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Śravakabhūmi
viduals as members of the Buddhist order who were converted to the Buddhist sangha and had the attainment of Nirvana their sole aim, the Summum Bonum of their life.1
CXX
The latter sense was denoted by words such as gotrabhu. Buddhaghosa defines gotrabhu as a person inclined to quit the paritta-gotra and adopt the contemplation of the mahaggata-gotta. However, in the Nikayas, this word represents a person in the lower plane of contemplation and as a 'nominal' member of the spiritual clan. The P. Paññatti describes the gotrabhu as a pudgala ripe for conversion as a sotapanna."
In the Abhidharma-texts, gotra has been defined and discussed as dhātu (base) of the human individuality, as the preceding cause of the 'ṣoḍaśa ākāras'. Various concepts of gotra are found in these texts. Some authors refer to gotra as denoting the Kuśala-mula while others regard them as difference of senses in various pudgalas in the stage of pṛthag-jana. The Sautrāntikas define gotra as. the mental faculty and its seed."
1. Cp. This word orginally meant "family", and was then used to denote the group of persons descended in the male line from a common ancestor... Early Buddhism used an old term in a new sense, and declared that all Buddhists belonged to the family or clan of Gautama Buddha, as they were his spiritual sons and heirs...", Bodhisattva Doctrine, p. 51, see also, pp. 52-53.
K. N., V. (PSm.), p. 3, 73 sq.; M. N., III. 342; A. N., IV. 20, 117; Vide, PTSD, s. v. 'gotrabhu'; Vsm., IV. 74.
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Vsm., loc. cit.; XXII. 5, XXIII. 7.
See, supra, fo. 2; Psm. p. 73 sq.; A. N., IV. 20, 117; BDBSL, pp. 51-52.
Yesam dhammānaṁ samanantarā ariyadhammassa avakkanti hoti, tehi dhammehi samannägato. Ayam vuccati pudgalo "gotrabhu", Pug. P., P. 21.
Rasyāyadvaragotrārthaḥ skandhāyatanadhātavaḥ, AK. I. 20-ab; vide, AKB, pp. 13-14; Adv. I. 5 ed. Ayadvaro hyāyatanam gotram dhāturnirucyate, see p. 5-6.
Adv, Vs., 400, p. 324.
