arhat, in Buddhism, a perfected person, one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana (spiritual enlightenment). The arhat, having freed himself from the bonds of desire, will not be reborn.
The state of an arhat is considered in the Theravada tradition to be the proper goal of a Buddhist. Four stages of attainment are described in Pali texts: (1) the state of the “stream-enterer”—i.e., a convert (sotapanna)—achieved by overcoming false beliefs and doubts regarding the Buddha, the teaching (dhamma), and the order (sangha), (2) the “once-returner” (sakadagamin), who will be reborn only once in this realm, a state attained by diminishing lust, hatred, and illusion, (3) the “nonreturner” (anagamin), who, after death, will be reborn in a higher heaven, where he will become an arhat, a state attained by overcoming sensuous desire and ill will, in addition to the attainments of the first two stages, and (4) the arhat. Except under extraordinary circumstances, a man or woman can become an arhat only while a monk or nun.
Mahayana Buddhists criticize the arhat ideal on the grounds that the bodhisattva is a higher goal of perfection, for the bodhisattva vows to become a buddha in order to work for the good of others. This divergence of opinion continues to be one of the fundamental differences between the Theravada and Mahayana traditions.
In China, as well as in Korea, Japan, and Tibet, arhats (Chinese lohan, Japanese rakan) were often depicted on the walls of temples in groups of 16 (later enlarged to 18, or even 500). They represent 16 close disciples of the Buddha who were entrusted by him to remain in the world and not to enter nirvana until the coming of the next buddha, in order to provide people with objects of worship.