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FOREWORD
By
Dr. Chakravarthi Nainar Devakumar
ॐ नमः सिद्धेभ्यः
Hail the Siddha and other Parameṣṭhi
Achieving personal excellence, success and happiness in every walk of life is the buzz word in modern era; every school is busy in defining motif and designing templates. Alas, very little known is to such pursuers that this is the core specialty of Jain dharma. In this era of Vira sasana (i.e. ever since 527 B.C.), the Sacred Word (śruta) of Bhagavana Vīra Vardhamana Mahāvīra is as much as possible being conserved and preserved by a chain of supreme seers called Ganadhara and śrutadhara.
The Auspicious and Venerable Acārya Kondakunda
In this divine lineage, the most shining seer after Gautama Gaṇadhara has been Acarya Kondakunda or more popularly known as Kundakunda or Kundkund. This name verily refers to his birthplace in present day Andhra Pradesh. His saint-pontiff name was Acārya Padmanandi. He is also called Elācārya. Even though there were scores of śrutadhara after Gautama Gaṇadhara, he is bracketed along with Lord Mahavira and Gautama Gaṇadhara because Acarya Padmanandi Kundakunda reestablished the fading dharma by visiting Mahāvideha, another planet in our solar system, to get his doubts cleared directly from the Tirthankara Śrīmandhara. This fact was passed on to the generations by word of mouth (karna paramparā) till in Vikrama Samvat (VS) 990 Acarya Devasena put it on record in his book called 'Darsanācāra':
जइ पउमणदिणाहो सीमन्धरसामिदिव्वणाणेण ।
ण विबोहइ तो समणा कहं सुमग्गं पयाणंति ॥४३॥
(viii)
Hail Lord Padmanandi for imbibing divine knowledge directly from Śrīmandhara Svāmī but for which how could the śramanas
continue to benefit the Right Path?
