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Preface
material, that Kundakunda's age lies at the beginning of the
Christian era.” It seems highly appropriate to go with this conclusion. Acārya Vidyānanda, too, in his Foreword to 'Samayasāra’, concurs with this time of Acārya Kundakunda, “He graced the country with his divine presence in the first century B.C.” [Vijay K. Jain (2012), “Ācārya Kundakunda's Samayasara", p. v.]
Ācārya Kundakunda's works
Acārya Kundakunda, who had great penchant for spiritual exposition, is universally accepted as the author of the following treatises:
1. Pańcāstikāyasāra 2. Samayasāra 3. Pravacanasāra 4. Niyamasāra 5. Astapāhuda or Asthapāhuda
i) Dansaņapāhuda or Darśanapāhuda (36 gāthā) ii) Suttapāhuda or Sūtrapāhuda (27 gāthā) iii) Carittapāhuda or Cāritrapāhuda (45 gāthā) iv) Bohipāhuda or Bodhapāhuda (62 gāthā) v) Bhāvapāhuda (165 gāthā) vi) Mokkhapāhuda (106 gāthā) vii) Lingapāhuda (22 gāthā)
viii) Sīlapāhuda (40 gāthā) Besides these, the authorship of 'Rayaņasāra' is attributed to Acārya Kundakunda. However, as its several versions have different number and sequence of verses (gāthā), some scholars are indecisive about attributing this treatise to Acārya Kundakunda. Every treatise mentioned above is a profound masterpiece, composed on the strength of knowledge Gñana) that is beyond-the-senses (atīndriya). Even the best of brains found it difficult to comprehend and assimilate the Truth contained in these. This prompted some prominent and learned ācārya, including Acārya Amstcandra and Acārya Jayasena, to write elaborate commentaries on some of Acārya Kundakunda's works to help
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