Most of the Buddha's famous disciples became arhats. It is obvious that they were concerned with the welfare of sentient beings. Mahakasyapa was the First Patriarch, Ananda and Sariputra appeared in many sutras. They asked the Buddha important questions for the sake of sentient beings. Therefore they cannot be purely Hinayana in their mentality. Also, in the Lotus Sutra, it is said that all of the Buddha's disciples will eventually become Buddhas.

Once his disciples attained arhatship, the Buddha asked them to teach others. The original five bhiksus who studied with the Buddha were also bodhisattvas because, after attaining arhatship, they went out to teach others. The Buddha told them to go in different directions so that they could help more people. So among arhats there were some who had bodhisattva attitudes. Among the 1, 250 arhats under the Buddha, we only read about a few dozen, so it is hard to tell.

Why would arhats not pursue the Bodhisattva Path? It is not that they aren't compassionate. Arhats follow the teachings of the Buddha, and so they would help others; but they do not have the inclination to deliver sentient beings as their highest aspiration. There is also the possibility that they may feel they have already attained the ultimate position. There exist four lines in the scriptures which read:

My birth and death are over;
My purity has been established;
All that needs to be done has been accomplished;
There will be no more retribution.


Some arhats, chanting these lines as descriptive of their own experiences, may have felt they attained the ultimate goal. They felt confident that their practice was complete. After all, the Buddha had ascertained that they had attained liberation. If they think there is nothing higher, then there is no reason to return to the human realm.