Arahants
Arahanta Sutta (SN 22:76)
Near Sāvatthī. There the Blessed One addressed the monks, “Monks, form is inconstant. Whatever is inconstant is stressful. Whatever is stressful is not-self. That is to be seen with right discernment as it has come to be: ‘This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.’
“Feeling is inconstant…
“Perception is inconstant…
“Fabrications are inconstant…
“Consciousness is inconstant. Whatever is inconstant is stressful. Whatever is stressful is not-self. That is to be seen with right discernment as it has come to be: ‘This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.’
“Seeing thus, the instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is released. With release, there is the knowledge, ‘Released.’ He discerns that ‘Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.’
“Monks, to whatever extent there are abodes of beings,1 to whatever extent there is the height of becoming, arahants are supreme, arahants are the best in the world.”
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:
“How happy are the arahants!
Craving isn’t found in them.
Cut off is the conceit, ‘I am’;
burst, the net of delusion.
Having reached imperturbability,
their minds are clear & disturbance-free.
Unsullied in the world,
Brahmā–become, effluent-free,
comprehending the five aggregates,
ranging in seven true dhammas,2
praiseworthy men of integrity:
They are the Buddha’s children, his sons.
Consummate in the seven treasures,3
trained in the threefold training,4
these great heroes go wandering
having left fear & terror behind.
Consummate in ten factors,5
great nāgas,6 concentrated,
they are the best in the world:
Craving isn’t found in them.
The adept’s knowledge
has arisen in them:
‘This is the last body.’
As for the essence of the holy life,
they don’t depend on others in that.
They don’t waver from conceits.
They’re released from further-becoming.
Having reached the level of the tamed,7
they have victory in the world.
Above, around, & below,
delight isn’t found in them.
They roar their lion’s roar:
‘In the world, the awakened
are unexcelled!’”
Notes
1. On the nine abodes of beings, see AN 9:24.
2. MN 53 identifies the seven true dhammas as conviction, shame, compunction, learning, persistence, mindfulness, and discernment. See also, AN 7:63. These seven dhammas should not be confused with the True Dhamma, the Buddha’s teaching as a whole in its unadulterated form.
3. These treasures could be either the seven factors for awakening or the seven sets of qualities that constitute the wings to awakening. See SN 46:52 and AN 8:19.
4. The training in heightened virtue, heightened mind (concentration), and heightened discernment. See AN 3:87–88.
5. The ten-factored path of the arahant. See MN 117.
6. Usually nāga denotes a great serpent or great elephant, but it can also mean a great human being. See AN 6:43.
7. See MN 125.
