THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
1106
(8)
Buddha
, because He is the Enlightened One, knowing and teaching the Four Ariya
Truths.
(9)
BhagavÈ
, because He is endowed with the six exalted qualities, namely, supremacy
(
issariya
), knowledge of the nine supramundane factors, i.e.
magga-phala-nibbÈna
(
Dhamma
), fame and following (
yasa
), splendour of physical perfection (
sirÊ
), power
of accomplishment (
kamma
) and diligence (
payatta
).
Explanation of The Above Attributes
Although the Buddha is endowed with infinite attributes only the above nine are declared,
in His discourses, as the attributes of the Buddha to the various hearers of the deva and
human worlds simply to meet the spiritual or intellectual capacity of the hearer. Each of the
nine attributes should be taken as representative of a category of qualities which may be
attributed to the Buddha. How the meaning of the nine attributes may be properly
understood is given below, not too briefly and yet not too comprehensively.
(1) ArahaÑ.
Here the attribute, in the abstract sense, and the possessor of the attribute should be
distinguished. The former refers to the natural states that arise in the mental process of the
Buddha, while the latter refers to the particular continuum of the five aggregates wherein
those attributes arise.
There are five beneficial qualities included in the attribute of Araham. They are:
(a) It means the Buddha who has destroyed by the supramundane path (
lokuttarÈ-magga
),
all the defilements (
kilesas
), numbering fifteen hundred, without leaving a trace.
Defilements may be compared to one's enemies that always work against one's interest
and welfare. The defilements were present in the mind-body continuum of the Buddha-
to-be; they are termed as
ari
(enemies).
When the Buddha, after meditating on (Dependent Origination called) the MahÈvajira
VipassanÈ (as mentioned earlier on), attained Supreme Enlightenment on the Throne of
Victory. The four supramundane paths enabled Him to destroy all those defilements
group by group. So, the Supramundane Dhamma, the Four Ariya Paths, are the
attribute called
ArahaÑ
whereas the Buddha's mind-body continuum of five aggregates
is the possessor of that attribute.
(b) Then there is the derivation of the word
arahaÑ
from its root
araha
, meaning ‘the one
who has distanced himself from the defilements.’ As explained under (a) above, the
Buddha has destroyed all the defilements together with subtle proclivity to some form
of habit without leaving a trace; not even a vague impression to suggest their presence.
The defilements and the proclivities have no possibility of ever arising in the Buddha.
It is in this sense that the Buddha has distanced Himself from the defilements and the
proclivities. He has banished them thoroughly. This absolute casting off of all
defilements together with proclivities is the attribute of ArahaÑ and the Buddha's
mind-body continuum of five aggregates is the possessor of that attribute. This
attribute is derived from the four Ariya Paths.
(The above attributes explained under (a) and (b) above are not possessed by other
arahats
; they are not entitled to be called
ArahaÑ
. The reason is this: all
arahats
have
destroyed all the one thousand five hundred
kilesas
, but unlike the Buddha, certain vague
impressions or traces of their proclivity to some habits still remain with them.
The vague impression is some subtle proclivity remaining in the ordinary
arahat's
mental
makeup which can involuntarily cause some action to arise in him as in the case of a
worldling. This is because of lingering tendencies for certain action that had repeatedly
occurred in the previous existences of the
arahat
concerned, in whom they remained as a
residual force even after destruction of all defilements.
An example of this phenomenon is found in the Venerable Pilindavaccha, an
arahat
who
lived during the Buddha's times. He had been, for five hundred successive existences, a
brahmin of a haughty clan. Members of that clan considered every person outside of their