Theravādins revere Arahats (commonly spelled Arhat or Arahant) as enlightened beings who have achieved the same sort of spiritual liberation as the Buddha through different means. Namely, Arahats achieve an individual form of nirvana, whereas Buddhas or Bodhisattvas aim to help other beings also achieve nirvana. Theravādin practitioners usually strive to become Arahats, whereas other schools of Buddhism teach that one should strive to become a Bodhisattva.

In the Dhammapada, the Arahats appear as a sacred group whom the reader should emulate. In the chapter named after them, the Buddha proclaims, “Wherever Arahats live / In village or forest / In valley or hill—/ What a lovely place it is! / Lovely are the forests / Where folk find no delight / Those free from passion will find delight there: / They don’t seek for sensual things” (v. 98-99). These verses suggest that the sacred nature of the Arahats has a positive effect on nature itself. In this way, the Arahat are invested with a supernatural aura, despite the fact that they are supposed to be human entities. In the final chapter, the Arahats are likened to Brahmins (v. 420). This comparison challenges the caste system (see “Caste Groups” below) while simultaneously emphasizing the spiritual supremacy of the Arahats.

Various Indian caste groups, especially the Brahmins, are referenced throughout the text. The Indian caste system is strict social hierarchy that divides people according to jatī (coherent identity groups defined by profession and/or ethnicity). The caste system has existed in some form on the Indian subcontinent since the Indus Valley Civilization (3300-1700 BCE), and therefore predates the spread of Buddhism by thousands of years. The Buddha’s worldview and teachings, therefore, were formed in response to the extreme social inequalities enforced by the caste system. His insistence that all people are made equal by the universal experience of suffering, and that social hierarchies based on material possessions or birth are an illusion, was a radical rejection of the hierarchical culture that he had been raised in. The Dhammapada preaches this radical idea by critiquing specific caste groups.

The most prominent caste group in the Dhammapada are the Brahmins, a Hindu priest caste who are recognized as the superior caste in the system. Throughout the Dhammapada, their inherent social superiority is challenged. In the final chapter, the Buddha tells the readers, “You don’t become a Brahmin / By matted locks, by lineage, or by caste: / The one in whom are truth and Dhamma / He’s pure, and he’s a Brahmin” (v. 393). This assertion challenges not only the social status quo of Indian society, but the religious authority of its dominant faith, Hinduism, which justified the superiority of the priest caste in the first place. In this light, The Dhammapada is in direct conversation with the Hindu tradition, even though the theological aspects of Hinduism are not directly addressed.

Although monks are supposed to be devout followers of the Buddha, the Dhammapada addresses controversies about their elite religious status, often with a critical attitude towards the monks. This skeptical attitude towards monks may be a reflection of the theological disputes over monastic orders that were occurring in the Buddhist community leading up to the First Buddhist Schism (c. 383 BCE) and in the years following it. Verse 307 is particularly condemnatory of monks who do not behave properly: “Many with the yellow robe on their backs / Are of evil character and uncontrolled / Through their evil actions, the evil / Are reborn in a hell world.” In other places, however, devout monks are portrayed as having almost superhuman self-control: “The monk who delights in awareness / Seeing the danger in unawareness / Moves like a fire / Burning up fetters small and great” (v. 32). 

It is important to note that while monks and nuns are the intended audience of other portions of the Pāli Canon, namely the Vinayapitaka, the Dhammapada was aimed at the laity as well. The conflicting portrayals of monks throughout the text might have appealed to everyday practitioners who both revered their local monks as holy men, but also might have had anxieties about them potentially abusing their religious power.