Know about Sage Koundinya

Koundinya was a great sage. He was a master of Vedic knowledge. He was a sage known beyond Bharat. Ashraya was his wife. Nothing is known about his children or more about his wife. He has come in the lineage of Parasurama. Koundinya came to prominence as a youth due to his mastery of the Vedas. He was a great devotee of Lord Ganesha. 

Later in life,  Koundinya got appointed as a royal court scholar of King Suddhodana of the Sakyas in Kapilavastu. There Kaundinya was the only scholar who unequivocally predicted upon the birth of Prince Siddhartha (8th April 563 BCE to 370 BCE) that the prince would become an enlightened Gautama Buddha, and vowed to become his disciple. Koundinya and four colleagues followed Siddhartha in six years of ascetic practice, but abandoned in disgust after Siddhartha gave up the practice of self-mortification.

Upon enlightenment, Siddartha gave his first dharma talk to Koundinya's group Kamats community in India belong to the "Koundinya Gotra", so do several countless Brahmin families, throughout India. 

Koundinya was the first to comprehend the teaching and thus became the first bhikkhu and arahant. Following the formation of the sangha, Kaundinya and the other monks traveled with the Buddha by foot through the Gangetic plains area of what is now Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to spread the dharma.

There is a version that sage Koundinya himself was created by Parvati for the purpose of extracting and fermenting the sap of the wild date palm and thus supplying the wants of gods and men in the matter of intoxicating drinks. It is said that the gods and demons were so delighted with the pleasant beverage, that they conferred upon him the title of 'Gouda' or 'the head of mankind.

According to Gowds (Gouda) legend, they have originated from the Great Sage Kaundinya who lived in Kurnool district (around 1300 AD). The community is derived branch of somavamsha kshatriyas who lived at the time of Parashurama. They pray the deity Renuka who is a Kshatriya and mother of Parashurama. She is also wife of jamadagni who is a Brahmin. 

 

It is told Koundinya was a different kind of Brahmin. Koundinya showed his valor, became a king, married a local princess and founded a dynasty. Koundinya hailed from Mithila (present day Bihar) and was a Shaiva. Shaivism (worshiping Shiva) became the state religion of Cambuj (ancient name of Cambodia). The royalty of Thailand also claims its origin from Koundinya.