Arihant (, ) is a jiva (soul) who has conquered inner passions such as attachment, anger, pride and greed. Having destroyed four inimical karmas, they realize pure self. Arihants are also called kevalins (omniscient beings) as they possess kevala jnana (pure infinite knowledge). An arihant is also called a jina ("victor"). At the end of their life, arihants destroy remaining karmas and attain moksha (liberation) and become siddhas. Arihantas have a body while siddhas are bodiless pure spirit. The á¹Âamà ÂkÃÂra mantra, the fundamental prayer dedicated to Pañca-Parameá¹£á¹Âhi (five supreme beings), begins with á¹Âamà  arihantÃÂá¹Âaá¹Â, "obeisance to the arihants".
Kevalins - omniscient beings - are said to be of two kinds
According to Jains, every soul has the potential to become an arihant. A soul which destroys all kashayas or inner enemies like anger, ego, deception, and greed, responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance, becomes an arihant.
According to Jain texts, omniscience is attained on the destruction of four types of karmasâ deluding, the knowledge-obscuring, the perception-obscuring, and the obstructive karmas, in the order mentioned. The arihants are said to be free from the following eighteen imperfections:
In Jainism, omniscience is said to be the infinite, all-embracing knowledge that reflects, as it were, in a mirror, all substances and their infinite modes, extending through the past, the present, and the future. According to Jain texts, omniscience is the natural attribute of the pure souls. The self-attaining omniscience becomes a kevalin. Pandit Banarasidas in Samaysaar Natak describes the Omniscient soul as:
Meaning: The omniscient Lord has perfect, complete knowledge. He does have a physical form but has separated himself from his material body. From his heart-type of lake, a river has come out in the form of spiritual preachings and has merged into the ocean of holy scriptures. Therefore, such doctrines are called the ultimate truth, encompassing infinite partial points of view. The aspirant souls end up recognising such principles. The foolish, wrong-faithed persons fail to identify such truth. May such Omniscient knowledge of Arihants be victorious in the universe!
The four infinitudes (ananta cÃÂtuá¹£á¹Âaya) are:
Those arihants who re-establish the Jain faith are called tirthankaras. Tirthankaras revitalize the sangha, the fourfold order consisting of male saints (sÃÂdhus), female saints (sÃÂdhvis), male householders (Ã ÂrÃÂvaka) and female householders (srÃÂvika).
The first tirthankara of the current time cycle was á¹Âá¹£abhanÃÂtha, and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was Mahavira, who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE.
Jain texts mention forty-six attributes of arihants or tirthankaras. These attributes comprise four infinitudes (ananta chatushtaya), thirty-four miraculous happenings (atià Âaya), and eight splendours (prÃÂtihÃÂrya).
The eight splendours (prÃÂtihÃÂrya) are:
At the time of nirvana (final release), the arihant sheds off the remaining four aghati karmas:
These four karmas do not affect the true nature of the soul and are therefore called aghati karmas.
In the á¹Âamà ÂkÃÂra mantra, Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam, Jains worship the arihants first and then the siddhas, even though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas, but arihants are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage than siddhas. Since siddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they are unlikely to be directly accessible, but may be accessed through the wisdom they passed on. However arihants are accessible for the spiritual guidance of human society until their nirvana. The Dravyasaá¹Âgraha, a major Jain text, states: