From the First Fruit to the Fourth Fruit, All Require Eradicating Afflictions

Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume Thirty-Four

Original text:此永断故。若先已离欲界贪者。彼于今时。既入如是谛现观已。得不还果。彼与前说离欲者相。当知无异。然于此中少有差别。谓当受化生。即于彼处当般涅槃。不复还来生此世间。若先倍离欲界贪者。彼于今时。既入如是谛现观已。得一来果。若先未离欲界贪者。彼于今时。既入如是谛现观已。粗重永息。得预流果。

Explanation: Because the dausthulya is forever eradicated, if one has previously already departed from the craving of the desire realm, then at the present time, after having entered such direct realization of the Four Noble Truths through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), one attains the third fruit, the anāgāmin. This person's characteristics are no different from those of the one who has departed from desire described earlier. However, there is a slight difference between the two: the third-fruit person who will receive spontaneous birth (upapāduka) will attain parinirvāṇa right at the place of that birth, and will not come back to be reborn in this world again.

If one has previously nearly departed from the craving of the desire realm, then at the present time, after having attained such direct realization of the Four Noble Truths through contemplative practice, one attains the second fruit, the sakṛdāgāmin. If one has previously not yet departed from the craving of the desire realm, then at the present time, after attaining the direct realization of the Four Noble Truths, the coarse and heavy afflictions are forever extinguished, and one attains the first fruit, srotāpanna.

According to the above exposition by Bodhisattva Maitreya, although one who attains the first fruit has not yet departed from the craving of the desire realm, the coarse and heavy afflictions must be forever eradicated and extinguished; subtle afflictions still remain, to be gradually eradicated and extinguished through subsequent cultivation, until the manifest afflictions are completely exhausted at the fourth fruit. Although those from the first fruit to the fourth fruit are all capable of direct realization of the Four Noble Truths through contemplative practice, because they differ in merit, afflictions, meditative concentration (samādhi), and the wisdom of contemplative practice, the wisdom they attain differs, and thus the fruits they attain differ.

The third-fruit person has eradicated the afflictions of craving in the desire realm and has the ability to attain nirvāṇa without remainder at the place of rebirth or at the imminent moment of rebirth; such is a noble one liberated in mind through the eradication of afflictions. The first-fruit and second-fruit persons still have various cravings of the desire realm, and their minds are not liberated from the desire realm; therefore they are not noble ones liberated in mind, but rather belong to the category of the virtuous/sage-like.