Sravaka (Sanskrit śrāvaka; Tibetan nyan thos; Pali sāvaka) is a hearer, a term applied to the personal disciples of the Buddha, distinguished as mahā-śrāvaka ; it is also applied to hearers, or disciples in general; but its general connotation relates it to Hīnayāna disciples who understand the four dogmas, rid themselves of the unreality of the phenomenal, and enter nirvāṇa; it is the initial stage.
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