The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1337 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Kundakunda
.
Eminent
Digambara Jain
teacher, writer, and philosopher of perhaps 2nd–3rd cents. CE. His prolific Prakrit writings form the most authoritative source of Digambara Jain teaching. Sixteen works are attributed to him, but these attributions are not secure; at most, only parts of some works are likely to have been written by him. However, Digambara Jains regard all these works as coming from him and as having authority. Major works are
Niyamas
ra
(Essence of Restraint, tr. U. Sain, 1931),
Pravacanas
ra
(Essence of Scripture, tr. B. Faddegon, 1935), and
Pañc
stinikayas
ra
(Essence of the Five Entities, tr. A. Chakravarti, 1920). His
Samayas
ra
(Essence of Doctrine, tr. A. Chakravarti, 1930; R. B. Jain, 1931) is of great importance since it is devoted to a discussion of the real nature of the soul, a central preoccupation for Kundakunda.
Ku
alin
(Skt.).
akti
(power) envisaged as a coiled snake at the base of the central channel (su
umn
n
) in the m
l
dh
ra
cakra
of
Tantric
esoteric anatomy. Ku
alin
yoga
is a means of attaining
sam
dhi
and finally liberation in Tantric
s
dhana
. She is aroused by the arrest of breath and semen through
pr
ay
ma

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