The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (240 page)

(Skt.). Sacrificial offering during Hindu
p
j
(worship).

 
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(
arhati
, ‘be worthy of’; P
li
arahat
). In Buddhism, one who is worthy of reverence because he has attained the penultimate state of perfection (Chin.,
alohan
, lohan; Jap.,
arakan
; Korean,
arahan
,
nahan
). The term was originally applied to all ascetics, but it came to be applied to those who are no longer bound to
punabbhava
(‘again-becoming’) and have become completely detached from the Triple World of sense, form, and formlessness. Since, in
Therav
da
, there can be only one
Buddha
in each world cycle, the condition of arhat is the highest to which one can aspire in this cycle (since the Buddha has already appeared).
They possess four faculties of discernment and exegesis not possessed by ordinary mortals, and five kinds of transcendent knowledge, so that they are characterized by supreme wisdom, and are known as
prajñ
vimukta
. They can hear and understand all sounds in the universe, know the thoughts of others, and remember previous existences. At death, they attain
nirv
na
completely.
Mah
y
na
Buddhism, in contrast, regards the notion, especially the limited goal, of arhat as selfish. The development of the
bodhisattva
, who might attain the goal but returns to help others, is held to be the logical application of the example of the Buddha and of his teaching.
Among Jains, the arhat is one who is worthy of absolute reverence. In effect, these are the
t
rtha
karas
.

 
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