Arhat

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Key Term	arhat
Hover Popup Choices	arhat; foe destroyer
In Tibetan Script	དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	dgra bcom
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	अर्हत्
Romanized Sanskrit	arhat
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	drachöm
Sanskrit Phonetic Rendering	arhat
Chinese Script	阿羅漢
Chinese Pinyin	ā luó hàn
Japanese Script	阿羅漢
Japanese Transliteration	arakan
Korean Script	아라한
Korean Transliteration	arahan
English Standard	arhat
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	Foe Destroyer
Ives Waldo's English Term	arhat
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	A person who has reached nirvāṇa by eliminating the three poisons of attachment, hatred and ignorance having followed the path of seeking individual liberation as a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha. An arhat, thus, is a person who has overcome the cause of rebirth in the cycle of existence and will not be take an ordinary birth.
Has the Sense of	The term arhat refers to someone worthy of venerable as well as someone who has overcome the enemies. The Tibetan translation has the latter meaning as arhats are said to have defeated the foes of defiling emotions.
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	(P. arahant; T. dgra bcom pa; C. aluohan/yinggong; J. arakan/ögu; K. arahan/ünggong PījBiSI/JøSffi). In Sanskrit, “worthy one”; one who has destroyed the afflictions (kleśa) and all causes for future rebirth and who thus will enter nirväna at death; the Standard Tibetan translation dgra bcom pa (drachompa) (“foe-destroyer”) is based on the paronomastic gloss ari (“enemy”) and han (“to destroy”). The arhat is the highest of the four grades of Buddhist saint or “noble person” (Aryapudgala) recognized in the mainstream Buddhist schools; the others are, in ascending order, the SROTAApanna or “stream- enterer” (the first and lowest grade), the sakrdAgämin or “once- returner” (the second grade), and the a n ä g ä m i n or “nonreturner” (the third and penultimate grade). The arhat is one who has completely put aside all ten fetters (samyojana) that bind one to the cycle of rebirth: namely, (1) belief in the existence of a perduring seif (satkàyadrsti); (2) skeptical doubt (about the efficacy of the path) (vicikitsA); (3) belief in the efficacy of rites and rituals (śIlavrataparàm arśa) ; (4) sensual craving (kämaräga); (3) malice (vyäpäda); (6) craving for exis­ tence as a divinity ( d e v a ) in the realm o f subtle materiality (rüparäga); (7) craving for existence as a divinity in the imma­ terial realm (Arüpyaräga); (8) pride (mAna); (9) restlessness (auddhatya); and (10) ignorance (avidyä). Also described as one who has achieved the extinction of the contaminants (Asravaksaya), the arhat is one who has attained nirväna in this life, and at death attains final liberation (parinirvàna) and will never again be subject to rebirth. Although the arhat is regarded as the ideal spiritual type in the mainstream Buddhist traditions, where the Buddha is also described as an arhat, in the MahAyäna the attainment of an arhat pales before the far- superior achievements of a buddha. Although arhats also achieve enlightenment ( b o d h i ) , the Mahâyäna tradition pre- sumes that they have overcome only the first of the two kinds of obstructions, the afflictive obstructions (kleśAvarana), but are still subject to the noetic obstructions (jńeyàvarana); only the buddhas have completely overcome both and thus realize complete, perfect enlightenment (anuttarasamyaksambodhi). Certain arhats were selected by the Buddha to remain in the world until the coming of M aitreya. These arhats (called LUOHAN in Chinese, a transcription of arhat), who typically numbered sixteen (see sodaśasthavira), were objects of specific devotion in East Asian Buddhism, and East Asian monasteries will often contain a separate shrine to these luohans. Although in the Mahāyāna sūtras, the bodhisattva is extolled over the arhats, arhats figure prominendy in these texts, very often as members of the assembly for the Buddha’s discourse and sometimes as key figures. For example, in the SaddharmapundarIkasütra (“Lotus Sütra”), Śàriputra is one of the Buddha’s chief interlocutors and, with other arhats, receives a prophecy of his future buddha­ hood; in the V ajracchedikàprajñApAramitAsūtra, S ubhüti is the Buddha’s chief interlocutor; and in the VimalakIrtinirdeśa, Säriputra is made to play the fool in a conversation with a goddess.
RigpaWiki	rigpa:Arhat

A person who has reached nirvāṇa by eliminating the three poisons of attachment, hatred and ignorance having followed the path of seeking individual liberation as a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha. An arhat, thus, is a person who has overcome the cause of rebirth in the cycle of existence and will not take an ordinary birth again.

A person who has reached nirvāṇa by eliminating the three poisons of attachment, hatred and ignorance having followed the path of seeking individual liberation as a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha. An arhat, thus, is a person who has overcome the cause of rebirth in the cycle of existence and will not take an ordinary birth again.

The three poisons are a reference to the afflictive emotions of rāga (Tib. 'dod chags), dveṣa (Tib. zhe sdang), and moha (Tib. gti mug). These three detrimental states or afflictive behavioral patterns are difficult to definitively translate, and thus there are several common English variations of this group of three, such as desire, aggression, and bewilderment, or attachment, aversion, and delusion. It is useful to think of these three as a process that involves our insatiable urge to possess that which we desire and the ensuing aggravation that arises when we don't get what we want or have what we don't want forced upon us. Yet we are oblivious to the futility of these conditioned responses due to our lack of discernment, and thus we mindlessly continue to get caught up in this causal nexus.

Literally "unknowing," it refers to a lack of knowledge or misunderstanding of the nature of reality. As such, it is considered to be the root cause of suffering and the basis for the arising of all other negative mental factors.

Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind.

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.