Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c38.s9.20

v2.c38.s9.20

In view of the several statements in the Nikāyas about the after-life of an upāsaka, it is clear that no upāsaka attained arhathood, i.e., Nibbāna. In the *Aggivacchagottasutta*¹ it is explicitly stated that no householder without giving up the householder’s life can end his suffering at the time of his death. In other words, he can be only at the most an Anāgāmi, i.e., he must be born once more as a god to attain Nibbāna.