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.