I have no doubt that Arahants relax their body by lying down. However, I do not think they sleep as a Puthujana sleep. Another question we can consider in this discussion is whether yogis sleep. Here yogi means the person who practices Jhana.
May have relevance here:
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Even the Buddha slept. From SN 10.8:
Then the householder AnÄthapiášá¸ika, thinking, âThe Blessed One has addressed me by my name,â [thrilled and elated], prostrated himself right on the spot with his head at the Blessed Oneâs feet and said to him: âI hope, venerable sir, that the Blessed One slept well.â
[The Blessed One:]
840 âAlways indeed he sleeps well,
The brahmin who is fully quenched,
Who does not cling to sensual pleasures,
Cool at heart, without acquisitions.
841 âHaving cut off all attachments,
Having removed care from the heart,
The peaceful one sleeps well,
Having attained peace of mind.â
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In both cases they are (or at least can be) wholly unconscious when sleeping. This can be seen from two of the stories in the PÄrÄjika section of the Vinaya, in which two arahant bhikkhus were so deeply asleep that they failed to wake up even when some passing women stopped to have sex with them.
At one time a monk was lying down in the JÄtiyÄ Grove at Bhaddiya, having gone there to spend the day, and he had an erection because of wind. A certain woman saw him and sat down on his penis, and having taken her pleasure, she departed. The monks, seeing the moisture, informed the Master. âMonks, an erection occurs for five reasons: because of sensual desire, because of excrement, because of urine, because of wind, because of being stung by caterpillars. Itâs impossible that that monk had an erection because of sensual desire. That monk is a perfected one [arahant]. Thereâs no offence for that monk.â
At one time a monk had gone to spend the day in the hall with the peaked roof in the Great Wood near VesÄlÄŤ. He opened the door and lay down, and he had an erection because of wind. Just then a number of women, bringing scents and garlands, came to the monastery to look at the monastic dwellings. Those women saw that monk and they sat down on his penis. Having taken their pleasure, they said, âWhat a bull of a man,â and they put up their scents and garlands and departed. The monks saw the moisture and informed the Master.
âMonks, an erection occurs for five reasons: because of sensual desire, because of excrement, because of urine, because of wind, because of being stung by caterpillars. Itâs impossible that that monk had an erection because of sensual desire. That monk is a perfected one. Thereâs no offense for that monk. But, monks, you should close the door when you are in seclusion during the day.â
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One thing that was refreshing to me when after 10 years of Tibetan Buddhism where the Buddha was described, as I perceived it then, a freak, was that the Theravadin present him as a totally normal human being.
For me an Arahat has just transformed himself/herself to the extent of not having sensual-desires, ill-wills and delusions. So the Arahat has a brain that has been rewired accordingly (e.g. cannot express anger, resentment, sexual attraction, etc., etc. the way a Puthujana does).
Meanwhile the rest of the Arahat human body-mind still functions as before including eating, sleeping, going to the toilet, etc.
One day Iâll try to extract from the suttas the behaviour of the buddha in order to get a better understanding of what an Arahat does and doesnât do. Of course that could be a risky business as the narrative parts of the suttas may not be that reliable.
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How do we know they were Arahants?
The Buddha said that they were:
Arahaáš so, bhikkhave, bhikkhu. AnÄpatti, bhikkhave, tassa bhikkhuno.
âBhikkhus, that bhikkhu is an arahant. There is no offence, bhikkhus, for that bhikkhu.â
In my link âperfected oneâ is the translatorâs rendering of arahant.
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I just wonder why Arahants have to sleep.
Once I walk up and found my body was faster sleep while snoring.
Few minutes after my body walk up.
Some times I wonder whether body sleeps while you are in Jhana.
Same reason as anybody else: to put the body into the optimal state for the performance of those anabolic processes needed for tissue-replacement, wound-healing, restoration of the immune system, etc. Thereâs nothing about arahatta that would obviate the need for this.
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A likely story! Do you really believe that a guy just happened to have an erection for some medical reason, and that just happened to be at the rare time that a lady rapist was walking by? Someone has not been honest here!
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Interesting case. Anyway, whatever happened happened and itâd be more useful to focus on the safety measure put in place after that incident. And to be honest, not sure how effective itâd be: "vb-pj1: âBut, monks, you should close the door when you are in seclusion during the day.ââ. That doesnât sound like a fail-safe way to prevent bunch of voluptuous drunk women from sneaking in and throw a wild gangbang party against the poor monkâs will. Why not do it like in the army, set up watch schedule and implement it in teams of 2 or 3 men so some can sleep while the other is on guard. Especially for young horny monks, they should treat it like in the middle of a battle where one has to constantly watch out for those sneaky beautiful enemies!
That was entertaining! The monk in question later confessed to the Buddha so he knew it happened so he must have woken up. Early morning erections are often an indicator (and questioned about in cases of lack of erection by doctors) that there is nothing physically wrong with the penis. So in this case there was nothing physically wrong with him but he probably had an early morning erection. So either the kuti has to be located away from were the layity mills around, monks have to wear underwear or the door has to be locked. Least restrictive option� 
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I just read this article on Ajahn Gunhah as I was inspired by @Brahmali 's description of his visit to him. Apparently he did not sleep for three months in a row
https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha012.htm
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