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Content Created: 2007-03-23 Content Modified: 2021-01-02 File last modified: Go to Arhat Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 |
Some old men (but not all) grow very long eyebrows, just as some old men (but not all) grow very wise.
The arhat Āshì-duō 阿氏多 was very wise indeed and also had very, very long eyebrows.
In China it is not uncommon for artists to represent holy men and great sages with very long eyebrows, and sometimes there are several such figures in a set of arhats found in a temple. So it is hard to know which one actually corresponds with Āshì-duō. Indeed, Āshì-duō may even be the same person as the elephant-riding arhat #7 with the stories confabulated.
Some people say Āshì-duō had an arthritic knee that gave him pain, and he is sometimes shown nursing it, even while absorbed in meditation. Other people say that an arhat in meditation would not feel pain in his knee, even to simplify the task of an icon artist.
