is used in two ways:^[14]

1. broadly: any lay disciple of the Buddha;
2. narrowly: one who is at least on the path toenlightenment (Pāli:sotāpatti maggattha). In this sense, "ordinary people" (puthujjana) can be contrasted with this narrow definition of "noble disciple" (ariyasāvaka).^[15]Nyanatiloka writes, "sāvaka [...] refers, in a restricted sense (then mostly ariya-sāvaka, 'noble disciple'), only to the eight kinds of noble disciples (ariya-puggala, q.v.)."^[16]

The canon occasionally references the "four pairs" and "eight types" of disciples.^[17] This refers to disciples who have achieved one of thefour stages of enlightenment:

• Sotāpanna
• Sakadāgāmin
• Anāgāmin
• Arahat

In regards to disciples achieving arahantship,Bhikkhu Bodhi writes:

In principle the entire practice of the Noble Eightfold Path is open to people from any mode of life, monastic or lay, and the Buddha confirms that many among his lay followers were accomplished in the Dhamma and had attained the first three of the four stages of awakening, up to nonreturning (anāgāmi; Theravāda commentators say that lay followers can also attain the fourth stage, arahantship, but they do so either on the verge of death or after attainment immediately seek the going forth [that is, homelessness, associated with becoming a monastic]).^[18]

For each of these stages, there is a "pair" of possible disciples: one who is on the stage's path (Pāli:magga); the other who has achieved its fruit (Pāli:phala). Thus, each stage represents a "pair" of individuals: the path traveler (Pāli:maggattha) and the fruit achiever (Pāli:phalattha). Hence, the community of disciples is said to be composed of four pairs or eight types of individuals (Pāli:cattāri purisayugāni attha purisapuggalā).^[19](Sivaraksa 1993)

In the "Etadaggavagga" ("These are the Foremost Chapter,"AN 1.188-267), the Buddha identifies 80 different categories for his "foremost" (Pāli:etadagga) disciples: 47 categories for monks, 13 for nuns, ten for laymen and ten for laywomen.^[20][21]

While the disciples identified with these categories are declared to be the Buddha's "foremost" or "chief" (Pāli:etadagga), this is different from his "Chief Disciples" (Pāli:aggasāvaka) who are consistently identified solely as Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna.

In addition, in SN 17.23,^[22] SN 17.24^[23] and AN 4.18.6,^[24] the Buddha identifies four pairs of disciples "who have no compare" and who should thus be emulated. These four pairs are a subset of the 80 foremost disciples listed above, identified in the sub-section 14 of AN 1 (i.e. AN 1.188-267). These four pairs of disciples to be most emulated are:

• monks: Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna
• nuns: Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā
• laymen:Citta andHatthaka of Alavi^[25]
• laywomen: Kujjuttara andVeḷukaṇḍakiyā^[26]

In Buddhism, there are two main communities (Pāli:sangha):

• The "community of monks and nuns" (Pāli:bhikkhu-sangha;bhikkhuni-sangha) refers to a community of four or more monks or nuns who are living in a permanent or semi-permanent single-sex community (in the contemporary West monks and nuns may live within the same monastery but in separate living quarters). Within this community of monks and nuns there is a further sub-division containing practitioners (who are nonetheless still living among their fellow renunciates) possessed of some substantive level of realization (namely, those who have at least gainedstream-entry). This core group is called the "noble sangha" (ariya-sangha).
• The "community of disciples" (Pāli:sāvaka-sangha) refers to the broad community ofmonks,nuns, andmale andfemale layfollowers.

For an example of a traditional stock reference to thesāvaka-sangha in the Pali canon, in "The Crest of the Standard" discourse (SN 11.3), the Buddha advises his monks that, if they experience fear, they canrecollect the Buddha or the Dhamma or the Sangha; and, in recollecting the Sangha they should recall:

"The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples [sāvaka-sangha] is practising the good way, practising the straight way, practising the true way, practising the proper way; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals...."^[27]

A similar phrase can also be found in the lay disciple's dailychant, "Sangha Vandanā" ("Salutation to the Sangha").^[28]

InMahayana Buddhism, śrāvakas orarhats are sometimes contrasted negatively withbodhisattvas.^[29][30]

In the 4th centuryabhidharma workAbhidharmasamuccaya,Asaṅga describes those who follow theŚrāvakayāna. These people are described as having weak faculties, following the Śrāvaka Dharma, utilizing the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, being set on their own liberation, and cultivating detachment in order to attain liberation.^[31] Those in thePratyekabuddhayāna are portrayed as also utilizing the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, are said to have medium faculties, to follow the Pratyekabuddha Dharma, and to be set on their own personal enlightenment.^[32] Finally, those in the Mahāyāna "Great Vehicle" are portrayed as utilizing theBodhisattva Piṭaka, as having sharp faculties, following the Bodhisattva Dharma, and set on the perfection and liberation of all beings, and the attainment of complete enlightenment.^[33]

