Kaundinya Gotra Origin and History

In this post I will talk about Kaundinya Gotra Origin and History. 

Important facts about Kaundinya Gotra

Below I present some important facts about Kaundinya Gotra.

• Kaundinya Gotra is a Brahmin Gotra which is found in both North India as well as South India, and in historical times Brahmin-kings of Kaundinya gotra ruled large areas of south-east Asia - the Funan Kingdom of Mekong Delta, Vietnam was ruled by a Kaundinya King.
• According to Skanda Purana, Kaundinya represents one of the 24 pravaras to which all Indians belong to. 
• In the Ashvalayana Shrautasutra, the Kundina or Kaundinya Gotra is described as one of three such Vashishta Gotras that cannot intermarry.
• Kaundinya finds mention in the list of Gotra Rishis contained in Maithili work Varna Ratnakara of Jyotishvara Kavisekhara Thakur (1340 CE), the grandfather of Maithili poet Vidyapati Thakur (1400 CE).
• Kamats community in India belong to the Koundinya Gotra.

Maithili Poet Vidyapati

Buddhist Arhat Kaundinya

Kaundinya Gotra Origin Story

People believe that the Kaundinya Gotra can be traced to a Rishi who lived in Mithila region of Bihar. His family members were:

• Wife - Shila of Vasishta Gotra
• Son - Sushila
• Father in Law - Sumantu

There were 10 to 12 important people from this lineage whose descendants are found in India and in parts of south-east Asia.

The first Kaundinya who went to Funan in Mekong Delta in Vietnam was supposed to have also come from Mithila in Bihar and was a Shaiva. Shaivism (worshiping Shiva) became the state religion of Cambuj (ancient name of Cambodia).

Kaundinya in Early Sanskrit Literature

• There was a Rishi Kaundinya in the court of Yudhishtira (~1000 BCE or earlier).
• There is a mention of a Sage Kaundinya in Charaka Samhita (~750 BCE).
• In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (700 BCE), Kaundinya is mentioned as a disciple of Shandilya.
• There is a reference to Kaundinya in Satpatha Brahmana (700 BCE) which is a part of Shukla Yajurveda.
• Baudhayana Grihyasutra (700 BCE) mentions one Kaundinya as a commentator of Taittiriya Samhita.
• Panini (~500 BCE), the Great Hindu Sanskrit grammarian, refers to one Kaundinya in his Ashtadhyayi.

From this we can conclude that around 700 BCE, there was at least one renowned Rishi Kaundinya.

There was also one Kauṇḍinya who was a Buddhist monk and  follower of Gautama Buddha and the first to become an arhat. He lived during the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India.

Kaundinya in Later Sanskrit Literaure

• In the Taittiriya Pratisakhya, Kaundinya is refeered to as an authority on Vyakaran (Grammar).
• According to a commentary on Shikhsa Sammuchaya, one Kaundinya was an authority on Shiksha and author of the book Kaundiya Shiksha.
• One Kaundinya Bhagavat was the commentator of Pashupata sutra and is said to have flourished in 500 CE.
• One Kaundiya was an authority on Dharmashastra and quoted by:
• Jimutvahana in Vyavahara Matrika (~1150 CE) [yvahāra-mātrikā of Jīmūtavāhana ]
• Kamalakara Bhatta in Nirnaya Sindhu (~1612 CE) [Kamalākara-bhatta]
• Nilakantha in Shradddha Mayukha (~1620 CE) [Vyavahāra-mayūkha of Nīlakaṇṭha]
• Bhattoji Dikshita in Tithinirnaya Samkshepa  (~1620 CE) [Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita ] 

References and Dates

• Charaka Samhita Date - 750 BCE based on Leonore Loeb Adler, B. Runi Mukherji. Spirit Versus Scalpel: Traditional Healing and Modern Psychotherapy. Greenwood. p. 76. Says 900 BE to 600 BCE 
• Date of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - 700 BCE based on Ref: Olivelle, Patrick . Upaniṣhads. Oxford University Press, 1998, pages 3–4
• Shatpatha Brahmana Date - 700 BCE based on  Jan N. Bremmer (2007). The Strange World of Human Sacrifice. Peeters Publishers. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-90-429-1843-6. Retrieved 15 December 2012
• Baudhayana Grihyasutra Date - 700 BCE 
• Panini Date - 6th century to 4th century
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bha%E1%B9%AD%E1%B9%ADoji_D%C4%ABk%E1%B9%A3ita
• Vidyapati - 1352 to 1448
• https://www.trsiyengar.com/id279.shtml
• http://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kau%E1%B9%87%E1%B8%8Dinya/index.html
• Some Aspects of Asian History and Culture, Upendra Thakur
• http://www.kamat.com/jyotsna/blog/blog.php?BlogID=1260

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