Arhat, (Sanskrit: “one who is worthy”), Pali Arhat, in Buddhism, a perfected person, a person who has come to understand the true nature of existence and has attained nirvana (spiritual enlightenment). The arhat, having freed himself from the bonds of desire, will not be reborn.
The state of an arhat is considered in the Theravada tradition to be the goal of a Buddhist. The Pali texts describe four stages of attainment:
- The state of “stream enter,” that is, a convert (sotapanna) achieved by overcoming false beliefs and doubts about the Buddha, the teaching (dhamma), and the order (sangha).
- The “once-returner” (sakadagamin), who will be reborn only once in this realm, a state attained by the diminution of lust and hatred, and delusion.
- the “non-returner” (anagamin), who, after death, will be reborn in a higher heaven, where he will become an arhat, a state attained by overcoming sensual desire and ill will, in addition to the achievements of the first two stages
- the arhat. Except in extraordinary circumstances, a man or woman can become an arhat only while a monk or nun.
Mahayana Buddhists criticize the ideal of the arhat on the grounds that the bodhisattva is a higher goal of perfection, so that the bodhisattva promises to become a Buddha in order to work for the good of others. This divergence of opinion remains one of the fundamental differences between the Theravada and Mahayana traditions.
In China, as well as in Korea, Japan, and Tibet, Arhats (Chinese lohan, Japanese rakan) were often depicted on temple walls in groups of 16 (later expanded to 18, or even 500). They represent 16 close disciples of the Buddha whom he entrusted to remain in the world and not enter nirvana until the arrival of the next Buddha, in order to provide people with objects of worship.
1. The Arhat
Buddhism defines Arhat as someone who has understood the true nature of coexistence and attained nirvana. Other Buddhist traditions have used the term for people who are very advanced along the path to enlightenment but may not have attained full Buddhahood. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions.
Mahayana Buddhist teachings urge followers to take the path of a bodhisattva, and not to return to the level of the Arhats and sravakas. The Arhats, or at least the highest-ranking Arhats, came to be widely regarded as “surpassing the state of personal freedom to join the Bodhisattva’s enterprise in their own way.”
Mahayana Buddhism regarded a group of eighteen Arhats (with names and personalities) awaiting the return of the Buddha as Maitreya, and other groupings of 6, 8, 16, 100, and 500 also appear in Buddhist tradition and art, especially in East Asia.[. They can be seen as the Buddhist equivalents of Christian saints, apostles, or early disciples and leaders of the faith.
2. Etymology
Arhat is a present participle derived from the verbal root arh “to deserve,” arha “to deserve, to be worthy”; arhaṇa “to have a claim, to be entitled”; arhita (past participle) “honored, worshipped.” The word is used in the Ṛgveda with this meaning of “to deserve.”
Professor Richard Gombrich has argued that the present participle is “jarring” and seems out of place when there is an adjective from the same root (arha). Gombrich argues that this comes from the same metaphor as the Jain title jina “conqueror,” from which jaina “related to the conqueror,” i.e., Jainism, was derived.
3. In the early Buddhist schools
In pre-Buddhist India, the term arhat, denoting a holy person in general, was closely associated with miraculous power and asceticism. Buddhists made a clear distinction between their arhat and Indian holy men in general; in Buddhism, these miraculous powers were no longer central to the identity of the arhat or to his mission.
According to A.K. Warder, the Sarvastivadins held the same position as the Mahasaṃghika branch regarding the Arhats, considering them imperfect and fallible. In the Sarvastivadin Nagadatta Sutra, the demon Mara takes the form of Nagadatta’s father and tries to convince Nagadatta, who was a bhiká¹£uṇi, to work toward the lowest stage of Arhathip instead of striving to become a fully enlightened Buddha (samyaksaṃbuddha).
Mara, therefore, disguised himself as Nagadatta’s father and said to Nagadatta: “Your thinking is too serious. Buddhahood is too difficult to attain. It takes one hundred thousand nayuta koá¹is of kalpas to become a Buddha. Since few people attain Buddhahood in this world, why don’t you attain Arhathip? Because the experience of Arhathip is the same as that of nirvÄṇa; moreover, Arhathip is easy to attain.
In his reply, Nagadatta rejects Arhathip as an inferior path, saying, “The wisdom of a Buddha is like the empty space of the ten quarters, which can illuminate countless people. But the wisdom of an Arhat is inferior.”
4. In Theravada Buddhism
In Theravada Buddhism, an Arhat is a person who has eliminated all the unhealthy roots underlying the fetters and who, upon death, will not be reborn in any world, since the bonds (fetters) that tie a person to samsara have been finally dissolved. In the Pali Canon, the word tathagata is sometimes used as a synonym for Arhat, although the former usually refers only to the Buddha.
After the attainment of Nibbana, the five aggregates (physical forms, feelings/sensations, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) will continue to function, sustained by the physical vitality of the body. This attainment is called the nibbana element with a remaining residue.
But once the Arhat passes away and with the disintegration of the physical body, the five aggregates cease to function, thus ending all traces of existence in the phenomenal world and therefore with total liberation from the misery of samsara. Parinibbana occurs upon the death of an Arhat.
In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha himself is first identified as an Arhat, as are his enlightened followers, because they are free from all defilements, existing without greed, hatred, delusion, ignorance, and craving. Lacking any “possessions” that would lead to future birth, the Arhat knows and sees what is real here and now. This virtue shows stainless purity, true courage, and the realization of the end, nibbana.
In his study of the roles of Arhats, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas, Nathan Katz writes that there is a tendency in the Theravada school to exclude laypeople from the possibility of achieving Arhathip.
While in the Sutta Piá¹aka, Arhat was open to all, both in principle and in fact, there was a growing tendency among later Theravada saá¹…ghikas to restrict Arhat to those who wore the robe. Theravada saá¹…ghikas to restrict Arhat to those who wore the robe. We previously cited a verse from Milindapañha which held that while Arhat could be attained by a lay person, within one day of its attainment he would have to enter the saá¹…gha or die.
In the Pali canon, Ananda states that he knows monastics to achieve nibbana in one of four ways:
- Insight is developed preceded by serenity (Pali: samatha-pubbaṇgamaṃ vipassanaṃ),
- Serenity is developed preceded by insight (vipassana-pubbaṇgamaṃ samathaṃ),
- One develops serenity and insight in a gradual manner (samatha-vipassanaṃ yuganaddhaṃ),
- One’s mind is grasped by excitement about the dhamma and, as a result, develops serenity and abandons the chains (dhamma-uddhacca viggahitaṃ manasaṃ hoti).
Those who have destroyed greed and hatred with some residue of delusion are called anagami (non-returning). Anagamis will not be reborn in the human world after death, but in the Pure Abodes, where only anagamis live. There, they will attain complete enlightenment.
5. Achievements
The Arhats had perfected the path to enlightenment. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Pali Canon portrays the Buddha declaring himself an Arhat. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, nirvana is “the final goal,” and whoever has attained nirvana has attained Arhathip: “The defining mark of an Arhat is the attainment of nirvana in this present life.”
6. Translations
The term arhat is often translated into English as arahat. The Tibetan term for arhat was translated based on the meaning of the Sanskrit. This translation, dgra bcom pa, means “one who has destroyed the enemies of afflictions.” Thus, Tibetan translators also understood that the meaning of arhat is ari hanta.
