reflections on the arahant in the nikayas.pdf

Contemporary Buddhism, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2003

Perfect or Perfecting?

Reﬂections on the Arahant in

the Nik¯ yas

Pascale Engelmajer

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to offer a few reﬂections on the status of the Arahant.

The word Arahant , the P¯li-English Dictionary (PED) tells us, ‘comes from

Vedic Sanskrit’, and was used in pre-Buddhist texts as an ‘honoriﬁc title’. It is

the present participle of the verb ‘arhati’ and means ‘deserving’, ‘worthy’. In

the Nik¯yas, it has become a technical term that, in the words of the PED, refers

to ‘one who has attained the Summum Bonum of religious aspiration

(Nibb¯na)’. This seems to punctuate the career of the Arahant in a rather ﬁnal

manner, and one cannot help but wonder: what does the Arahant do once he has

attained the Summum Bonum of religious aspiration? How do the P¯li texts

describe the Arahant as a concept, and as particular individuals? Do these

descriptions match the idea of the Arahant as the ﬁnal point in spiritual

development after which there is no further progress, or do they show another

possibility; namely, as I wish to argue here, that the Arahant continues

developing after attaining Arahantship?

As I just hinted, there are at least two ways of examining the concept of

Arahant in the Nik¯yas. One is to analyse the relevant descriptions and

formulae, and the other is to examine individuals considered to be Arahants. In

this paper, I propose to do both, albeit succinctly and focusing mainly on the

four primary Nik¯yas. Indeed, I intend to limit myself, in the ﬁrst case, to

analysing the four most frequent formulae characterizing the Arahant and, in the

second case, to examining in some detail one individual Arahant, and, more

brieﬂy, the three Arahants described in the C¯l

agosin

•

First formula: 2

Dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, by realizing

it for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life he entered and

dwelt in that unsurpassed goal of the holy life […] 3

•

Second formula: 4

Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has

been done, there is no more coming to any state of being. 5

ISSN 1463-9947 print; 1476-7953 online/03/010033-22 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/1463994032000140176

ga Sutta .

I will use the following three formulae, which are given by the PED 1 as the

most common descriptions of the Arahant, as a starting point:

34 P. Engelmajer

•

Third formula: 6

A bhikkhu who is an Arahant with [ ¯ savas ] destroyed, has lived the

holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached his

own goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated

through ﬁnal knowledge. 7

yojan¯ ) and the

burden ( bh¯ra ), and that he has lived the holy life ( brahmacariya ) and achieved

knowledge ( abhi˜˜¯, a˜˜¯ ).

When these items are examined in detail, it appears that they all include each

other. They describe the same phenomena from different perspectives. One

perspective is that of the problem: birth, the ¯ savas , the fetters, the burden (i.e.,

dukkha ). The other perspective is that of the solution (i.e., the path to the

cessation of dukkha ): knowledge of the path and the path itself. Eliminating the

problem is ﬁnding the solution, and ﬁnding the solution is eliminating the

problem. In other terms, the Arahant has realized the Four Noble Truths taught

by the Buddha. To illustrate this, I will look in more detail at the ¯ savas and

the fetters as examples of what is destroyed and at certain aspects of the Path

achieved by the Arahant.

the fetters ( sam

The ¯ savas

The Arahant is referred to as one who has destroyed the ¯ savas ( kh¯n

¯ sava ).

The term kh¯n

¯ sava is a very frequent epithet of the Arahant ( araham

kh¯n

¯ savo, kh¯n

¯ sav¯ arahanto ), 10 and is even used to refer elliptically to the

¯ savo bhikkhu ). 11 The suttas mention three ¯ savas : 12 sense-desire

( k¯m¯ sava ), becoming ( bhav¯ sava ) and ignorance ( avijj¯ sava ), but a fourth

¯ sava , views ( dit

hi ), is mentioned in the later tradition. 13 The ¯ savas are

deﬁned in the Mah¯ saccaka Sutta ,asthat which ‘deﬁle, bring renewal of being,

give trouble, ripen in suffering and lead to future birth, ageing and death’. 14

They can be understood as a slightly more detailed expression of the

deﬁlements ( kilesas ), greed ( lobha ), hatred ( dosa ) and delusion ( moha ) that

colour and govern our relationship to the world. It is signiﬁcant that the Arahant

does not destroy the deﬁlements themselves but the ¯ savas and, in particular,

that the deﬁlement of greed is expressed in terms of the two ¯ savas of

sense-desire and becoming. This stresses the increasing subtlety of greed: while

The setting is often similar, and the event itself is described in a stylized manner

with each formula referring to a different stage; such that the ﬁrst formula refers

to training, the second to the fruit of that training, while the third describes the

state that is achieved, and serves as a deﬁnition of, and usually precedes a

statement about, the Arahant; for example, it precedes the enumeration of the

nine things that are impossible for an Arahant to do. 8

The Arahant’s attainment, as it is described in the formulae, can be analysed

in terms of what he has destroyed or abandoned, and what he has achieved. If

we look at the formulae, we can see that the Arahant has destroyed or

abandoned four things: birth ( j¯ti ), the ¯ savas , 9

Arahant ( kh¯n

Reﬂections on the Arahant in the Nik ¯ yas 35

sensual desires ( k ¯ macchanda/k ¯m ¯ sava ), and aversion ( by ¯p ¯ da/dosa ) are

abandoned by the never-returner ( an ¯g ¯ min ), only the Arahant abandons the

subtler form of greed comprised by the ¯ sava of becoming ( bhav ¯ sava ). This

emphasis might be seen as a response to the dominant religious milieu, whose

goal was to restrain the senses in order to gain eternal life (i.e., existence/

becoming) through union with a higher reality, but it also reﬂects the insight

that the strongest form of craving is arguably for existence itself.

