Jinamanjari 1999 09 No 20

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

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KUNDAKUNDA ON THE CONDUCT OF THE CLERGY AND THE LAITY Colonel D.S. Baya, Udaipur, India
Jinamañjari, Volume 20, No.2, October 1999
Acārya Kundakunda (ca. early 1st century C.E.) was one of the foremost Jaina philosophical thinkers who was particularly known for his highly critical exposition of the soul and its functional mechanics. He was an enlightened scholar of the Prathama Siddhanta (the first canon) that highlights Paryayarthikanaya (modal standpoint) based on the Mahakarmaprakṛti ( the fifth vastu adhikāra of the Agrāyani Pūrval and the Dvitiīya-siddhānta (the second canon) that highlights drvayaārthika naya ( absolute standpoint) based on the third Pāhuda (treatise) Vastu Adhikara (the tenth chapter of the fifth) Pūrva Jnānapravāda which comprises categorization of jnāna and its form, number, subject, effects, etc.2 He was also a prolific writer who composed scores of scholarly treatises on Jaina philosophy, canonical knowledge and on the confines and boundaries of spiritual and socioethical path for the monastic order as well as laypeople. To this day his accomplishments, which date back two thousand years, command great attention from all folds of the Jain church.
On the subject of Jaina monastic moral mannerism, Kundakunda deals elaborately in his work the Atthapähuda (Skt. Astaprabhṛta) a Collection of Eight Treatises. According to him, Jaina monastic moral mannerism must be met and observed under all circumstances without infractions or laxity. The various virtues of a monk, therefore, must be cultivated and practiced in a life system that leads to a progressively higher spiritual level. Thus Jainism, in no uncertain term, eloquently emphasizes that dharma must be pursued with a delicate balance of conduct.3
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The Atthapähuda in this regard is one of the most revered texts that deals with paradigm of precepts which embody various aspects of spiritual and moral mannerism. One particular aspect of this lifeway ethos is cărittam Right Conduct (Skt. caritra). Kundakunda in fact has a complete pähuda - treatise as chapter in the Atthapahuda.
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