Bhadrabahu

Ācārya Bhadrabāhu (c. 367 – c. 298 BC) was, according to the Digambara sect of Jainism, the last Shruta Kevalin (all knowing by hearsay, that is indirectly) in Jainism .[1][2] He was the last acharya of the undivided Jain sangha. He was the spiritual teacher of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire.[3]

For other uses, see Bhadrabahu (disambiguation).

Aacharya
Bhadrabahu
Swami
Bhadrabahu
Late inscription at Shravanabelagola describing the incoming of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya
Personal
Bornc. 367 BC
Pundravardhana
Diedc. 298 BC
Shravanbelgola
ReligionJainism
SectDigambara and Svetambara
Notable work(s)Uvasagharam Stotra
Religious career
SuccessorAcharya Vishakha
Ascetics initiatedChandragupta Maurya
Initiationby Govarddhana Mahamuni
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Tirth
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According to the Digambara sect of Jainism, there were five Shruta Kevalins in Jainism – Govarddhana Mahamuni, Vishnu, Nandimitra, Aparajita and Bhadrabahu.[4]

Early life
Bhadrabahuswami

Bhadrabahu was born in Pundravardhana (roughly equivalent to modern North Bengal[5]) to a Brahmin family[6] during which time the secondary capital of the Mauryas was Ujjain. When he was seven, Govarddhana Mahamuni predicted that he will be the last Shruta Kevali and took him along for his initial education.[4] According to Śvētāmbara tradition, he lived from 433 BC to 357 BC.[7] Digambara tradition dates him to have died in 365 BC.[8] Natubhai Shah dated him from 322 to 243 BC.[9]

Yasobhadra (351-235 BC), leader of the religious order reorganised by Mahavira, had two principle disciples, Sambhutavijaya (347-257 BC) and Bhadrabahu.[9] After his death the religious order was divided in two lineages lead by Sambhutivijaya and Bhadrabahu.[9]

Ascetic life & Explanation of Sixteen Dreams of Chandragupta
Bhadrabahu Guha on Chandragiri

On the night of full moon in the month of Kartik, Chandragupta Maurya (founder and ruler of Maurya Empire) saw sixteen dreams, which were then explained to him by Acharya Bhadrabahu.[10]

S. No.Dream of ChandraguptaExplanation by Bhadrabahu
1The sun settingAll the knowledge will be darkened
2A branch of the Kalpavriksha break off and fallDecline of Jainism and Chandragupta's successors won't be initiated
3A divine car descending in the sky and returningThe heavenly beings will not visit Bharata Kshetra
4The disk of the moon sunderedJainism will be split into two sects
5Black elephants fightingLesser rains and poorer crops
6Fireflies shining in the twilightTrue knowledge will be lost, few sparks will glimmer with feeble light
7A dried up lakeAryakhanda will be destitute of Jain doctrines and falsehood will increase
8Smoke filling all the airEvil will start to prevail and goodness will be hidden
9An ape sitting on a throneVile, low-born, wicked will acquire power
10A dog eating the payasa out of a golden bowlKings, not content with a sixth share, will introduce land-rent and oppress their subjects by increasing it
11Young bulls labouringYoung will form religious purposes, but forsake them when old
12Kshatriya boys riding donkeysKings of high descent will associate with the base
13Monkeys scaring away swansThe low will torment the noble and try to reduce them to same level
14Calves jumping over the seaKing will assist in oppressing the people by levying unlawful taxes
15Foxes pursuing old oxenThe low, with hollow compliments, will get rid of the noble, the good and the wise
16A twelve-headed serpent approachingTwelve year of death and famine will come upon this land[11]
Stella showing the transmission of the oral tradition (Photo: Marhiaji, Jabalpur)

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,[12][13] bringing with him Chandragupta, turned Digambar monk.[14][11]

According to the inscriptions at Shravanabelgola, Bhadrabahu died after taking the vow of sallekhana (Fast until death).[15]

Works

According to Svetambaras, Bhadrabahu was the author of Kalpa Sūtra,[16] four Chedda sutras, commentaries on ten scriptures, Bhadrabahu Samhita and Vasudevcharita.[17][6]

Legacy

Bhadrabahu was the last acharya of the undivided Jain sangha. After him, the Sangha split into two separate teacher-student lineages of monks. Digambara monks belong to the lineage of Acharya Vishakha and Svetambara monks follow the tradition of Acharya Sthulabhadra.[18] Kalpasutra mentions Godasa as his chief disciple who founded Godasa Gana.[19]

Regarding the inscriptions describing the relation of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya, Radha Kumud Mookerji writes,

The oldest inscription of about 600 AD associated "the pair (yugma), Bhadrabahu along with Chandragupta Muni." Two inscriptions of about 900 AD on the Kaveri near Seringapatam describe the summit of a hill called Chandragiri as marked by the footprints of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta munipati. A Shravanabelagola inscription of 1129 mentions Bhadrabahu "Shrutakevali", and Chandragupta who acquired such merit that he was worshipped by the forest deities. Another inscription of 1163 similarly couples and describes them. A third inscription of the year 1432 speaks of Yatindra Bhadrabahu, and his disciple Chandragupta, the fame of whose penance spread into other words.[14]

— Radha Kumud Mookerji

Bhadrabahu-charitra was written by Ratnanandi of about 1450 AD.[14]

References

Citations
  1. Fynes, F.C.C. (1998). Hemachandra The Lives of Jain Elders (1998 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, Oxford World Classics. p. xxi. ISBN 0-19-283227-1.
  2. Bhattacharyya, N.N. (2009). Jainism, a Concise Encyclopedia. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers and Distributors. p. 235. ISBN 978-81-7304-312-3.
  3. Wiley 2009, p. 51.
  4. Rice 1889, p. 3.
  5. Majumdar, R.C. (1971). History of Ancient Bengal (1971 ed.). Calcutta: G.Bharadwaj & Co. p. 12 & 13.
  6. Jaini, Padmanabh (2000). Collected Papers on Jaina Studies. Motilal Banarasidass. p. 299.
  7. Vidyabhusana 2006, p. 164.
  8. Vidyabhusana 2006, p. 164–165.
  9. Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 42.
  10. Rice 1889, p. 4.
  11. Sangave 2001, p. 174.
  12. Dundas 2002, p. 47.
  13. Rice 1889, p. 5.
  14. Mookerji 1988, p. 40.
  15. Sangave 1981, p. 32.
  16. Mookerji 1988, p. 4.
  17. Wiley 2009, p. 52.
  18. Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 39.
  19. Vyas 1995, p. 27.

Sources
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