Los Arhats – Superando el estado de libertad personal

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En el budismo, un arahant o arhat es aquel que ha alcanzado la comprensión de la verdadera naturaleza de la existencia y ha logrado el Nibbana, liberándose del ciclo interminable de renacimientos.

Una definición cambiante a lo largo de los siglos

Las tradiciones budistas Mahayana han utilizado el término para referirse a personas que han avanzado considerablemente en el camino de la Iluminación, pero que pueden no haber alcanzado la plena Budeidad.

La comprensión del concepto ha evolucionado a lo largo de los siglos y varía entre las diferentes escuelas de budismo y regiones.

Existía una variedad de opiniones sobre la obtención del estado de arhat en las primeras escuelas budistas.

Las enseñanzas budistas Mahayana instan a los seguidores a adoptar el camino del bodhisattva y a no retroceder al nivel de los arhats y śrāvakas.

Los arhats, o al menos los arhats más senior, llegaron a ser ampliamente considerados por los budistas Theravada como «aquellos que trascienden el estado de libertad personal para unirse a la empresa del Bodhisattva a su manera».

El budismo Mahayana considera a un grupo de Dieciocho Arhats (con nombres y personalidades) como aquellos que esperan el regreso del Buda como Maitreya, mientras que otros agrupamientos de 6, 8, 16, 100 y 500 también aparecen en la tradición y el arte budista, especialmente en Asia Oriental, donde se les llama luohan o lohan.

Algunos arhats bien conocidos

Los arhats pueden ser vistos como los equivalentes budistas de los santos cristianos, apóstoles o primeros discípulos y líderes de la fe.

Esta es una lista de algunos arhats bien conocidos entre diferentes escuelas y tradiciones budistas.

Arhat

Santos budistas que representan a los primeros seguidores del Buda, siempre se encuentran en un grupo de dieciséis, a menudo pintados en tela, murales y construidos de metal, piedra y madera. En China, se les llama Lohan y comúnmente se les refiere como un grupo de dieciocho o quinientos.

Maudgalyayana

Maudgalyāyana, también conocido como Mahāmaudgalyāyana, fue uno de los discípulos más cercanos del Buda. Descrito como contemporáneo de discípulos como Subhuti, Śāriputra y Mahākasyapa, se le considera el segundo de los dos principales discípulos masculinos del Buda, junto con Śāriputra. Los relatos tradicionales cuentan que Maudgalyāyana y Śāriputra se convierten en vagabundos espirituales en su juventud. Después de haber buscado la verdad espiritual durante un tiempo, entran en contacto con las enseñanzas budistas a través de versos que se han vuelto ampliamente conocidos en el mundo budista. Eventualmente se encuentran con el propio Buda y son ordenados como monjes bajo su tutela. Maudgalyāyana alcanza la iluminación poco después de eso.

Dieciséis Arhats

Los Dieciséis Arhats son un grupo de Arhats legendarios en el budismo. El agrupamiento de dieciséis Arhats fue llevado a China, y más tarde a Tíbet, desde India. En China, un grupo ampliado de Dieciocho Arhats se volvió mucho más popular, pero la adoración de los dieciséis Arhats continúa hasta el día de hoy en China, Japón y Tíbet. En Japón, los dieciséis Arhats son particularmente populares en el budismo zen, donde son tratados como ejemplos de comportamiento. En Tíbet, los dieciséis Arhats, también conocidos como dieciséis sthaviras (‘ancianos’), son el tema de una práctica litúrgica asociada con el festival del nacimiento del Buda, compuesta por el maestro cachemir Shakyahribhadra (1127-1225). También están bien representados en el arte tibetano.

