Arhat

“ They in whom evil desire is entirely destroyed are called Arhats. Freedom from evil desire insures the possession of a miraculous power. At his death, the Arhat is never reincarnated; he invariably attains nirvana—a word, by the by, falsely interpreted by the Christian scholar and skeptical commentators. Nirvana is the world of cause, in which all deceptive effects or delusions of our senses disappear. Nirvana is the highest attainable sphere. ”

“ The Buddhist remarks on the personality and life of Nâtaputta are still more remarkable. They say repeatedly that he laid claim to the dignity of an Arhat and to omniscience which the Jainas also claim for their prophet, whom they prefer simply to call 'the Arhat' and who possesses the universe-embracing 'Kevala' knowledge. ”

“ The Buddhists call such men Arhat. An Arhat is next to a Buddha, and none is equal to him either in infused science, or miraculous powers. Certain fakirs demonstrate the theory well in practice, as Jacolliot has proved.
Even the so-called fabulous narratives of certain Buddhistical books, when stripped of their allegorical meaning, are found to be the secret doctrines taught by Pythagoras. In the Pali Books called the Jutakâs, are given the 550 incarnations or metempsychoses of Buddha. ”

“ Although, theoretically, a layman and even beings existing in other spheres, might enter the stream leading to Arhatship (see p. 90) without becoming monks, yet it is evident that as a rule it was only likely to be entered by persons who renounced the world and led a celibate monastic life.
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But of Arhats there are three grades:—
First, the simple Arhat (described above) , who has attained perfection through his own efforts and the doctrine and example of a supreme Buddha, but is not himself such a Buddha, and cannot teach others how to attain Arhatship, though he associates with others. ”

“ An Arhat, among the Brâhmaṇs, is a man distinguished for his knowledge and pious life (comp. for example Âpastamba, Dharmasûtra. I, 13, 13; II, 10, I.) and this idea is so near that of the Buddhists and the Jainas that it may well be looked upon as the foundation of the latter. The meaning of Tîrthakara "prophet, founder of religion", is derived from the Brâhmanic use of tîrtha in the sense of "doctrine". Comp. also H. Jacobi's Article on the Title of Buddha and Jina, Sac. ”

“ On hearing from the Lord the announcement of their own future destiny, the five hundred Arhats, contented, satisfied, in high spirits and ecstasy, filled with cheerfulness, joy, and delight, went up to the place where the Lord was sitting, reverentially saluted with their heads his feet, and spoke thus: We confess our fault, O Lord, in having continually and constantly persuaded ourselves that we had arrived at final Nirvâna, as (persons who are) dull, inept, ignorant of the rules. ”

“ Nothing is known of the work cited except that it was translated in 654 by Hsüan Chuang, who, according to Watters, used an earlier translation. As the Arhats are Indian personalities, and their spheres are mapped out from the point of view of Indian geography, there can be no doubt that we have to do with an Indian idea, imported into Tibet as well as into China where it became far more popular than it had ever been in India. ”

“ Too soon has the Happy One departed. Too soon is the World’s Light darkened.”
But the great Arhats bore their sorrow calm and self-possessed, saying:
“Transient are all earth’s things. How is it possible they should not be dissolved?”
And all that night did the great Sariputta and Anuruddha spend in high discourse but Ananda wept nor could be comforted.
And in the morning the great Anuruddha addressed the sorrowing Assembly.
“Enough, my brethren. Weep not nor lament. Has not the Blessed One declared to us that it is in the very nature of things near and dear to us that we and they must part? ”

“ The days and hours of the holidays passed all too quickly for our lads. Aram was eager to see everything, and Archag took pleasure in showing his favorite haunts to his friend. About a week after their arrival they made a trip to Akhtamar, an island in Lake Van, where there is a celebrated monastery, formerly the residence of three Gregorian patriarchs. When the Catholicos of Echmiadzin became Primate of the Church, the office of his two associates was abolished, but the convent still continues to be a famous object of pilgrimage ”

