Kundakunda

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Kundakunda. Eminent Digambara Jain teacher, writer, and philosopher of perhaps 2nd–3rd cents. CE. His prolific Prakrit writings form the most authoritative source of Digambara Jain teaching. Sixteen works are attributed to him, but these attributions are not secure; at most, only parts of some works are likely to have been written by him. However, Digambara Jains regard all these works as coming from him and as having authority. Major works are Niyamasāra (Essence of Restraint, tr. U. Sain, 1931), Pravacanasāra (Essence of Scripture, tr. B. Faddegon, 1935), and Pañcāstinikayasāra (Essence of the Five Entities, tr. A. Chakravarti, 1920). His Samayasāra (Essence of Doctrine, tr. A. Chakravarti, 1930; R. B. Jain, 1931) is of great importance since it is devoted to a discussion of the real nature of the soul, a central preoccupation for Kundakunda.