In Buddhism, an anāgāmin (Sanskrit; Pāli: anāgāmī, lit. "non-returning") is a partially enlightened person who has cut off the first five fetters that bind the ordinary mind. Anāgāmins are the third of the four aspirants. The anāgāmin is not reborn into the human world after death, but into the heaven of the Pure Abodes, where only anāgāmins reside. There they attain full enlightenment (arahantship).

Requisites for becoming an anāgāmin

An anāgāmin is free from the lowest five chains or fetters (Sanskrit: ; Pali: pañcorambhāgiyāni-saṃyojanāni; 五下分結) which are as follows: The remaining five higher fetters (Sanskrit: pañca-ūrdhvabhāgiya-saṃyojana; Pali: pañcuddhambhāgiyāni-saṃyojanāni; 五上分結) from which an anāgāmin is not yet free are: Kāmarāga and vyāpāda, which they are free from, can also be interpreted as craving for becoming and non-becoming, respectively. Anāgāmins are at an intermediate stage between the sakṛdāgāmin and the arhat. An arhat enjoys complete freedom from the ten fetters, while an anāgāmin's mind remains very pure.

Five types of anāgāmin

The Pali Puggalapannatti and the Sanskrit texts Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra and the Sarvāstivādin-Vaibhaṣika Abhidharma both describe five classes of anāgāmin. When an anāgāmin is reborn in the Pure Abodes, one of the five following scenarios will occur:

Anāgāmins in literature

Several figures who appear in the literature achieve the state of an anāgāmin. Some of these people include:

Sources