“ Sayyid Makhdûm Ala-ud-dîn, the fighting apostle of Nasîr-ud-dîn, the “lamp of Delhi,” undertook to drive out the infidels, and to carry the faith and arms of Islâm a stage further to the south. The promise of a royal revenue-free grant made the prospect of success as tempting to the soldier as was the expulsion of the infidel to the saint. How long or how fiercely the Arakhs resisted we know not. Only the issue of the contest has been remembered. To this day the Arakhs of Atraula, on the Râpti, 120 miles away to the east in Gonda, recall their lost domains in Sandîla. ”

“ Arafat is about six hours� very slow march, or twelve miles, [FN#14] on the Taif road, due east of Meccah. We arrived there in a shorter time, but our weary camels, during the last third of the way, frequently threw themselves upon the ground. Human beings suffered more. Between Muna and Arafat I saw no fewer than five men fall down and die upon the highway: exhausted and moribund, they had dragged themselves out to give up the ghost where it departs to instant beatitude. ”

“ Thou art wedded to a murderess, and Neit-akrit cannot sit upon the throne of Kamt. For thoughts of thee she will not wed another; sorrowing she will turn to the gods for comfort, and seek refuge against a guilty love in the vows of a priestess of Ra. Nay!... What canst thou do?... thou art mighty!... but it will only be when all the gods of Kamt are dethroned, and all their temples desecrated, that thou canst break the bonds which bind thee to Maat-kha, or place in Neit-akrit’s hand the sceptre of a queen.”
The high priest paused again, and once more his keen eyes searched those of Hugh. ”

“ That I should take thy hand, at the foot of the throne of Isis, before all my people assembled there, seemed to me a joy so great that death would be easier to bear than the agony of so wild a happiness. But Ur-tasen waited, and I turned my head, and thou, Neit-akrit, wert standing by my side. Thy head, with its ruddy tresses, was hidden beneath the diadem which belongs to the rulers of Kamt, and from it down to thy tiny feet thou wast covered with a golden veil, through which I, in my dream, could see gleaming visions of thy blue eyes, which made me swoon with delight. ”

“ So play me not false, lest God do the like with thee: for indeed He is a jealous God, who delayeth to punish, yet letteth not the evil-doer escape. And I say to thee, as said the physician Douban to King Younan, “Spare me, so God may spare thee!”’ The Afrit laughed and started off inland, saying to the fisherman, ‘Follow me.’ So he followed him, trembling and not believing that he should escape, and the Afrit led him to the backward of the town: then crossing a hill, descended into a spacious plain, in the midst of which was a lake of water surrounded by four little hills. ”

“ To appease the anger of the indignant monarch, Abrahah caused two sacks to be filled with earth collected from the mountains and vales of Hamyar, he suffered himself also to be bled, and filled a small bottle with his blood; to these he added some locks of hair which he had cut from his head. "O king," he said in his letter to the nadjash, "I and Aryat were both thy servants. He merited his death by his tyranny and injustice. Empty the earth out of the sacks and tread it beneath thy feet; it is the land of Hamyar ”

“ I have heard of you and your coming and when I knew of your case, I desired to depart from the land of the magicians to another land, void of inhabitants, and far from men and Jinn, that I might dwell there alone and serve God till my end came upon me. Wherefore I wish to company with you and be your guide, till ye win forth of the Wac Islands. I will appear only at night: so comfort your hearts on my account; for I am a Muslim, even as ye are Muslims.’
When Hassan heard the Afrit’s words, he was mightily rejoiced and made sure of deliverance; and he said to him, ‘God amply requite thee! ”

“ Then she frowned and would not smile, refused to look on him again, vowed a more devoted artisan would in future receive her commands. And he, poor weak fool, swore an oath that he would do her bidding. After that she smiled again and Amen-het went to Men-ne-fer, and at dead of night his sacrilegious foot trod the inner sanctuary of Ra, the all-creating god, in order to find a graceful design for a lamp for the bathroom of Princess Neit-akrit. ”

“ Delighting the mind with its fragrance pure:
So, lit by the wisdom of those who know,
'mid those who on the dung-hill grow [4]
A disciple shines out in the darkened world.
[1] "Disciple," sekho, one who has entered the Path, but has not become Arahat, who is asekho, Master.
[2] Tagara, an aromatic shrub.
[3] An Arahat at death leaves no skandhas or basis for another birth. Death, Māra, is pictured as hunting for a man's "rebirth consciousness". Cf. The Book of the Kindred Sayings p. 152 (Pali Text Translation Series) . ”

