Acharya Kundakunda & Jainism

           "mangalam bhagavan viro,
                                                                 mangalam gautami gani,
             mangalam kundakundadya
                                                                 jain dharmostu mangalam."

Ac. Vidhyanand ji Muniraj- learned digamber jain saint a kundkunda of this century

These four lines in Jainism have a great meaning, bowing to Lord & engulfing the World in it. It is an indication of how vast the Jain religion is all about. This line carries a great respect to Acharya Kundakunda (eminent pontiff of Jainism after the Nirvana of Baghwan Mahaveer). At a time when Jesus Christ had just appeared in the near east horizon, we already had Kundakunda, the brightest literary luminary. All these facts reveal the beauty of Jainism. I feel that the product "Jainism" is a spectacular outcome of thousands of scholars who worked across the time period of over 2500 years!

Today these scholars have left "Jainism" to such a horizon where we need no further modifications or where we can't pinpoint even a single malpractice!

Kundakunda - man behind the "Raman Effect":

The work Panchastikaya of Kundakunda identifies samaya as the minutest movement of light as paramanu prachalanayatah. This forms the basis for the present day theories: the 'seattering of light' and the 'Raman effect'. In this context, it has to be stated that Kundakunda was a versatile genius and a celebrated literary figure, who lived between the closing years and the first half of the Christian period.

Kundakunda - man behind the Navkar Mantra ?

One is not exactly sure about this. Some of the Jain scriptures  indicates that, "Navkar mantra" existed much before the birth of Acharya Kundakunda but some insist that, it was composed by this great scholar.


Introduction:

According to the Jain tradition, Kundakunda succeeded to the pontificate seat in Vikrama Samvat 49 (8 B.C.) at the age of 33. He lived as the pontiff of the mulasangha up to 52 years and passed away in 44 A.D. when he was 85 years of old. He was a contemporary of Bhadrabahu II and Arhadbali. Jinasena a commentator of Kundakunda, has observed that he was disciple of Kumaranandi. According to Pattavalies, he was the student of Meghanandi Whose teacher was Arhatbali. But in his own work of Bodhapahuda, Kundakunda calls himself as nayam sisenaya bhaddabahussa-sisya of Bhadrabahu who lived between 37 to 14 B.C. This Bhadrabahu was a later person and not the earlier Bhadrabahu, a Contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya.
According to epigraphical records his name is Kundakunda. Devasena (10th cent A.D.) and Jayasena (12th cent.) refer him as 'Padmanandi'. In the later works, he is known as vattekera, grudhapichha and Elacharya.

Birth Place:

From a reference in Bodhapahuda, he hailed from the Krishna region of Andhra Pradesh. As regards his nativity at Konakondla in Anantapur district, its antiquity may not be placed earlier than 7th cent. A.D. Through exploration in the area has not yielded any archaeological material datable to the period of Kundakunda.

Another possible association can be attributed to the village Kolanukonda, opposite the sprawling city of Vijayawada across river Krishna . The place had a Jain basadi on the hill top ste up by the Bhoga Sangha of Bihar . Its possible association may be attributed to the period of Kundakundacharya based on the archacological remains found on the hill slopes. Incidentally, it may be stated that on the original Jain establishment a Siva temple was built on the hill top at Kolanukonda with the name of Bhogalingeswara. The name is not found in Saiva tradition.
 

"Mangalam