Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Disciple or founding teacher

Jūroku Rakan (the Sixteen Arhats)

十六羅漢じゅうろくらかん

A grouping of sixteen representative disciples who were especially outstanding among the disciples of Shakyamuni.

This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.

English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む

The names and roles of the Jūroku Rakan

A grouping of sixteen representative disciples who were especially outstanding among the disciples of Shakyamuni. Rakan is short for arakan, said to derive from the Sanskrit word arhat, and is described as referring to a person who has completed their practice and is worthy of respect.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Tracing their forms and traditions

The names and readings of sixteen figures are listed, from Baradasha Sonja to Chudahantaka Sonja. The Gohyaku Rakan (Five Hundred Arhats) were the disciples who gathered for the first compilation of the sutras, and all of them are said to have the role of passing Shakyamuni's teaching on to later generations.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

The role of the Jūroku Rakan: people who carry on the teaching

Rakan is short for arakan and refers to a person worthy of respect who has attained awakening through practice. The Jūroku Rakan are revered as a group of Shakyamuni's outstanding disciples and have the role of passing the teaching on to later generations. Unlike the deities who appear in myths, they are honored through the figure of practitioners walking the Buddhist path.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Faith in arhats who stay close to people

The Kyoto National Museum explains that in China arhats were deeply revered as beings who, though awakened, stay close to people in this world and bring them happiness. Paintings of arhats brought from China also became models for Japanese painting. Their forms practicing among rocky mountains and by the water, and their distinctive expressions, give visual shape to that faith.

Source: 京都国立博物館

Related kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)