Dhammapada 178

178

Pathabyā ekarajjena,
saggassa gamanena vā;
Sabbalokādhipaccena,
sotāpattiphalaṃ varaṃ.

Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of the first step in holiness.
[178. Sotâpatti, the technical term for the first step in thr path that leads to Nirvâna. There are four such steps, or stages, and on entering each, a man receives a new title:--
(1) The Srotaâpanna, lit. he who has got into the stream. A man may have seven more births before he reaches the other shore, i.e. Nirvâna.
(2) Sakridâgâmin, lit. he who comes back once, so called because, after having entered this stage, a man is born only once more among men or gods. Childers shows that this involves really two more births, one in the deva world, the other in the world of men: Burnouf says the same, Introduction, p. 293.
(3) Anâgâmin, lit. he who does not come back, so called because, after this stage, a man cannot be born again in a lower world; but can only be born into a Brahman world, before he reaches Nirvâna.
(4) Arhat, the venerable, the perfect, who has reached the highest stage that can be reached, and from which Nirvâna is perceived (sukkhavipassanâ, Lotus, p. 849). See Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 280; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 209; Köppen, p. 398; D'Alwis, Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxiv; Feer, Sutra en 42 articles, p. 6.]