The texts describes several more or less detailed ways of destroying the

¯ savas : the Noble Eightfold Path, 15 the cultivation of the ﬁve faculties ( in-

driyas ), 16 seeing and knowing the Four Noble Truths, 17 and even modifying

one’s response and attitude to one’s situation and circumstances. 18

The fetters of becoming

I wish to continue the analysis of what the Arahant has destroyed by examining

the ‘fetters of becoming’ ( bhavasam

yojan ¯ ), which are said to be utterly

a ). Although the term ‘fetters of becoming’ does not seem

to be a frequent one in the Nik¯yas, the term ‘fetter’ occurs very frequently, as

do the terms ‘bond of becoming’ ( bhavayoga ) and ‘ ¯ sava of becoming’

( bhav ¯ sava ) mentioned earlier. A common explanation of the bond and the

fetter is desire ( chanda ) and lust ( r ¯ga ). 19 Furthermore, the things that fetter are

the ﬁve khandhas , the psycho-physical aggregates that comprise a person, 20 the

six sense-bases (eye, nose, etc.), and the sense-objects. 21 In essence, the texts

are saying that all of human experience can potentially be things that fetter. It

is made clear, however, that it is not these things that are the fetters, but the

desire and lust they generate in people. S¯riputta, in the Sal

¯ yatanasm

yutta ,

hita that the sense-bases are not the fetter of the sense-

object, nor are the sense-objects the fetter of the sense-bases, but the desire and

lust for them are the fetter. 22 It also seems appropriate to extend these

connotations of fetter to the ten fetters ( sam

yojan ¯ ), which appear to represent

manifestations not only of desire and lust, but also of the ¯ savas themselves, as

the Sabb ¯ sava Sutta makes clear. 23 The ten fetters are also said to be abandoned

through the Noble Eightfold Path, 24 and their progressive abandonment corre-

sponds to progression along the path to Arahantship through the four stages of

stream-entry ( sot ¯ patti ), once-returner ( sakad ¯g ¯m¯ ), never-returner ( an ¯g ¯m¯ )

and Arahant.

In these notions of ¯ savas , fetters, and bonds, the emphasis is clearly on the

relationship one has with the world: it is this relationship that is the source of

dukkha , not the world itself. With the description of the various things the

Arahant has destroyed, the texts stress that it is this relationship of desire and

lust for the world, for the objects of the senses, including mental objects, and

for continued existence, that the Arahant has given up. As already discussed,

this emphasis on the relationship to the world and existence is manifest in the

concept of the ¯ savas as what needs to be destroyed in order for the Arahant

to be freed from the deﬁlements.

destroyed ( parikkh¯n

explains to Mah¯kot

36 P. Engelmajer

The Arahant’s attainments

), he is ‘one

whose highest goal has been reached’ ( anupatta-sadattho ). The second formula

gives a few details on how the goal is reached: the Arahant ‘… by realizing it

for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life entered and dwelt in that

unsurpassed goal of the holy life’, 25 and the third formula notes that he is

‘completely liberated through ﬁnal knowledge’ ( sammad-a ˜ ˜ ¯ vimutto ).

The formulae stress the knowledge of the Arahant by referring to two sorts

of knowledge: the verb abhij ¯n ¯ti occurs in the aorist and precedes the second

formula. The usual sequence includes the ﬁrst formula, followed by ‘he directly

knew’ ( abbha ˜ ˜ ¯si ), and then the second formula, indicating that after he

dwelled alone, withdrawn, and so on, he ‘knew’ that release had been achieved.

In the second formula, the noun abhi ˜ ˜ ¯ , which is a cognate of abhij ¯n ¯ti , occurs

as that through which the goal of the holy life ( brahmacariya-pariyos ¯na ) has

been realized ( sacchikatv ¯ ). In the third formula, the Arahant is liberated

( vimutta ) through direct knowledge ( sammad-a ˜ ˜ ¯ ). Bhikkhu Bodhi translates

abhi ˜ ˜ ¯ and abhij ¯n ¯ti by, respectively, ‘direct knowledge’ and ‘directly

knows’. 26 In both formulae what is ‘directly known’ is what has been achieved:

in the ﬁrst case, the content of the knowledge is the second formula itself, namely

that ‘birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has

been done, and there is no more coming to this state of being’. In the second

case, it is the goal of the holy life that is realized through direct knowledge.

