y not said: I was under the impression that, apart from those who attain a deva bhava solely due to merits, the others would be (ariyas) who had developed Sakadagami bhava in a human life immediately preceding that.
Meaning: are not Sotapannas and Sotapannas Anugani still attached to gross-material existence ? How is it that they can attain a deva realm (through magga phala) lower than that of a Sakadagami? They are freed of only the four lowest realms, not the human one.
This is how I understand it: Sotapannas and Sotapanna Anugami are indeed still attached to gross-material existence. Even if they attain a deva bhava, they may still go back to a human bhava at the end of the deva bhava, or attain nirvana in the deva realms. They are only free of the four apayas, not the human realm, but they can become devas too.