The Purana Index v1.c3.s2.2

v1.c3.s2.2

From the terms occurring in the older Purāṇas arhata, budhyate, budhāya it has been pointed out by some writers that these terms refer to the Jaina and the Bauddha and must therefore be later in composition. But the fact is that nothing of the kind is mentioned and from the circumstances in which these terms occur, one has to understand them in their literal sense, viz., ‘one who is honoured’, ‘one possessing wisdom’. These are epithets which are addressed to Śiva as one of his names and they have nothing to do whatsoever with Jainism or Buddhism. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is said that in the dispute between the Gods and Asuras, Viṣṇu created Māyāmoha whose followers were designated as arhats. The scene of this occurrence is laid on the banks of the Narmada away from the birth-place of these so-called heretical sects which was in the Magadha kingdom. In propounding a theory we must take into account the circumstances in which an incident took place and also the place of its occurrence.