Kaundinya
Kaundinya (Skt. Kauṇḍinya; Pal. Kondañña; Tib. ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཽཎ་ཌི་ཉ་, Wyl. kun shes kauN Di nya) — one of Buddha Shakyamuni's ascetic companions before he attained enlightenment, and who later became the recipients of the first teaching the Buddha ever gave, on the Four Truths of the Noble Ones. Kaundinya's understanding was sublime and he was the first ever to attain the state of arhat.
The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma says:
- When the Blessed One had given this Dharma discourse, venerable Kaundinya, along with eighty thousand gods, achieved the Dharma vision that is free from dust and stainless with regard to phenomena.
- The Blessed One now asked venerable Kaundinya, “Kaundinya, did you understand the Dharma?”
- “Blessed One,” he replied, “I understood.”
- “Kaundinya, did you understand? Did you understand?”
- “Blissful One,” he replied, “I understood. I understood.”
- “Because venerable Kaundinya has understood the Dharma, venerable Kaundinya shall now be known as Ājñātakauṇḍinya.”