Arhat

Translations of Arhat
Pali	arahant
Sanskrit	अर्हत्
Bengali	অর্হৎ ôrhôt
Burmese	ရဟန္တာ (IPA: [jəhàɴdà])
Chinese	阿羅漢, 羅漢 (Pinyin: āluóhàn, luóhàn)
Japanese	阿羅漢, 羅漢 (rōmaji: arakan, rakan)
Korean	아라한, 나한 (RR: arahan, nahan)
Sinhala	අරහත්, (Arahat, Rahat)
Tibetan	dgra bcom pa
Thai	(rtgs: arahan)
Vietnamese	a-la-hán
Glossary of Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism defines arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) as "one who is worthy" or as a "perfected person" having attained nirvana. Other Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood.

The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions. A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda, and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas.

Mahayana Buddhist teachings urge followers to take up the path of a bodhisattva, and to not fall back to the level of arhats and śrāvakas. The arhats, or at least the senior arhats, came to be widely regarded as "moving beyond the state of personal freedom to join the Bodhisattva enterprise in their own way".

Mahayana Buddhism regarded a group of Eighteen Arhats (with names and personalities) as awaiting the return of the Buddha as Maitreya, and other groupings of 6, 8, 16, 100, and 500 also appear in tradition and Buddhist art, especially in East Asia. They can be seen as the Buddhist equivalents of the Christian saints, apostles or early disciples and leaders of the faith.

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Wikipedia