A monk. He had been subjected by the Saṅgha to the formal act of suspension (ukkhepanīyakamma) for refusal to renounce a wrong view, namely, that the states of mind declared by the Buddha to be stumbling-blocks are not such at all for him who indulges in them.¹ Ariṭṭha left the Order and would not come back until the ukkhepanīyakamma was revoked.²

He was a vulture-trainer (gaddhabādhiputta).³

His case is cited as that of a pācittaya-offence because he refused to give up a wrong view even after the monks had three times requested him to do so.⁴

In spite of the ukkhepanīyakamma the Chabbaggiyā monks kept company with Ariṭṭha, thereby committing a pācittaya-offence.⁵ We find the Buddha rebuking the nun Thullanandā for associating with Ariṭṭha after the ukkhepanīyakamma.⁶

It was Ariṭṭha’s heresy that led to the teaching of the Alagaddūpama Sutta.⁷

In the Saṃyuttanikāya,⁸ Ariṭṭha is mentioned as having said to the Buddha that he practised concentration in breathing and as having described how he did it. The Buddha, thereupon, instructs him as to how such concentration can be done perfectly and in every detail.

In the Samanatapāsādikā Ariṭṭha is mentioned in a list of enemies of the religion (sāsana).⁹