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________________ THE CONCEPT OF ARHAT Prof. PADMANABH S. JAINI, M.A., Tripitakacarya 4 . The Arihanta (Arhat) is the first of the Five Worthies cited by all Jainas in their daily salutation. Though this word is common to-day amongst the Jainas, it was very popular with all sramanas of old. In the days of Gautama Buddha, it was common to apply this honorific term to the heads of various religious sects. All Teachers grouped under the Sramanas used this title and severe penances were indulged in to retain it. Such a claim by others was considered by the Buddhists as a vain boast and the Buddha is reported to have often challenged this claim. The first chapter of the Mahavagga of the Vinayapitaka depicts a scene of the meeting of the Buddha with an Ajivaka named Upaka. The Buddha is on his way to Sarnath to preach his first sermon. Upaka meets him somewhere near Gaya and impressed by the charming and illustrious personality of the latter asks him about his Teacher and Religion. The Buddha declares with a force of conviction, "I am the Arhat in the world, I am the Teacher Supreme, I alone am the Fully-enlightened one, I have become Tranquil, I have attained Nirvana."1 These words not only reveal the supreme self-confidence of the speaker but also throw a challenge to others, who claim to be Arhats. When the Buddha approaches the five mendicants at Sarnath, who are reluctant to receive him, he persuades them again by a solemn declaration, "O Monks, the Tathagata Samyak-Sambuddha is an Arhat. Open your ears, O Monks, the Immortal is known, I shall instruct you, I shall preach the law.!"2 At a subsequent meeting with the leader of the five hundred Jatilas at Uruvela, the Buddha demonstrates many supernatural powers to win over the former. The Jatila is impressed by the powers of the Buddha but still persists in thinking: "Indeed, the great sramana possesses great supernatural powers but he is not an Arhat as I am". When the Buddha 1. ai fi apier # 984135 ekomhi sammA sambuddho sItibhUtosmi nibbuno| arahaM bhikkhave tathAgato sammA sambuddho / odahatha bhikkhave sotaM, amataM adhigataM, ahaM anusAsAmi, ahaM dhamma desAmi / 3. mahiddhi ko kho mahAsamaNo na tveva ca kho arahA yathA ahaM /
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________________ JAINI : THE CONCEPT OF ARHAT 75 reads this vain thought of the Jatila, he declares frankly, "O Kassapa, you are neither an Arhat nor you have attained the Path leading to Arhatship."1 These outspoken words have the desired effect and the Buddha succeeds in bringing him to his fold as a disciple. These are only a few illustrations to show how dogmatically the Buddhists asserted their superior claim to this title. This is quite significant, for, the word Arhat indicated a Teacher Perfect and it was necessary for the Buddhists to prove the singularity of the Buddha and his supremacy as a Teacher. The word 'Arhat means "the worthy', one who is worthy of worship. This also means the Teacher Perfect, a Law-giver. The word 'Arhat in the Jaina-mantra 'Namo Arihantanam' means a Teacher, who is popularly known as a Tirthankara. The Jaina scriptures lay a specific rule that an aspirant for this title must cultivate supreme qualities like Purity of Vision, Perfect Humility, Righteousness, Constant Wakefulness of mind, Charity, Penance, Services to Worthies, etc. One of the essential qualities is Pravacana-vatsalatva-a benevolent love for preaching the Law, a love born of compassion for the suffering world. It is the fulfilment of these perfections that turns an ordinary Kevali into a Tirthankara or an Arhat. No basic difference exists between a Kevali and a Tirthankara. Both are omniscient. Both have equal powers as regards the innate qualities of a Pure soul, viz. the Infinite Bliss, Infinite Power, Infinite Perception and Infinite Intuition. Thus according to the Jaina theory, there are two kinds of Kevalis. One is Kevali and the other is Arhat-Kevali, i.e., a Tirthankara. Both are Vitaraga and Sarvajna. But the latter alone is a Teacher Perfect, as he is gifted with a special faculty, which is the result of the perfection of various meritorious qualities in his previous births. When the Buddha found that the word 'Arhat was used for Teachers Perfect, he too claimed it and founded an order of monks. In the beginning, this Order consisted of only those monks, who, according to the Buddhist theory, had completely destroyed their Asravas, i.e. impurities 1. Ha at ra, FTAT, ETTEI a ATETA MARIA 2. darzanavizuddhivinayasaMpannatA zIlavrateSvanaticAro'bhIkSNajJAnopayogasaMvegauzaktitatyAgatapasI sAdhusamAdhivaiyyA pRtyakaraNamarhadAcArya bahuzrutapravacanabhaktirAvazyakA'rihANimArgaprabhAvanA prvcnvtslmititiirthkrtvsy| tattvArthasUtra VI. 24 (Mysore edn.). Compare with this the various Paramitas which a Bodhisattva fulfils in order to attain the Buddhahood.
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________________ 76 ACARYA VIJAYAVALLABHASURI COMMEMORATION VOLUME like raga, dvesa and moha, and were entitled to be called Liberated or Nibbuta. These were the disciples of the Buddha and not Teachers themselves; nevertheless, they had attained perfection and the term 'Arhat, which was once used to be applied exclusively to Teachers, came to be used for them. The freedom of mind from the Asravas is a state which is equivalent to what the Jainas know by the term Vitaraga. The vitaraga Buddhist monks were also designated as Arhats. Thus the word 'Arhat which by tradition was applied only to Teachers was used by the Buddha in a general and more universal sense. This not only raised the Buddha but also his disciples above other Teachers and established the superiority of the Buddhist religion. But a word had to be found to denote the supremacy of Buddha over his disciples. If the taught was 'worthy', the Teacher was 'worthiest'. A new word gained currency to serve this purpose. The Buddha was now exclusively called a Samyak-sambuddha, i.e., fully enlightened one. This epithet is nowhere applied to a person other than a Buddha. The Arhat and the Samyak-sambuddha of the Buddhists can be fairly compared respectively with the Jaina Kevali and Arhat (i.e. Tirthankara). The Buddhist Arhat is a Vitaraga and so is a Jaina Kevali. The Buddhist Samyak-sambuddha is a Vitaraga and a Teacher, and so is a Jaina Arhat or Tirthankara. But there is a great difference between the Jaina Kevali and the Buddhist Arhat. The latter is a Vitaraga but not a Sarvajna. But according to the Jaina theory, a Vitaraga must necessarily be a Sarvajna. In consistency with this theory, the Jainas hold that their Kevali is Vitaraga as well as Sarvajna. The Buddhists, however, recognise the omniscience only in a Buddha-The Teacher. From this we conclude that the word 'Arhat was in the beginning applied only to the Teachers Perfect. In the wake of Buddhism, it began to be used to denote even the Non-teacher, and therefore the non-sarvajna but vitaraga monks. This resulted in lowering the status of Arhat in the eyes of Buddhists themselves and in the Mahayana scriptures, there is an open condemnation of the Arhat, who is said to be a Hinayanist and whose claim for Perfection is not recognised. 1. tesaM anupAdAya Asavehi cittAni dimuccisuN| tena kho pana samayena ekasaTTi loke marahanto honti / HETT+7.