Rāhula

Rāhula fue el único hijo de Siddhārtha Gautama y de su esposa y princesa Yaśodharā. Se menciona en numerosos textos budistas, desde el período temprano en adelante. Los relatos sobre Rāhula indican un impacto mutuo entre la vida del Príncipe Siddhārtha y las vidas de sus familiares. Según la tradición Pāli, Rāhula nace el día de la renuncia del Príncipe Siddhārtha, y por lo tanto se le llama Rāhula, que significa un grillete en el camino hacia la iluminación. Sin embargo, según la tradición Mūlasarvāstivāda y numerosas otras fuentes posteriores, Rāhula solo es concebido el día de la renuncia del Príncipe Siddhārtha y nace seis años después, cuando el Príncipe Siddhārtha alcanza la iluminación como el Buda. Este largo período de gestación se explica por el mal karma de vidas anteriores tanto de Yaśodharā como de Rāhula mismo, aunque también se dan razones más naturalistas. Como resultado del nacimiento tardío, Yaśodharā necesita demostrar que Rāhula es realmente el hijo del Príncipe Siddhārtha, lo cual finalmente logra exitosamente mediante un acto de verdad. El historiador Wolfgang Schumann ha argumentado que el Príncipe Siddhārtha concibió a Rāhula y esperó su nacimiento para poder dejar el palacio con el permiso del rey y la reina, pero el orientalista Noël Péri consideró más probable que Rāhula naciera después de que el Príncipe Siddhārtha abandonara su palacio.

Mahapajapati Gotami

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the foster-mother, step-mother and maternal aunt of the Buddha. In Buddhist tradition, she was the first woman to seek ordination for women, which she did from Gautama Buddha directly, and she became the first bhikkhuni.

Nagasena

Nāgasena fue un sabio budista sarvastivadano que vivió alrededor del 150 a.C. Sus respuestas a las preguntas sobre el budismo planteadas por Menandro I, el rey indogriego del noroeste de India, están registradas en el Milinda Pañha y el Nāgasenabhiksusūtra en sánscrito. Según los relatos en pali, nació en una familia brahmánica en el Himalaya y dominaba los Vedas desde una edad temprana. Sin embargo, más tarde se convirtió al budismo.

Subhūti

Subhūti fue uno de los Diez Grandes Śrāvakas del Buda Gautama y el primero en dar regalos. En prakrit y pāli, su nombre significa literalmente «Buena Existencia». A veces también se le conoce como «Elder Subhūti». Fue contemporáneo de famosos arahants como Śāriputra, Mahākāśyapa, Maudgalyayana, Mahākātyāyana y Ānanda.

Sundari Nanda (half-sister of Buddha)

Princess Sundarī Nandā of Shakya, also known simply a Sundarī, was the daughter of King Suddhodana and Mahaprajapati.She was the half-sister of Siddhartha Gautama, who later became a Buddha. She became a nun after the enlightenment of her half-brother and became an arhat. She was the foremost among bhikkhunis in the practice of jhana. She lived during the 6th century BCE in what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India.

Khema

Khema was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the first of the Buddha’s two chief female disciples, along with Uppalavanna. Khema was born into the royal family of the ancient Kingdom of Madra, and was the wife of King Bimbisara of the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha. Khema was convinced to visit the Buddha by her husband, who hired poets to sing about the beauty of the monastery he was staying at to her. She attained enlightenment as a laywoman while listening to one of the Buddha’s sermons, considered a rare feat in Buddhist texts. Following her attainment, Khema entered the monastic life under the Buddha as a bhikkhuni. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha declared her his female disciple foremost in wisdom. Her male counterpart was Sariputta.

Śrāvakayāna

Śrāvakayāna is one of the three yānas known to Indian Buddhism. It translates literally as the «vehicle of listeners [i.e. disciples]». Historically it was the most common term used by Mahāyāna Buddhist texts to describe one hypothetical path to enlightenment. Śrāvakayāna is the path that meets the goals of an Arhat—an individual who achieves liberation as a result of listening to the teachings of a Samyaksaṃbuddha. A Buddha who achieved enlightenment through Śrāvakayāna is called a Śrāvakabuddha, as distinguished from a Samyaksaṃbuddha or Pratyekabuddha.

Ānanda

Ānanda was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha’s many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist Sutta-Piṭaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha’s teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that reason, he is known as the Treasurer of the Dhamma, with Dhamma referring to the Buddha’s teaching. In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha. Although the early texts do not agree on many parts of Ānanda’s early life, they do agree that Ānanda was ordained as a monk and that Puṇṇa Mantāniputta became his teacher. Twenty years in the Buddha’s ministry, Ānanda became the attendant of the Buddha, when the Buddha selected him for this task. Ānanda performed his duties with great devotion and care, and acted as an intermediary between the Buddha and the laypeople, as well as the saṅgha. He accompanied the Buddha for the rest of his life, acting not only as an assistant, but also a secretary and a mouthpiece.

Nanda (half-brother of Buddha)

Prince Nanda Shakya, also known as Sundarananda Shakya, was the younger half-brother of Gautama Buddha. He shared the same father as Buddha, King Śuddhodana, and his mother, Mahapajapati Gotami, was the Buddha’s mother’s younger sister. Nanda also had a own sister named Sundari Nanda.

Uppalavanna

Uppalavanna was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, or nun, who was considered one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha’s two chief female disciples, along with Khema. She was given the name Uppalavanna, meaning «color of a blue water lily», at birth due to the bluish color of her skin.

Yaśodharā

Yaśodharā was the wife of Prince Siddhartha — until he left his home to become a śramaṇa— the mother of Rāhula, and the sister of Devadatta.

She later became a Buddhist Nun and is considered an arahatā. (or Lady Arhat).

Patacara

Paṭacārā or Patachara was a notable female figure in Buddhism, described in the Pali Canon. Among the female disciples of Gautama Buddha, she was the foremost exponent of the Vinaya, the rules of monastic discipline. She lived during the 6th century BCE in what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. The story of childbirth and loss below has been attributed to Patacara in some Buddhist texts and in others has been attributed to another woman, Kisa Gotami

Puṇṇa Mantānīputta

Pūrṇa Maitrāyanīputra, also simply known as Pūrṇa, was an arhat and one of the ten principal disciples of Gautama Buddha, foremost in preaching the dharma.

Moggaliputta-Tissa

Moggaliputtatissa, was a Buddhist monk and scholar who was born in Pataliputra, Magadha and lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is associated with the Third Buddhist council, the emperor Ashoka and the Buddhist missionary activities which took place during his reign.

Śāriputra

Śāriputra was one of the top disciples of the Buddha. He is considered the first of the Buddha’s two chief male disciples, together with Maudgalyāyana. Śāriputra had a key leadership role in the ministry of the Buddha and is considered in many Buddhist schools to have been important in the development of the Buddhist Abhidharma. He frequently appears in Mahayana sutras, and in some sutras, is used as a counterpoint to represent the Hinayana school of Buddhism.

Pindola Bharadvaja

Pindola Bharadvaja es un Arhat en el budismo. Según los primeros sutras budistas indios, Pindola Bharadvaja fue uno de los cuatro Arhats a quienes el Buda pidió que permanecieran en el mundo para propagar la ley budista (Dharma). Cada uno de los cuatro estaba asociado con una de las cuatro direcciones del compás.

Sīvali

Sīvali is an arhat widely venerated among Theravada Buddhists. He is the patron saint of travel and is believed to ward off misfortunes at home such as fire or theft. His veneration predates the introduction of Theravada Buddhism into Burma.

Mahākāśyapa

Mahā Kāśyapa or Mahākāśyapa was one of the principal disciples of Gautama Buddha. He is regarded in Buddhism as an enlightened disciple, being foremost in ascetic practice. Mahākāśyapa assumed leadership of the monastic community following the paranirvāṇa (death) of the Buddha, presiding over the First Buddhist Council. He was considered to be the first patriarch in a number of early Buddhist schools and continued to have an important role as patriarch in the Chan and Zen traditions. In Buddhist texts, he assumed many identities, that of a renunciant saint, a lawgiver, an anti-establishment figure, but also a «guarantor of future justice» in the time of Maitreya, the future Buddha—he has been described as «both the anchorite and the friend of mankind, even of the outcast».

Kisa Gotami

Kisa Gotami was the wife of a wealthy man of Savatthi. Her story is one of the most famous ones in Buddhism. After losing her only child, Kisa Gotami became desperate and asked if anyone could help her. Her sorrow was so great that many thought she had lost her mind. An old man told her to see the Buddha. The Buddha told her that he could bring the child back to life if she could find white mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. She desperately went from house to house, but to her disappointment, she could not find a house that had not suffered the death of a family member. Finally the realization struck her that there is no house free from mortality. She returned to the Buddha, who comforted her and preached to her the truth. She was awakened and entered the first stage of enlightenment. Eventually, she became an Arahat.

