ABSTRACT
Kundakunda’s most significant works are written in Pråkrit of the variety known as Jaina flaurasen⁄ and are deceptively simple in style. The ‘Essence of Restraint’ (NiyS) deals largely with the obligatory ritual practices incumbent upon the ascetic, while the ‘Essence of the Five Entities’ (Pañcåstinikåyasåra) seems in origin to have been a loosely connected anthology of verses whose subject matter is obvious by its title. The ‘Essence of the Scripture’ (PS) is a manual dealing with ascetic and spiritual behaviour, probably directed towards novices, and the ‘Essence of the Doctrine’ (SS), the most famous of Kundakunda’s works, is largely devoted to a discussion of the real nature of the self. All these writings, although they generally discuss different aspects of the Jain path, provide an exemplification of Kundakunda’s overall soteriological standpoint as involving a radical interiorisation of the religious life.
