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Arihant (Jain Prakrit:अरिहन्त,Sanskrit:अर्हत् arhat,lit. 'conqueror') is a jiva (soul) who has conquered inner passions such as attachment, anger, pride and greed. Having destroyed four inimicalkarmas, they realize pure self.[1]Arihants are also calledkevalins (omniscient beings) as they possesskevala jnana (pure infinite knowledge).[2][3] Anarihant is also called ajina ("victor"). At the end of their life,arihants destroy remainingkarmas and attainmoksha (liberation) and becomesiddhas.Arihantas have a body whilesiddhas are bodiless pure spirit. TheṆamōkāra mantra, the fundamental prayer dedicated toPañca-Parameṣṭhi (five supreme beings), begins withṆamō arihantāṇaṁ, "obeisance to the arihants".
Kevalins - omniscient beings - are said to be of two kinds[2]
According to Jains, every soul has the potential to become anarihant. A soul which destroys allkashayas or inner enemies likeanger, ego,deception, andgreed, responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance, becomes anarihant.[1]
According to Jain texts,omniscience is attained on the destruction of four types ofkarmas– deluding, the knowledge-obscuring, the perception-obscuring, and the obstructivekarmas, in the order mentioned.[5] Thearihants are said to be free from the following eighteen imperfections:[6]
In Jainism, omniscience is said to be the infinite, all-embracing knowledge that reflects, as it were, in a mirror, all substances and their infinite modes, extending through the past, the present, and the future.[7] According to Jain texts, omniscience is the natural attribute of the pure souls. The self-attaining omniscience becomes akevalin.Pandit Banarasidas inSamaysaar Natak describes the Omniscient soul as:[8]
जोग धरै रहै जोगसौं भिन्न,
अनंत गुनातम केवलज्ञानी ।तासु हृदै-द्रहसौं निकसी,सरितासम है श्रुत-सिंधु समानी ।।याते अनंत नयातम लच्छन, सत्य स्वरूप सिधंत बखानी ।बुद्ध लखै न लखै दुरबुद्ध,
सदा जगमाँहि जगै जिनवानी ।।३।।
Meaning: The omniscient Lord has perfect, complete knowledge. He does have a physical form but has separated himself from his material body. From his heart-type of lake, a river has come out in the form of spiritual preachings and has merged into the ocean of holy scriptures. Therefore, such doctrines are called the ultimate truth, encompassing infinite partial points of view. The aspirant souls end up recognising such principles. The foolish, wrong-faithed persons fail to identify such truth. May such Omniscient knowledge of Arihants be victorious in the universe!
The four infinitudes (ananta cātuṣṭaya) are:[6]
Thosearihants who re-establish the Jain faith are calledtirthankaras.Tirthankaras revitalize thesangha, the fourfold order consisting of male saints (sādhus), female saints (sādhvis), male householders (śrāvaka) and female householders (srāvika).
The firsttirthankara of the current time cycle wasṚṣabhanātha, and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara wasMahavira, who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE.
Jain texts mention forty-six attributes ofarihants ortirthankaras. These attributes comprise four infinitudes (ananta chatushtaya), thirty-four miraculous happenings (atiśaya), and eight splendours (prātihārya).[6]
The eight splendours (prātihārya) are:[9]
At the time ofnirvana (final release), thearihant sheds off the remaining fouraghati karmas:
These four karmas do not affect the true nature of the soul and are therefore calledaghati karmas.
In the Ṇamōkāra mantra,Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam, Jains worship thearihants first and then thesiddhas, even though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas, butarihants are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage thansiddhas. Sincesiddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they are unlikely to be directly accessible, but may be accessed through the wisdom they passed on. Howeverarihants are accessible for the spiritual guidance of human society until their nirvana. TheDravyasaṃgraha, a majorJain text, states:
Having destroyed the four inimical varieties of karmas (ghātiyā karmas), possessed of infinite faith, happiness, knowledge and power, and housed in [a] most auspicious body (paramaudārika śarīra), that pure soul of the World Teacher (Arihant) should be meditated on.
— Dravyasaṃgraha (50)[10]
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