Kundalakesi

Kundalakesi (Tamil: குண்டலகேசி Kuṇṭalakēci) is a fragmentary Tamil Buddhist epic written by Nathakuthanaar. It is one of The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature according to later Tamil literary tradition, with the other four being Silappatikaram,Manimekalai,Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi and Valayapathi. The first mention of the "Aimperumkappiyam" (lit. Five large epics) occurs in Mayilainathar's commentary of Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention the names of the five epics. The names of the epics are first mentioned in the late 18th century - early 19th century work Thiruthanikaiula. Earlier works like the seventeenth-century poem Tamil vidu thoothu mention the great epics as Panchkavyams. Its time period has been estimated to be before fifth century C.E.

Of the five great epics, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi are not available in full. Only fragments quoted in other literary works and commentaries have survived. Only 19 of the original 99 verses of Kundalakesi have been recovered. An additional five have been recovered, but whether they were part of Kundalakesi has not been proven conclusively. Tamil linguist Kamil Zvelebil has speculated that the epic was destroyed due to its Buddhist content by anti-Buddhist fanatics. The 19 verses recovered have been found in the commentaries for Tolkāppiyam, Veera Sozhiyam, Yapperungalam , Thakkayagaparani, Sivagnana Siddhiyar Parapakkam (Thirvorriyur Gnanaprakasar's commentary), the epic Neelakesi and the poem Vaisyapuranam. Neelakesi – one of the five lesser Tamil epics, was a Jain religious work about the life of the female Jain monk of the same name, who was a rival preacher of the Buddhist protagonist of Kundalakesi (It was written as a Jain rebuttal to the Buddhist criticism in Kundalakesi). The first lines of the 99 verses of Kundalakesi are available in the Jain saint Vamanar's commentary on Neelakesi. The 19 recovered verses do not reveal the plot of the epic and are advisory in nature. The introductory and 15th Verses contain references to Buddhism. The Vinaya sub commentary Vimativinodani refers to the epic as follows:

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