Arihant

Arihants are not a separate created class but are ordinary jīvas (souls) that, by ethical effort and the destruction of kashāyas (attachment, anger, pride, greed) and the four ghātiyā karmas, realize their intrinsic pure nature and kevala jñāna. In Jain historical‑religious tradition certain arihants become tirthankaras who re‑establish the path for the community; in the present time cycle Ṛṣabhanātha is named as the first tirthankara and Mahavira as the twenty‑fourth (historically dated in the tradition to 599–527 BCE). At the end of an arihant’s embodied life the remaining karmas fall away and the soul becomes a siddha (liberated, bodiless).

Texts describe arihants as possessing a most auspicious, manifest body (paramaudārika śarīra) distinct from the bodiless siddha. Scriptural portraits attribute splendours and extraordinary signs (prātihārya/atiśaya) to their presence — e.g., halo or luminance, auspicious throne imagery, a divine voice without lip movement, showers of fragrant flowers — features traditionally associated with their bodily manifestation rather than empirical, invariant traits.

Arihants possess kevala jñāna, an all‑embracing, infinite knowledge and perception that extends through past, present, and future. Their perfected attributes are summarized as the four infinitudes (ananta cātuṣṭaya): ananta jñāna (infinite knowledge), ananta darśana (perfect perception), ananta sukha (infinite bliss), and ananta vīrya (infinite energy). Many arihants who serve as tirthankaras teach and revitalize the fourfold sangha and are accessible to devotees for guidance until they attain nirvana. They are described as freed from a catalogue of eighteen imperfections (including birth, old age, thirst, hunger, disease, grief, pride, delusion, fear, sleep, attachment, aversion, death, etc.).