Pancastikayasara

Pancastikayasara
Pancastikayasara
Information
Religion	Jainism
Author	Kundakunda
Period	1st century B.C.
Verses	180

Pañcastikayasara (en: the essence of reality), is an ancient Jain text authored by Acharya Kundakunda.^[1] Kundakunda explains the Jain concepts of dravya (substance) and Ethics. The work serves as a brief version of the Jaina philosophy. There are total 180 verses written in Prakrit language.^[2] The text is about five (panch) āstikāya, substances that have both characteristics, viz. existence as well as body.

Āstikāya

Five āstikāya

The five āstikāya mentioned in the text are :—^[3]

1. Jīva (soul),
2. Pudgala (matter),
3. Dharma (medium of motion),
4. Adharma (medium of rest), and
5. Akasa (space)

Notes

1. Jaini 1991, p. 33.
2. Chakravarti 2001.
3. Chakravarti 2001, p. 3.

References

• Kundakunda, Acharya; Chakravarti, Appaswami; Upādhye, Ādinātha Neminātha (2001), Ācārya Kundakunda's Pañcāstikāya-sāra, p. 16, ISBN 978-81-263-1813-1

• Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1991), Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-06820-3