śrāvaka, a hearer, a term applied to the personal disciples of the Buddha, distinguished asmahā-śrāvaka; it is also applied to hearers, or disciples in general; but its general connotation relates it to Hīnayāna disciples who understand the four dogmas, rid themselves of the unreality of the phenomenal, and enter nirvana; it is the initial stage; cf. 舍.