the first of the four paths an entrance into which secures, either immediately or more remotely, the attainment of the Buddhist Nirvana (q.v.). The path Sowan is divided into twenty-four sections, and after it has been entered there can be only seven more births between that period and the attainment of the Nirvana, which may be in any world but the four hells. This is the second gradation of being. — Gardner, Faiths of the World, s.v.