Everything about Kaundinya totally explained
Kaundinya (
Sanskrit: कौण्डिन्य,
Kauṇḍinya,
Pali:
Kondañña) also known as
Ajnata Kaundinya (
Sanskrit: अज्ञात कौण्डिन्य,
Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya,
Pali:
Añña Kondañña) was a
Buddhist bhikkhu in the
sangha of
Gautama Buddha and the first to become an
arahant. He lived during 6th century BCE in what is now
Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar,
India.
Kaundinya was a brahmin who first came to prominence as a youth due to his mastery of the
vedas and was later appointed as a royal court scholar of King
Suddhodana of the Sakyas in
Kapilavastu. There Kaundinya was the only scholar who unequivocally predicted upon the birth of Prince Siddhartha that the prince would become an enlightened
Buddha, and vowed to become his disciple. Kaundinya and four colleagues followed Siddhartha in six years of ascetic practice, but abandoned him in disgust after Siddhartha gave up the practice of self mortification. Upon enlightenment, Siddartha gave his first
dharma talk to Kaundinya's group. Kaundinya was the first to comprehend the teaching and thus became the first
bhikkhu and
arahant.
Kaundinya was regarded as the foremost of the five initial disciples of the Buddha and later travelled around India spreading the dharma. Among his notable converts was his nephew
Punna, whom the Buddha acknowledged as the foremost preacher of the dharma. In his final years, he retreated to the
Himalayas and predeceased the Buddha.
Kaundinya's previous reincarnations are described in many accounts in Buddhist literature. These accounts show that he'd vowed in previous existences to be the first to comprehend the
dharma when it was to be proclaimed by an enlightened Buddha. They also document that the seeds of his relationship with Gautama Buddha as the first arahant were sown in previous existences in which they'd crossed paths.
Early years
Kaundinya was born before the time of
Siddhartha to a wealthy
brahmin family in a town named in
Donavatthu, near
Kapilavastu, and was known by his family name. When he was growing up, he mastered the three
Vedas at a young age and excelled in the science of
physiognomy (
lakhana-manta).
Kaundinya became a young
Brahmin scholar in
Kapilavastu in the
Sakya kingdom of King
Suddhodana. He was one among the group of scholars who were invited to the royal court to predict the destiny of
Crown Prince Siddhartha at his naming ceremony. Siddhartha was the first child born to Suddhodana and
Queen Maya in twenty years of marriage and much interest surrounded the infant from royal society and the public alike. All the other scholars raised two fingers and offered a twofold prediction: That Siddhartha would either become a
Chakravarti (supreme king) or would renounce the world and become a supreme religious leader. Kaundinya was the only one that explicitly predicted that Siddhartha would renounce the world to become a Buddha, raising one finger and stating his prediction.
Kaundinya thereafter vowed that he'd follow when Siddhartha became an ascetic to learn from the future Buddha's findings.
Renouncement and Arahanthood
When Siddhartha was aged 29, he renounced the world to become an
ascetic. Kaundinya, along with
Bharika (Bhaddiya),
Baspa (Wappa),
Mahanama and
Asvajit (
Assaji), (variously described as four of the other scholars who had read Siddhartha's future, or the sons of those scholars) followed him into the ascetic life, with the approval of
Suddhodarna who was worried about Siddhartha's safety. They were known as the
Pancavaggiya (
The group of Five) or
Pancaka Bhadravargiya (
The Group of Five Fortunate Ones). The Buddha acknowledged this by remarking "annasi vata bho Kondanno (meaning "you have realised, Kondanna"). Five days later, hearing the subsequent
Anattalakkhana Sutta regarding no-self or soul-lessness(
Anatta), Kaundinya gained full arahantship. Kaundinya thus became first arahant.
As one of the senior monks of Gautama Buddha, some of Kaundinya's writings and discourses to other monks are recorded in the literature. A poem consisting of sixteen verses in the
Theragatha is attributed to him. The first of these is said to have been recited by
Sacca in praise of Kaundinya, after Kaundinya had preached the Four Noble Truths to Sacca. In other verses, Kaundinya is shown admonishing monks who had fallen into ways contrary to Buddhist teaching. Kaundinya also acknowledged his own struggles against
Mara, the demon who attempted to prevent the enlightenment of the Buddha. Kaundinya was also praised in the
Udana by the Buddha, who observed his deliverance from the destructiveness of craving.
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