Mahāyāna texts distinguish three vehicles: of the disciples who become arahants, of the solitary buddhas, and of the bodhisattvas who become buddhas. Some regard the three as genuinely different paths; the Lotus Sūtra teaches that they are skilful means within a single vehicle to buddhahood.
Three vehicles
The paths of the disciple, the solitary buddha and the bodhisattva, and their relation.
Also: triyana, one vehicle