Some surviving fragments imply that Kundalakesi was a Jain girl who first defeated all the Hindu scholars with her arguments, but ultimately converted to Buddhism. In contrast, the "Nilakeci" extensively quotes portions of the Buddhist epic, calls it a provocation, and counterclaims that Nilakeci "vanquished Kuntalakeci in argument, taught her and finally won in argument with the Buddha himself". The surviving references to the Buddhist epic give different versions of the story. Kundalakesi is a Hindu girl in some versions, in some she converts to Buddhism "before" she kills Kalan, and the story details of the epic vary such as in the late Tamil text "Vaiciyapuranam".