“ I am guilty of murder," she continued more excitedly than ever, "I have nothing to say! I slew Sem-no-tha, the slave of Neit-akrit!—Her property!—Not mine!—I am only his mother—and am too old, too weary to smile! Beloved of the gods, they did not tell thee all my sins; they did not tell thee that when I saw Sem-no-tha lying dead at my feet, and Neit-akrit kneeling by his side, while a tear of pity for her handsome slave fell upon his white and rigid form, that with the knife still warm with his blood, I tried to mar for ever the beauty of her face. ”

“ The fourth stage of perfection, that of Arahat, is the highest a being can ever obtain. The fortunate Arahat is gifted with supernatural powers. At the end of 20,000 kaps he is perfected, and reaches the state of deliverance. Those four states are often called the four great roads leading to deliverance or to Neibban. It may be asked whether the state of Thautapan is the first step reached by every one that adheres to Buddha's doctrines or whether it is the one that requires a certain progress in the way of believing and practising? ”

“ Go up the steps, Neit-akrit, which lead to the ponderous gong, take the mighty clapper in both thy hands, and I tell thee that before metal touches metal thou and thy soul will have fled to a land whence thou canst not return to thwart the will of the high priest of Ra, and a memory of something young and beautiful, the remembrance of a lock of golden hair, will be all that will remain in the land of Neit-akrit, Princess of Kamt. ”

“ Queen Maat-kha shrugged her shoulders and laughed a low, derisive laugh.
“ ’Twere better thou didst go back to thy sick-bed, oh, mighty Pharaoh! and didst take some of the soothing potions thy medicine men do order thee. Thy mind doth indeed begin to wander. Love! and Neit-akrit!... was there ever a more impossible union? Why, ’twere easier to credit the jackals of the wilderness with pity for the corpses they devour than Neit-akrit with human love!” ”

“ Once he took my hand feverishly in both his own and asked with eagerness:
"Dost think she knows that the stranger hath no love for her?"
I tried to soothe him, but he persisted:
"If she only knew how he loves Neit-akrit!"
"Thou dost him wrong, oh, mighty Pharaoh!" I retorted. "The beloved of the gods will plight his troth to Queen Maat-kha. And he never breaks his word."
The invalid laughed his nasty, sarcastic laugh, and muttered several times to himself:
"If she only knew how he loves Neit-akrit ... she would suffer ... ay! and I think I would make him suffer, too." ”

“ He found an intelligent man, a Syrian, named Mar-Abas-Katina, and sent him to his brother, Arshak the Great, with this letter:—
“To Arshak, the king of the earth and the sea, whose form and person are like unto the gods and whose triumphs are above those of all kings; the greatness of whose mind can fathom all things of earth, Wargharshak, thy youngest brother and comrade in arms, appointed by thee King of Armenia, greeting. Victory ever attend thee. ”

“ He made us all happy, and we waited all these days, then repaid him with treachery."
"Neit-akrit! ..." protested the high priest.
"Nay! do not speak! I must have my say. I will not hear it again, that thou dost these evil things for me. I did not see Maat-kha's hand raised against her son: when I came into the temple, alone and unattended save by Sen-tur, the Pharaoh was lying livid upon the ground, and his mother had begun to feel the first pangs of remorse. This I swear by Isis herself, and thou knowest, Ur-tasen, that I never lie. ”

“ However if he removes it in order to enter the bath where he will stay long, it is preferable to say the berakhah as the Arizal did. This is what I brought up in my holy book Mekabtzi`el. But if he changes his clothes and dons a different tallit katan, even if he dons it immediately after removing the first one, he should say the berakhah on the new one, an this too is the rule with a tallit gadol if he removes the one that is on him and dons a different tallit gadol, he should say the berakhah on the second one. ”

“ The time of Aszer (or about three o'clock, P.M.) approached, when that ceremony of the Hadj takes place, for which the whole assembly had come hither. The pilgrims now pressed forward towards the mountain of Arafat, and covered its sides from top to bottom. At the precise time of Aszer, the preacher took his stand upon the platform on the mountain, and began to address the multitude. ”