Ācārya Bhadrabāhu (c. 367 – c. 298 BC) was, according to both the

Śvetāmbara The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...

and ''

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major Jain schools and branches, schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvetāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic pract ...

'' sects of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

, the last '' Shruta Kevalin'' (all knowing by hearsay, that is indirectly) in Jainism. According to the

tradition, he was the spiritual teacher of

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...

, the founder of the

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

. According to the ''Digambara'' sect of Jainism, there were five ''Shruta Kevalins'' in Jainism – Govarddhana Mahamuni, Vishnu, Nandimitra, Aparajita and Bhadrabahu. According to the

tradition, he was the author of the holy

Kalpa Sūtra The ''Kalpa Sūtra'' () is a Jain text containing the biographies of the Jain Tirthankaras, notably Parshvanatha and Mahavira. Traditionally ascribed to Bhadrabahu, which would place it in the 4th century BCE, it was probably put in writing ...

, which describes the life of

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

and other

Tirthankaras In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', a fordable passage across '' saṃsāra'', the sea of interminable birt ...

. It also lists down a

Sthaviravali The Parishishtaparvan () also known as the Sthaviravalicharitra () is a 12th-century Sanskrit mahakavya by Hemachandra which details the histories of the earliest Jain teachers. The poem comprises 3,460 verse couplets divided into 13 cantos of uneq ...

(a succession list of the names of the head of the Jain monastic order according to Śvetāmbaras, starting with Mahavira's

Ganadhara In Jainism, the term Ganadhara is used to refer the chief disciple of a ''Tirthankara''. In '' samavasarana'', the ''Tīrthankara'' sat on a throne without touching it (about two inches above it). Around, the ''Tīrthankara'' sits the ''Gana ...

(disciple)

Sudharmaswami Sudharmaswami ( or Sudharman; 607 BC – 507 BC) was the fifth ganadhara of Mahavira. All the current Jain acharyas and monks follow his rule. Life Sudharmaswami was the spiritual successor of Indrabhuti Gautama in religious order reorganise ...

). Śvetāmbaras consider Bhadrabahusuri to be a Sthavirkalpi monk (as described in the

Ācārāṅga Sūtra The Ācārāṅga Sūtra, the foremost and oldest Jain text (''First book'' c. 5th–4th century BCE; Second book c. Late 4th–2nd century BCE), is the first of the twelve Angas, part of the agamas which were compiled based on the teachings o ...

, the

, and the Sthananga Sutra), and thus, white-clad. Śvetāmbaras also consider him to have had been a ''Shruta Kevalin''.

Early life

Bhadrabahu was born in

Pundravardhana Pundravardhana or Pundra kingdom (), was an ancient kingdom of Iron Age India located in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi and parts of Rangpur Division of Bangladesh a ...

(roughly equivalent to modern

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

) to a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family during which time the secondary capital of the

Mauryas The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

was

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

. When he was seven, Govarddhana Mahamuni predicted that he will be the last ''Shruta Kevali'' and took him along for his initial education. According to '' Śvētāmbara'' tradition, he lived from 433 BC to 357 BC. ''

'' tradition dates him to have died in 365 BC. Natubhai Shah dated him from 322 to 243 BC. Yasobhadra (351-235 BC), leader of the religious order reorganised by

, had two principle disciples, Sambhutavijaya (347-257 BC) and Bhadrabahu. After his death the religious order was led by Sambhutivijaya. After Sambhutivijaya's death, Bhadrabahu became the head of the monastic order.