The M ¯ lapariy ¯ya Sutta , 27 in the Majjhima Nik ¯ya , explains how ‘direct

knowledge’ functions: an ‘untaught ordinary person’ ( assutav ¯ puthujjana )is

said to perceive ( sa ˜j ¯n ¯ti ) the four great elements ( mah ¯ bh ¯ta ), beings, gods,

formless attainments, the six senses, unity, diversity, all, and nibb ¯na as such.

Perceiving them as such, he conceives ( ma ˜ ˜ ati )ofhimself as each of them, in

each of them, apart from each of them, each of them to be ‘his’, and he delights

( abhinandati )ineach of them. In contrast, the ‘ bhikkhu in higher training’

( sekha ) directly knows ( abhij ¯n ¯ti ) these, and ‘should not conceive’ ( m ¯ ma ˜ ˜i )

of himself in these ways. Finally, the Arahant directly knows these, and ‘does

not conceive’ ( na ma ˜ ˜ ati )ofhimself in these ways, because he has fully

understood ( pari ˜ ˜ ¯ta ) them. This is introducing the notion of ‘full understand-

ing’ ( pari ˜ ˜ ¯ ) that is often found alongside that of ‘direct knowledge’, in

particular when enumerating the ‘things to be fully understood by direct

knowledge’ ( ye dhamm ¯ abhi ˜ ˜ ¯ pari ˜ ˜ eyy ¯ ). These represent an attempt to

describe more or less exhaustively the elements that comprise reality for any

given person. In addition to the earlier list, the things that are to be fully

understood by direct knowledge are the ﬁve khandhas , 28 the sense-bases, the

sense-faculties, and the sense-objects, as well as contact ( phassa ), feeling

( vedan ¯ ), perception ( sa ˜ ˜ ¯ ), volition ( cetan ¯ ), and craving ( tan

), ‘the holy life is lived’ ( vusitam

brahmacariyam

h ¯ ). 29 Another,

more succinct, explanation of ‘direct knowledge’ is given at S IV 50, which

declares that:

I will now turn to the attainments of the Arahant, which are clearly referred to

in the formulae with expressions such as ‘what had to be done has been done’

( katam

karan

¯yam

Reﬂections on the Arahant in the Nik ¯ yas 37

When a bhikkhu has heard ‘nothing is worth adhering to’, he directly

knows everything. Having directly known everything, he fully under-

stands everything. Having fully understood everything, he sees all signs

differently. 30

This follows a passage in which the Buddha explains that the whole perceptual

process and the ensuing emotional reaction are impermanent ( anicca ), unsatis-

factory ( dukkha ) and not-self ( anatt ¯ ), and that desire for them should be

abandoned. 31 This analysis seems therefore to be applied to everything that is

to be directly known; namely, the entirety of human experience. Directly

knowing is therefore seeing the impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self nature

of every aspect of human experience; namely, dukkha and its origin. From this

direct knowledge, full understanding ensues: in essence, the Buddha is saying

that since nothing in human experience is worth adhering to, everything should

be abandoned.

This further supports the idea that the content of the Arahant’s knowledge is

the four truths. As we have just seen, the Arahant directly knows and fully

understands that every aspect of human experience is dukkha . The origin of

dukkha is craving ( tan

hangika

magga ), to which I will now turn.

The Noble Eightfold Path

yutta , the holy life is deﬁned by ¯ nanda as the Noble

Eightfold Path: ‘this Noble Eightfold Path, friend, is the holy life’. 32 Further-

more, it identiﬁes one who lives the holy life as one who possesses the

Eightfold Noble Path. 33 Another reference to the necessity of fulﬁlling the path

is implicit in the characterization of the Arahant as one who has destroyed the

¯ savas :atSIV256, S¯riputta explains that the way ‘for the abandonment of

these three [ ¯ savas ]isthe Noble Eightfold Path’. 34 However, it should not be

assumed that the path is simply to be completed in the same way that, say, an

academic degree is obtained. The eight limbs of the path are, to a large extent,

qualities that one is endowed with ( samann ¯ gata )aslong as they are practised.

It is simply not possible to be endowed with the path without actually ‘behaving

it’. Thus, the Arahant, as the one who lives the holy life ( brahmac ¯ rin ), is one

who has attained such a stage of development that each and every one of his

actions is a fulﬁlment of the path. The very nature of the Path means that to

possess it is to practise it. In this notion of completion, we must then see the

actualization, rather than the end of the Path. This is vividly illustrated by the

V ¯ set

ha Sutta in the Sutta-nip ¯ta , 35 in which the Buddha stresses that one is a

brahmin not on account of one’s birth, but on account of one’s conduct.

As Steven Collins notes in his introduction to Selﬂess Persons ,inBuddhist

thought the term brahmin is often used to refer to one who truly follows the

h ¯ ), its cessation is attained by abandoning craving, and

the way leading to its cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path ( ariya at

Although the reference to the Noble Eightfold Path is mostly implicit in the

formulae, the reference to the holy life ( brahmacariya )isanobvious parallel.

In the Maggasam

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