According to Vasubandhu'sYogacara teachings, there are four types of śrāvakas:^[34]

1. The fixed
2. The arrogant
3. The transformed
4. The converted (to "Bodhi" or Buddhism)

The transformed and the converted (Buddhist) are assured of eventual Nirvana in theLotus Sutra.^{[citation needed]}

According toJe Tsongkhapa, founder of theGelug school ofTibetan Buddhism:

The Sutra on the Ten Levels (Daśabhūmika Sūtra) says that those who have cultivated these ten [virtuous practices, i.e. not killing, not stealing, not lying etc.] through fear of cyclic existence and without [great] compassion, but following the words of others, will achieve the fruit of a Śrāvaka.

A śrāvaka inJainism is a lay Jain. He is the hearer of discourses ofmonastics and scholars,Jain literature. In Jainism, theJain community is made up of four sections: monks, nuns, śrāvakas (laymen) and śrāvikās (laywomen).

The term śrāvaka has also been used as a shorthand for the community itself. For example, theSarawagi are a Jain community originating in Rajasthan, and sometimes śrāvaka is the origin of surnames for Jain families. The long-isolated Jain community inEast India is known as theSarak.

The conduct of a śrāvaka is governed by texts calledśrāvakācāras,^[36][37] the best known of which is theRatnakaranda śrāvakācāra of Samantabhadra.

A śrāvaka rises spiritually through the elevenpratimas. After the eleventh step, he becomes a monk.

Jains follow six obligatory duties known as avashyakas:samayika (practising serenity), chaturvimshati (praising the tirthankara), vandan (respecting teachers and monks),pratikramana (introspection),kayotsarga (stillness), and pratyakhyana (renunciation).^[38]

• Sāvakabuddha
• Śrāvakayāna
• Arhat

• Acharya, Kala (2002).Buddhānusmṛti: A Glossary of Buddhist Terms. Mumbai, New Delhi:Somaiya Publications.ISBN 81-7039-246-2. Available on-line at:http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/DBLM/resource/ebooks/102946/102946.htm.
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005).In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Simon & Schuster.ISBN 978-0-86171-491-9.
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005b).The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Wisdom Publications.ISBN 978-0-86171-973-0.
• Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005).In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon.Boston: Wisdom Pubs.ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
• Buddhaghosa;Ñāṇamoli (2011).The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga(PDF). Shambhala Publications : distributed in the United States by Random House.ISBN 978-0-87773-079-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
• Hecker (2003) NO CITATION
• Indaratana Maha Thera, Elgiriye (2002).Vandana: The Album of Pali Devotional Chanting and Hymns. Penang, Malaysia:Mahindarama Dhamma Publication. Available on-line at:http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/vandana02.pdf.
• Nyanaponika; Hecker, Hellmuth (2012).Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Simon & Schuster.ISBN 978-0-86171-864-1.
• Nyanatiloka (2004).Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines. Buddhist Publication Society.ISBN 978-955-24-0019-3.
• Pali Text Society (PTS) (1921–1925).The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary. London: Chipstead. Available on-line at:http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
• Prayudh Payutto (1986).Sangha: The Ideal World Community.inSivaraksa, Sulak (1993).Buddhist Perception for Desirable Societies in the Future: Papers Prepared for the United Nations University. Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development, Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans., 2006a).Metta Sutta: Good Will (1) (AN 4.125). Available on-line at:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.125.than.html.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans., 2006b).Metta Sutta: Good Will (2) (AN 4.126). Available on-line at:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.126.than.html.
• Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans., 1997).Sabbasava Sutta: All the Fermentations (MN 2). Available on-line at:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.002.than.html.
• Uppalavanna, Sister (trans.) (n.d.-a).Aayācanāsuttam: Wishing (AN 4.18.6). Retrieved from "MettaNet" athttp://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara2/4-catukkanipata/018-sacetaniyavaggo-e.html.
• Uppalavanna, Sister (trans.) (n.d.-b).Etadaggavagga: These are the foremost (AN 1.14). Retrieved from "MettaNet" athttp://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html. A Romanized Pali version of this chapter is available from this same site athttp://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-p.html.
• Webu Sayadaw & Roger Bischoff (trans.) (1995). "A Happiness that Ever Grows" inThe Essential Practice (Part II). Available on-line at:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/webu/wheel384.html#happy.

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