Kaundinya

Kaundinya, also known as Ājñātakauṇḍinya, Pali: Añña Koṇḍañña),who was one of the first five Buddhist monks (Pancavaggiya), follower of Gautama Buddha and the first to become an arhat. He lived during the 6th century BCE in what are now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India. According to traditional accounts, at the time of Gautama Buddha’s birth, he predicted his future destination as an enlightened teacher.

Katyayana (Buddhist)

Kātyāyana or Mahākātyāyana was a disciple of Gautama Buddha. He is listed as one of the ten principal disciples and was foremost in expanding on and explaining brief statements of the Buddha.

Dieciocho Arhats

Los Dieciocho Arhats son representados en el budismo Mahayana como los seguidores originales de Gautama Buda que han seguido el Noble Óctuple Sendero y han alcanzado las cuatro etapas de la iluminación. Han llegado al estado de Nirvana y están libres de anhelos mundanos. Se les encarga proteger la fe budista y esperar en la tierra la llegada de Maitreya, un Buda iluminado profetizado para llegar a la tierra muchos milenios después de la muerte de Gautama Buda (parinirvana). En China, los dieciocho arhats también son un tema popular en el arte budista, como el famoso grupo chino de cerámica vidriada luohans de Yixian de alrededor del año 1000 d.C.

Dabba Mallaputta

Dabba Mallaputta was a disciple of Gautama Buddha, distinguished by his youth and his service to the Sangha. At the age of seven he became an arahant and was accepted into the early Buddhist community as a monk. He died at an early age after demonstrating a variety of supernatural abilities.

Upāli

Upāli was a monk, one of the ten chief disciples of the Buddha and, according to early Buddhist texts, the person in charge of the reciting and reviewing of monastic discipline on the First Buddhist Council. Upāli was born a low-caste barber. He met the Buddha when still a child, and later, when the Sakya princes received ordination, he did so as well. He was ordained before the princes, putting humility before caste. Having been ordained, Upāli learnt both Buddhist doctrine and vinaya. His preceptor was Kappitaka. Upāli became known for his mastery and strictness of vinaya and was consulted often about vinaya matters. A notable case he decided was that of the monk Ajjuka, who was accused of partisanship in a conflict about real estate. During the First Council, Upāli received the important role of reciting the vinaya, for which he is mostly known.

Bhadda Kundalakesa

Bhadda Kundalakesa was a former Jain ascetic who was converted to Buddhism by Sariputra, one of the two chief disciples of Gautama Buddha.

She attained arahantship faster than any other nun and lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India.

Bhadda Kapilani

Bhadda Kapilani was a Buddhist bhikkhuni and a leading disciple of Gautama Buddha. She came of a Brahman family of the Kosiya clan at Sagala, modern day Sialkot in Punjab, Pakistan. Among the bhikkhunis she was regarded as the foremost in analysing the previous reincarnations of beings and their previous karma, as described in the Jataka of the Pali Canon. Before they both entered the sangha, she was the wife of Mahakassapa, the arahant who led the sangha after the paranibbana of the Buddha and his two chief disciples Sariputta and Mahamoggallana.

Anuruddha

Anuruddha was one of the ten principal disciples and a cousin of Gautama Buddha.

Anuruddha is depicted in the Pali Canon as an affectionate and loyal bhikkhu, and stood near the Buddha in assembly.

At one point, when the Buddha was disappointed with the arguments of the monks at Kosambi, he retreated to Pacinavamsadaya to stay with Anuruddha.

In many texts, even when many distinguished monks were present, Anuruddha is often the recipient of the Buddha’s questions, and answers on behalf of the sangha.

Suddhipanthaka

Suddhipanthaka was a disciple of the Buddha. He was known for being the most dim-witted of the Buddha’s disciples, unable to understand the Buddha’s teachings, and almost completely forgetting everything the Buddha said.

Sunita

Sunīta was a highly accomplished disciple of the Buddha. He was born in a family of untouchables whose job was of sweeping around the temple area. According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s translation of the Theragāthā account, Sunīta laments:»People found me disgusting, despised me, disparaged me. Lowering my heart, I showed reverence to many.»

