Kaundinya

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For other uses, see Kaundinya (disambiguation).

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Kaundinya (Sanskrit:कौण्डिन्य, Kaundinya, Pali:Kondanna) also known as Ajnata Kaundinya (Sanskrit:अज्ञात कौण्डिन्य, Ajnata Kaundinya, Pali:Anna Kondanna) was a Buddhist bhikkhu in the Sangha of Gautama Buddha and the first to become an arahant. He lived during 6th century BC in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India.

Kaundinya was 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. All the other scholars raised two fingers and offered a two-fold 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 become a Buddha, raising one finger and stating his prediction.<ref name = "taiwan">Siridhamma (1995). The Life of the Buddha. Buddha Educational Foundation.</ref><ref name = "narada">Narada (1992). A Manual of Buddhism. Buddha Educational Foundation.</ref>

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 describe 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. After Siddhartha had mastered all the teachings of Arada Kalama (Alara Kalama) and then Udraka Ramaputra (Uddaka Ramaputta), he left and began practicing self mortification along with Kaundinya and his four colleagues at Uruvilva (Uruvela). These involved self-deprivation of food and water, and exposing themselves to the elements to near-death for six years, at which point Siddhartha rejected self-mortification. Kaundinya and his colleagues became disillusioned and moved away to Mrgadava (Isipatana), near Varanasi to continue their practices. After Siddhartha became the enlightened Gautama Buddha, he travelled to find Kaundinya to share his teachings. Kaundinya and his companions were skeptical of Gautama Buddha after his abandonment of asceticism, but were soon won over. Gautama Buddha preached the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), which deals with the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and Kaundinya reached the Sotapatti stage of arahanthood. After hearing the subsequent Anattalakkhan Sutta regarding no-self or soul-lessness, he gained arahantship. Kaundinya thus became the first bhikku and arahant.<ref name = "taiwan"/><ref name = "narada"/>

The "Five Hundred Disciples" (eighth) chapter of the Mahayana Lotus Sutra predicts that in the future he will become a Buddha named Universal Brightness.<ref>Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism: Ajnata Kaundinya. Soka Gakkai International USA. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.</ref>