arahant
Worthy one
[ AR-a-hunt ]
Seeing it in life
An arahant has uprooted greed, hatred, and delusion completely; at death attains parinibbāna without remainder.
In short
One with all defilements destroyed.
The analysis
An arahant has uprooted all ten fetters completely — greed, hatred, and delusion destroyed without remainder, meaning every citta an arahant produces going forward is either vipāka or kiriya, never again kamma-producing. At death, an arahant attains parinibbāna, the final nibbāna without remainder, the cycle of rebirth ended. The word literally means 'worthy one,' traditionally glossed as worthy of offerings.
Where it sits
Arahant is the fourth and final of the four noble stages, reached at the fourth path-moment, which uproots the remaining subtle fetters — craving for existence, conceit, restlessness, and the last trace of ignorance.
No everyday analogue applies — arahantship names a completed, specific attainment described as categorically distinct from any refinement of ordinary experience, however calm or wise.
Commonly mistaken for
A title of honor bestowed for good conduct. It names a specific attainment defined by which fetters have been uprooted, not an honorific.
A gradual, ongoing state of improvement. The path-moment that establishes arahantship is a single, decisive event.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha IX; Anupādisesa Sutta (Iti 44).
Related terms