Definition in this text:

See “son of good family.”

Definition in this text:

While this is usually a characteristic pertaining to brahmins (i.e., born in the brahmin caste to seven-generation brahmin parents), the Buddha redefined noble birth as determined by an individual’s ethical conduct and integrity. Thus, someone who enters the Buddha’s saṅgha is called a “son or daughter of noble family” and is in this sense “good” or “noble” and considered born again (dvija, or “twice born”).

Definition in this text:

Indian term of address used toward a female student of the bodhisattva path. See “son of noble family.”

Definition in this text:

Indian term of address used by a teacher regarding a student. While originally related to family lineage, in Great Vehicle sūtras the term is also sometimes interpreted as implying that the person so addressed has entered the lineage of the buddhas, i.e., is a follower of the bodhisattva path.