Kondanna or Ajnata Kaundinya

Kondanna(Pali) or Ajnata Kaundinya(Sanskrit) was one of the first five monks with Buddha. He was born in the 6^th century BCE in a Brahmin family in Donavathu near Kapilavastu. As a youth due to his mastery of Vedas and his excellence in the science of physiognomy(Lakhana Manta) he was appointed as a royal court scholar in Kapilvastu where the Shakya Empire was ruled by King Shudhodhana. When the Queen gave birth to a son Siddhartha Gautam, Kondanna predicted that the Prince would become an Enlightened Being and vowed to follow him.

Renouncement and Arahantship

When prince Siddhartha left the kingdom to become an ascetic, Kondanna and the other four friends also accompanied him. They were known as the Pancavaggiyya or the Group of Five. When he attained enlightenment and gave his first Sermon to his five monk friends it is said that Kondanna was the first to comprehend his teachings and became an Arahant when he heard the Anattalakkhana Sutta regarding soul-lessness or non self. He then requested Buddha to permit him to retire from the world and Buddha agreed and declared him the First Bhikkhu in the Sangha.

After Enlightenment

After the Buddha set up the Sangha, Kondanna and the other monks travelled with the Buddha by foot to spread Dhamma. When Buddha went to communicate his teachings and his exalted enlightened state to King Bimbisara as promised, Kondanna went to his home town and converted many followers to Buddha’s teachings, foremost among them being his nephew Punna. Punna in turn preached and converted 500 of his clan to monks. Buddha too acknowledged Punna for his preaching skills and declared him foremost among his disciples.

Many discourses and writings are attributed to Kondana in Buddhist literature being one of the seniormost monks. After spending a period in the Sangha Kondanna then retired to the Himalayas to spend more time in religious practice as he was being inhibited by the growing popularity of the Sangha. This is mentioned in the Samyutta Nikaya. When he knew his end was near he returned to stroke and kiss the Buddha’s feet lovingly and asked his disciples not to mourn him. The next morning he passed away and was cremated with the ceremony being presided by Anuruddha one of the ten chief disciples and 500 other monks. The ashes were then enshrined in a silver Stupa at Veluvana.

Past Births

Kondanna was said to have been born a number of times with the Buddha in earlier births and had already reached a very high state of spiritual evolvement which culminated in his Arahantship in the present lifetime.

Conclusion

Kondanna was one of the closest monks, disciples and initially a friend of the Buddha when he was a worldly Prince. His love and servitude towards Buddha was exemplary and he was honoured and respected by all being one of the seniormost monks. He always exhorted the fellow disciples to give up transitory pleasures and dwell on the impermanence of life and seek Self realisation or Liberation.