Yasa

Yasa was a bhikkhu during the time of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth bhikkhu in the Buddha’s sangha and was the sixth to achieve arahanthood. Yasa lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India.

Amrapali

Āmrapālī, also known as «Ambapālika», «Ambapali», or «Amra» was a celebrated nagarvadhu of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha’s teachings, she became an arahant. She is mentioned in the old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions, particularly in conjunction with the Buddha staying at her mango grove, Ambapali vana, which she later donated to his order and wherein he preached the famous Ambapalika Sutra. The legend of Amrapali originated in the Buddhist Jataka Tales some 1500 years ago.

Maliyadeva

Maliyadeva was a monk who is said to have lived in Sri Lanka during the 2nd century BCE and to have attained nirvana.

Shin Upagutta

Shin Upagutta is an arahant commonly venerated by Buddhists in Myanmar. He is believed to protect worshipers from danger, including floods and storms. He is also venerated in Northern Thailand and Laos, where he is known as Upakhut.

Maha Kapphina

Mahākapphina (Pali) or Mahākapphiṇa (Sanskrit), also called Mahā Kapphina Thera, was an eminent Arhat from Uttarapatha and is considered foremost among those who taught the monks. Mahākapphina was his monastic name. He became disciple of the Buddha and is one of the five hundred Arhats who will be reborn and attain Buddhahood, according to Mahāyāna tradition. References to Kapphina can be found in the Jātakas, Buddhaghoṣa’s Manorathapūranī, the Dhammapada Aṭṭhakathā, the Visuddhimagga, the Sāratthappakāsinī, the Saṃyutta Nikāya, the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Theragāthā, etc.; as well as in the Sanskrit Avadānaśatika.

Gavampati (Buddha’s disciple)

Gavāṃpati is a disciple of the Buddha, one of the first ten to be ordained and to have known the state of Arhat. In Southeastern Buddhism, Gavāṃpati has become a preeminent character. In Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and the Shan states, the Mon cult of Gavampati has survived.

Companion statues: Kashyapa and Ananda

The Companion Statues on display at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) flank a three-metre tall Buddha located in the Southeast Asia Gallery on the first floor at the very back in the centre of the gallery.

The sculptures are from the Tang Dynasty period (618-906), probably the 8th century, and appear to come from Shanxi Province, China. They represent two luohans, or disciples of the Buddha. The younger luohan has been at the museum since 1922 and the older was purchased in 1990.

Curators have concluded that the two luohans are an original pair, but not a set with the Buddha figure.

Channa (Buddhist)

Channa – The Divine Charioteer was a royal servant and head charioteer of Prince Siddhartha, who was to become the Buddha. Channa later became a disciple of the Buddha and achieved arahantship, as is described in the 78th verse of the Dhammapada.

Assaji

Assaji was one of the first five arahants of Gautama Buddha. He is known for his conversion of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana, the Buddha’s two chief male disciples, counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, the chief female disciples. He lived in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India, during the 6th century BCE.

Aṅgulimāla

Aṅgulimāla is an important figure in Buddhism, particularly within the Theravāda tradition. Depicted as a ruthless brigand who completely transforms after a conversion to Buddhism, he is seen as the example par excellence of the redemptive power of the Buddha’s teaching and the Buddha’s skill as a teacher. Aṅgulimāla is seen by Buddhists as the «patron saint» of childbirth and is associated with fertility in South and Southeast Asia.

Aṅgaja

Aṅgaja is one of the Sixteen Arhats or Rakan of Buddhism, saintly men who were predecessors or disciples of the Buddha. Other such arhats are Binzuru sonja, Ragora sonja, Chudahandaka sonja etc…

Aṅgaja is part of the Buddhist Pantheon of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. He also appears, with other Rakan except for Binzuru sonja, in the Temples and Monasteries of Zen Buddhism, where they are shown as models to be emulated.

Zhenren

Zhenren is a Chinese term that first appeared in the Zhuangzi meaning «Daoist spiritual master», roughly translatable as «Perfected Person». Religious Daoism mythologized zhenren to rank above xian «transcendent; immortal» in the celestial hierarchy, while Chinese Buddhism used it to translate arhat «enlightened one».