..续本文上一页ike a palm tree whose head is cut off, extinguished, attaining the state of non-arising.

　　Similarly, today arya merely denotes a caste or race. However, in the days of the Buddha, arya denoted not simply caste or race but, rather, qualities. If a person of any race, caste or class-walking on the path of the Dhamma (Universal Law) by the development of morality, mastery over the mind and experiential wisdom-attained the first of the four stages of liberation, he was called an Arya (a Noble One).

　　This stage is called sotāpannā (stream-enterer)-that is, this person has entered the stream of complete liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Such a person is partially liberated. One is totally freed from the possibility of future lives in the lower worlds because of eradication of all kammas (karmas) that would take one to such lower worlds even though one still has some kammas left, which may result in a maximum of seven lives before final liberation from all rebirth. Hence, such a person is entitled to the epithet of arya.

　　Continuing the practice of Vipassana, the practitioner successively becomes a sakadāgāmī (once-returner), anāgāmī (non-returner) and finally attains the state of an arahat (fully liberated being). Thus, arya-satya (Noble Truth) is a truth through the experience of which anyone can become an arya - noble person.

　　Linguistic Derivations

　　The language of the Vedas was called Chandas at the time of the Buddha. About two centuries after the Buddha, an erudite grammarian by the name of Panini wrote a new grammar and thus created a new language based on the existing language, but quite different from it. It was governed by new rules. The language that was created was called Sanskrit (literally: composed, created, fashioned or artificial).

　　Arya was used in the Vedic literature at the time of the Buddha in the qualitative sense, as well as to denote caste. In the literature of Panini”s Sanskrit also, both meanings were applied to arya. Later on a new meaning was added: the people of the three classes (namely, Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) were called arya.

　　The Buddha gave his discourses in his mother tongue, which was Kosali. This was the spoken language of the kingdom of Kosala and it was the natural language spoken by the people. It was not an artificially created language like Sanskrit. This Prakrit (literally, natural”) language protected the words of the Buddha for centuries, therefore it was called Pāḷi (that which protects”).

　　Years after the Buddha, the entire region of northern India along with the state of Kosala came under the rule of the Magadha Emperor Ashoka, who adopted not only the teaching of the Buddha but also his language. Then the language started to be called Magadhi. In this language, arya is ariyā, an epithet for all those who have attained stages from sotāpannā to arahat.

　　In the Buddha”s teaching in the vast Pāḷi literature, ariyā (arya) never once denoted caste or race. It always referred to qualities. For example:

　　Visuddho uttamoti ariyo - one who is pure and supreme is an arya.

　　Ariyoti kilesehi ārakā ṭhito parisuddho - one who is far away from the stains of passion, and thus, supremely pure, is an arya.

　　Anaye na iriyatīti ariyo - one who does not follow the unwholesome way is an arya.

　　Ahiṃsā sabbapāṇānaṃ ariyoti pavuccatī - One who is non-violent towards all beings is an arya.

　　Ariyaphalapaṭilābhato ariyoti - One who has attained nibbana is an ārya.

　　In contrast, those who are far away from the fruit of arya (nibbāna) are called puthujjanā. It is said -

　　Hīno gammo pothujjaniko anariyo anatthasaṃhito - a non-arya (anariyā) is one who is base, uninitiated (rustic), far away from nibbāna and collects unwholesome states.

　　Ariyoti put…

《Was the Buddha a Pessimist

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