Thank you Akvan and the others,
The whole question has arisen because it is said that it is the Sotapanna who makes an end to suffering – which is not so at all. No Sotapanna has reached that state, can ‘make an end to suffering’ when at the level of a Sotapanna.
I see it now. It means that there are Sotapannas (who, through different gati, among other things) attain the Arahanthood in one human bhava (or even in one life), in 2 or 3 human bhava, or at most within 7 bhava. But by the stage when they ‘make an end to suffereing’ they are no longer only Sotapannas, but Arahants. Only in the last case (satthakkhattha) can one die as a Sotapanna, a Sakadagami or an Anagami and attain a deva or brahma existence.
And yet, Akvan:
“..and hence a sakadagami should attain arahanth before a sotapanna.” and
“A human “bava” is a longer time frame than a human “life time”. Hence a sakadagami would attain nibbana before a sotapanna.”
I cannot see how that can be so in the case of ekabji and even kolankolo Sotapannas. A human bhava is a few thousand years, at most several thousand years, while for a Sakadagami in even the lowest deva realm, it is just over 9 million years. In your post of October 18, 2018 at 8:33 pm: .The explanation is based on the time frame that each person attains nibbana, rather than the reason a person is a specific type.’ So it will be as you say only for satthakkhattha through to ekabiji Sotapoannas ,in ascending order.
A Sakadagami enjoys a deva existence, true, but the pleasure is useless in the long run, and only lenghtens his stay in sansara. An ekabiji Sotapanna does it all in the shortest term, foregoing the pleasures to be had in a deva realm. Both ekabiji and kolankolo Sotapannas attain Release from one to three ‘short’ human bhavas, unlike Sakadagamis and Anagamis who spend millions or billions of years in maybe several successive deva and/or brahma bhavas unless they work for immediate Release on the way at any stage.
I have found all this to be very instructive and braodening.
Thank you all
Comments please
Metta to all