Arihant in Jainism

Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 is a siddha

Siddha

A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...

 who has not yet died and thereby lost all aghatiya karma. The Ṇamōkāra mantra begins, Ṇamō arihantāṇaṁ "I praise the arihants".

Arihant is not a synonym for tirthankara, which refers specifically to certain arihants who have certain karmas that enable them to become teachers.

Beliefs

Jains believe that the arihant has defeated anger

Anger

Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....

, ego, deception

Deception

Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, bad faith, and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth . Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand. It can employ distraction, camouflage or concealment...

, and greed

Greed

Greed is an excessive desire to possess wealth, goods, or abstract things of value with the intention to keep it for one's self. Greed is inappropriate expectation...

. When that happens, the person has destroyed the four ghati karmas, namely Jnanavarniya (knowledge blocking) Karma, Darshanavarniya (perception blocking) Karma, Mohniya (passion causing) Karma and Antaraya "obstacle-causing" karma. Thus the arihant obtains:

1. Kevaljnan, perfect knowledge due to the destruction of all Jnanavarniya Karmas,
2. Kevaldarshan, perfect perception due to the destruction of all Darshanavarniya Karmas,
3. becomes passionless due to the destruction of all Mohniya Karmas,
4. gains infinite power due to the destruction of all Antaraya Karmas.

Complete knowledge and perception means they know and see everything everywhere that is happening now, that has happened in the past, and that will happen in the future.

Tirthankaras are special arihants because they revitalize the sangha

Sangha (Jainism)

In Jainism, Sangha can mean the assembly of monks, nuns, lay men and women of a region. It can also mean an order of monks and nuns, along with its branches...

, the four-fold order consisting of male saints (sādhu

Sadhu

In Hinduism, sādhu denotes an ascetic, wandering monk. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa , the fourth and final aśrama , through meditation and contemplation of brahman...

s), female saints (sādhvis), male householders (Śrāvaka

Sravaka

Shravaka or Śrāvaka or Sāvaka means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple".This term is used by both Buddhists and Jains. In Jainism, a shravaka is any lay Jain...

s) and female householders (Śrāvikas)..

Jains believe that during every half-cycle, twenty-four persons rise to the level of Tirthankara. The first Tirthankara of the current time cycle was R̥ṣabhadēva

Rishabha (Jain tirthankar)

In Jainism, R̥ṣabha or Ādinātha , also known as the "Lord of Kesariya") was the first of the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras. According to Jain beliefs, R̥ṣabha founded the Ikshvaku dynasty and was the first Tīrthaṅkara of the present age...

, and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was Mahavira

Mahavira

Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...

, who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE.

An arihant is also called a jina "conqueror". At the time of nirvana

Nirvana

Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...

, the arihant sheds off the remaining four aghati karmas:

1. Nam (physical structure forming) Karma
2. Gotra
   Gotra
   In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...
   
    (status forming) Karma,
3. Vedniya (pain and pleasure causing) Karma,
4. Ayushya (life span determining) Karma.

These four karmas do not affect the true nature of the soul and are therefore they are called aghati karmas. After attaining salvation, these arihants are called siddha

Siddha

A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...

s.

In the Ṇamōkāra mantra, Jains pray to the arihants first and then to the siddhas even though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas and are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage than arihants. Since siddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they are inaccessible, but arihants are still human beings and can offer spiritual guidance.

See also

• Tirthankara
• Kevala Jnana
  Kevala Jnana
  In Jainism, ' or ' , "Perfect or Absolute Knowledge", is the highest form of knowledge that a soul can attain. A person who has attained is called a Kevalin, which is synonymous with Jina "victor" and Arihant "the worthy one"...
  
  
• Nirvana in Jainism
  Nirvana (Jainism)
  ' in Jainism means final release from the karmic bondage. When an enlightened human, such as an Arihant or a Tirthankara extinguishes his remaining aghatiya karmas and thus ends his worldly existence, it is called . Technically, the death of an Arihant is called of the arihant, as he has ended...
  
  
• Siddha
  Siddha
  A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...
  
  
• Jainism and non-creationism
  Jainism and non-creationism
  Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents - soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion have always existed . All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws...