Sixteen arhats, Sixteen elders, Sixteen Sthaviras: 6 definitions

Introduction:

Sixteen arhats means something in Buddhism, Pali. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: Google Books: The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems

The Sixteen Arhats are known in Tibetan as gnas brtan bcu drug. They are:

  1. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja,
  2. Ajita,
  3. Subinda,
  4. Kalika,
  5. Vajraputra,
  6. Bhadra,
  7. Kanakavatsa,
  8. Kanakabhadra,
  9. Nakula (Vakula),
  10. Rāhula,
  11. Cuḍapaṇṭhaka,
  12. Aṅgaja,
  13. Paṇṭhaka,
  14. Nāgasena,
  15. Jīvaka,
  16. Vanavasin.
Source: Rigpa Shedra: Wiki

The Sixteen Arhats were personally selected by Buddha Shakyamuni from amongst his disciples. They were requested to remain in the world, protecting the Dharma for as long as beings are capable of benefitting from the teachings. They vowed at the time of the parinirvāṇa to remain in the world and maintain the Dharma until the time of the future Buddha Maitreya. To visualize the Buddha Shakyamuni surrounded by the Sixteen Arhats and an assembly of Bodhisattvas generates great merit and quickly develops insight into the teachings of the Buddha.

  1. Aṅgaja or Aṅgirāja (Tib. Yenlag Chung),
  2. Ajita (Tib. Ma Phampa),
  3. Vanavāsin (Tib. Nagnanepa),
  4. Mahākālika (Tib. Düden Chenpo),
  5. Vajrīputra (Tib. Dorje Möbu),
  6. Śrībhadra (Tib. Pal Zangpo),
  7. Kanakavatsa (Tib. Sergyi Be'u),
  8. Kanaka or Kanakabhāradvāja (Tib. Serchen),
  9. Bakula (Tib. Bakula),
  10. Rāhula, the Buddha's son (Tib. Drachen Dzin),
  11. Cūḍapanthaka or Cūḷapanthaka (Tib. Lamtren Ten),
  12. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja (Tib. Bharadodza Sönyom Len),
  13. Panthaka (Tib. Lamchenten),
  14. Nāgasena (Tib. Lüdé),
  15. Gopaka (Tib. Bechepa),
  16. Abhedya, Abheda or Subinda (Tib. Michepa),

The Sixteen Arhats or Sthaviras are known in Sanskrit as ṣoḍaśasthavira and in Tibetan as Neten Chudruk [gnas brtan bcu drug]). They are usually shown in thangkas accompanied by their two attendants, Hva Shang and Upasaka Dharmatala and by the Four Great Kings.

Source: Wisdom Experience: The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism

The Great Sixteen Elders, who resided with five hundred arhats and others in various lands throughout the four continents and in the Trayatriṃśa heaven,441 protected the precious teaching; and in so doing they visited China during the reigns of T’ang T’ai-tsung, Qubilai Qan, and the emperor Yung-lo. Some say that they could be seen by all, but others maintain that the common folk could not see them, their bodies being rainbow-like

The Sixteen Elders are known in Tibetan as gnas-brtan bcu-drug and in Sanskrit as ṣoḍaśa-sthavira. They were:

  1. Panthaka (lam-pa) in Trayatriṃśa;
  2. Abhedya (mi-phyed-pa) in the Himalayas;
  3. Kanaka (gser-can) in the western continent of Godānīya;
  4. Bakkula (bakkula) in the northern continent of Uttarakuru;
  5. Bhāradvāja in the eastern continent of Videha;
  6. Mahākālika (dus-ldanchen-po) in Tāmradvīpa;
  7. Vajrīputra (rdo-rje-mo’i bu) in Siṃhaladvīpa;
  8. Rāhula (sgra-gcan ’dzin) in Priyahgudvīpa;
  9. Śrībhadra (dpal-bzang) in Yamunādvīpa;
  10. Gopaka (sbed-byed) on Mount Bihula;
  11. Nāgasena (klu-sde) on Mount Urumuṇḍa;
  12. Vanavāsin (nags-gnas) on Mount Saptaparṇa;
  13. Kṣudrapanthaka (lam-phran) on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa;
  14. Kanakavatsa (gser-gyi be’u) in Kashmir;
  15. Aṅgiraja (yan-lag ’byung) on Mount Kailash;
  16. Ajita (ma-pham-pa) on the Crystal Slope of Sage Mountain.

The Sixteen Great Cities of Jambudvīpa ['dzam-bu'i gling-gi grong-khyer chenpo bcu-drug] are the spheres of activity of the Sixteen Elders. An alternative listing refers to the sixteen great countries of India: Aṅga, Magadha, Kāśī, Kosala, Vṛji, Malla, Ceḍi, Vatsa, Kuru, Pañcāla, Matsya, Śūrasena, Aśmaka, Avanti, Gandhāra and Kamboja.

Tibetan Buddhism book cover
context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Discover the meaning of sixteen arhats in the context of Tibetan Buddhism from relevant books on Exotic India

Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)

[«previous next»] — Sixteen arhats in Mahayana glossary
Source: Kunpal: Shantideva's Bodhisattva-charyavatara

The Sixteen Elders represent the group of senior monks who attained the state of arhats. They are the senior elders, the leaders of the thousands of arhats among the Buddha’s students. The term “elder” [gnas brtan; sthavira] means a senior monk [dge slong rgad po], but not every arhat was an elder. Young children were also included among the many students of the Buddha who reached the spiritual attainment of an arhat.

The Sixteen Elders [gnas brtan bcu drug] will appear to gather whatever remains in this world of Buddha Śākyamuni’s teachings when the lifespan of human beings has increased to seven hundred years. They will place them in a stūpa made of the seven precious jewels. The sixteen elders will then sit around the stūpa, pay homage to Buddha Śākyamuni, and pass into nirvāṇa without any remainder. This will mark the final end of the presence of Buddha Śākyamuni’s teachings in our world.

The sixteen elders [Sanskrit: Ṣoḍaśasthavira; Tibetan: gnas brtan bcu drug] are:

  1. Aṅgaja [yang lag 'byung],
  2. Ajita [ma pham pa],
  3. Vanavāsin [nags na gnas],
  4. Mahākālika [dus ldan chen po],
  5. Vajrīputra [rdo rje mo'i bu],
  6. Śrībhadra [dpal bzang po],
  7. Kanakavatsa [gser be'u],
  8. Kanakabharadvāja [bha ra dva dza gser can],
  9. Bakula [ba ku la],
  10. Rāhula [sgra gcan 'dzin],
  11. Cūḍapanthaka [lam phran bstan],
  12. Piṇḍola Bharadvāja [bha ra dva dza bsod snyoms len],
  13. Panthaka [lam bstan],
  14. Nāgasena [klu'i sde],
  15. Gopaka [sbed byed], and
  16. Abheda [mi phyed pa].

These Sixteen Elders, along with the seven generations of heirs to the doctrine, are the lineage holders of the hīnayāna teachings, also known as the śrāvakayāna, the “vehicle of the listeners’.

Mahayana book cover
context information

Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.

Discover the meaning of sixteen arhats in the context of Mahayana from relevant books on Exotic India

General definition (in Buddhism)

[«previous next»] — Sixteen arhats in Buddhism glossary
Source: Study Buddhism: Glossary

The Sixteen Elders refers to the Sixteen Arhat disciples of Buddha whom Buddha requested not to pass into parinirvana but to remain in this world in order to help preserve the Dharma until the coming of Maitreya, the next Buddha.—They are known in Tibetan as gnas-brtan bcu-drug.

Source: WikiPedia: Buddhism

The Sixteen Arhats are a group of legendary Arhats in Buddhism whose worship continues to the present day in China, Japan and Tibet. In Japan sixteen Arhats are particularly popular in Zen Buddhism, where they are treated as examples of behaviour. In Tibet, the sixteen Arhats, also known as sixteen Sthaviras (“elders”) are the subject of a liturgical practice associated with the festival of the Buddha’s birth, composed by the Kashmiri teacher Shakyahribhadra (1127-1225). They are also well represented in Tibetan art.

The sixteen Arhats are:

  1. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja (Tibetan: Bharadwadza Sönyom Le),
  2. Kanakavatsa (Tibetan: Sergyi Be'u),
  3. Kanaka Bhāradvāja/Kanaka (Tibetan: Baradwadza Serchen/Serchen),
  4. Subinda/Abhedya (Tibetan: Michepa),
  5. Nakula/Bakula (Tibetan: Bakula),
  6. Śrībhadra/Bhadra (Tibetan: Pal Zangpo),
  7. Mahākālika/Kālika (Tibetan: Düden Chenpo),
  8. Vajriputra (Tibetan: Dorje Möbu),
  9. Gopaka/Jīvaka (Tibetan: Bé Chépa),
  10. Panthaka (Tibetan: Lamchenten),
  11. Rāhula (Tibetan: Drachen Dzin),
  12. Nāgasena (Tibetan: Lü Dé),
  13. Aṅgaja (Tibetan: Yenlak Jung),
  14. Vanavāsin (Tibetan: Nagnanepa),
  15. Ajita (Tibetan: Ma Phampa),
  16. Cūḍapanthaka/Kṣudrapanthaka (Tibetan: Lamtren Ten ),

The Sixteen Arhats are known in Tibetan as Neten Chudrug [gnas brtan bcu drug], and in Chinese as 十六羅漢 [pinyin: shíliù luóhàn, Rōmaji: jūroku rakan.

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