The ‘supreme beings’ in Sanskrit, also known as the pañca-parameṣṭhin or ‘Five Supreme Beings’. A term for the categories of teachers who are paid homage in the Namaskāra-mantra:
- enlightened teachers – Arhats
- liberated souls – siddhas
- mendicant leaders – ācāryas
- mendicant tutors – upādhyāyas
- mendicants – sādhus.