Digambara biography and explanation of sixteen dreams of Chandragupta

The

sect believes that on the night of full moon in the month of ''Kartik'',

(founder and ruler of

) saw sixteen dreams, which were then explained to him by ''Acharya'' Bhadrabahu. Djtradition marhiaji

Bhadrabahu was in Nepal for a 12-year penitential vow when the Pataliputra conference took place in 300 BC to put together the Jain canon anew. Bhadrabahu decided the famine would make it harder for monks to survive and migrated with a group of twelve thousand disciples to

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

, bringing with him Chandragupta, turned Digambar monk. According to the inscriptions at Shravanabelgola, Bhadrabahu died after taking the vow of

sallekhana (IAST: ), also known as ''samlehna'', ''santhara'', ''samadhi-marana'' or ''sanyasana-marana'', is a supplementary vow to the ethical code of conduct of Jainism. It is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually redu ...

(Fast until death). Jain Inscription

''"Digambara'' monks belong to the lineage of ''Acharya'' Vishakha and ''Śvetāmbara'' monks follow the tradition of Acharya'' Sthulabhadra. However, the theory that the schism occurred at that time has not been historically proven. ''Avashyak Bhashya'', a 5th-century

text written by Jinabhadra claims that the

sect had always existed and that the Digambara sect was created by a rebellious monk named

Sivabhuti Sivabhuti was a Jain monk of the 1st century CE who is regarded as the founder of the Digambara tradition in 82 AD, according to the 5th-century Śvetāmbara text ''Avashyak Bhashya'', authored by Jinabhadra. Very little is known about him, apa ...

Śvetāmbara biography

According to Śvetāmbaras, Bhadrabahusuri was the author of the ''

'', four Chedda sutras, the ''niryukti collection'' on ten scriptures, and Uvasaggaharam Stotra. The 10 ''niryuktis'' authored by him are: - # Āvaśyaka-Niryukti # Daśavaikālika-Niryukti # Uttarādhyayana-Niryukti # Āchārāṅga-Niryukti # Sutrakritanga-Niryukti # Daśāśrutaskandha-Niryukti # Kalpa-Niryukti # Vyavahāra-Niryukti # Sūryaprajnapti-Niryukti # Ṛṣibhāṣita-Niryukti Śvetāmbaras believe Bhadrabahu's principle disciples were Sthavir Godas, Sthavir Agnidatt, Sthavir Yagnadatt, and Sthavir Somdatt. However, in the

Pattavali A Pattavali (From Sanskrit patta: seat, avali: chain), Sthaviravali or Theravali, is a record of a spiritual lineage of heads of monastic orders. They are thus spiritual genealogies. It is generally presumed that two successive names are teach ...

, he is said to have been succeeded by Acharya Sthulabhadrasuri. He is believed to have been a Sthavirkalpi monk and white-clad as Śvetāmbaras believe that the only other way for monks (known as Jinakalpa) or the practice of being a Jinakalpi monk had become extinct after

Jambuswami Jambuswami (543-449 BCE) was the spiritual successor of Sudharmaswami in Jain religious order reorganised by Mahavira. He remained the head for 39 or 44 years, after which he is believed to have gained '' Kevala Jnana'' (omniscience). He is be ...

attained ''nirvana.'' Therefore, Śvetāmbaras hold that he was Sthavirkalpi and thus, white-clad. Śvetāmbaras believe that Bhadrabāhu is the author of the following texts within the official Śvetāmbaras scriptural canon (typically consisting of 45 texts). *''Vyavahāra'' (3rd Chedasūtra) *8th chapter of ''Daśāśrutaskandha'' (4th Chedasūtra) *''Kappa'' (5th Chedasūtra) *''Piṇḍaniryukti'' (4th Mūlasūtra) *''Oghaniryukti''

Legacy

Regarding the inscriptions describing the relation of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya, Radha Kumud Mookerji writes, ''Bhadrabahu-charitra'' was written by Ratnanandi of about 1450 AD.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control 430s BC births 350s BC deaths Digambara Acharyas Indian Jain monks 5th-century BC Indian Jains 5th-century BC Jain monks 5th-century BC Indian monks 4th-century BC Indian Jains 4th-century BC Jain monks 4th-century BC Indian monks Ancient Indian writers Bengali writers 5th-century BC Indian writers 4th-century BC Indian writers Jain acharyas