Bhadrabahu

Bhadrabahu
Official name	Shrutkevali Acharya Bhadrabahu
Personal
Born	433 BCE
Died	357 BCE Shravanbelgola
Parents	Soma Sarmma (father) Soma Sri (mother)
Notable work(s)	Uvasagharam Stotra
Military service
Rank	Acharya
Senior posting
Successor	Acharya Vishakha
Initiation	by Govarddhana Mahamuni (Shruta Kevali)

Bhadrabahu (c. 433 – c. 357 BCE) was the last Shrut Kevali (all knowing by hearsay, that is indirectly) in Jainism. He was a Digambara Acharya and the spiritual teacher of Chandragupta Maurya.

There were five Shruta Kevalis in Jainism - Govarddhana Mahamuni, Vishnu, Nandimitra, Aparajita and Bhadrabahu.

Early life

Bhadrabahu was born in Pundravardhana (now in Bangladesh) to a Brahmin family 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. He was then initiated as a Digambara Muni and by practicing gyan, dhyan, tap and sanyam got the Acharya pad.

Ascetic life

Inscription of the incoming of Shrutakevali Bhadrabahu swami and Chandragupta Maurya (Shravanabelagola)

Bhadrabahu Gupha on Chandragiri

On the night of full moon in the month of Kartik, Chandragupta saw sixteen dreams, which were then explained to him by Acharya Bhadrabahu.

S. No.	Dream of Chandragupta	Explanation by Bhadrabahu
1	The sun setting	All the knowledge will be darkened
2	A branch of the Kalpavriksha break off and fall	Decline of Jainism and Chandragupta's successors wont be initiated
3	A divine car descending in the sky and returning	The heavenly beings will not visit Bharata Kshetra
4	The disk of the moon sundered	Jainism will be split into two sects
5	Black elephants fighting	Lesser rains and poorer crops
6	Fireflies shining in the twilight	True knowledge will be lost, few sparks will glimmer with feeble light
7	A dried up lake	Aryakhanda will be destitute of Jain doctrines and falsehood increase
8	Smoke filling all the air	Evil prevail and goodness hidden
9	An ape sitting on a throne	Vile, low-born, wicked will acquire power
10	A dog eating the payasa out of a golden bowl	Kings, not content with a sixth share, will introduce land-rent and oppress their subjects by increasing it
11	Young bulls labouring	Young will form religious purposes, but forsake them when old
12	Kshatriya boys riding donkeys	Kings of high descent will associate with the base
13	Monkeys scaring away swans	The low will torment the noble and try to reduce them to same level
14	Calves jumping over the sea	King will assist in oppressing the people by levying unlawful taxes
15	Foxes pursuing old oxen	The low, with hollow compliments, will get rid of the noble, the good and the wise
16	A twelve-headed serpent approaching	twelve year of death and famine will come upon this land

Stella showing the transmission of the oral tradition (Photo: Marhiaji, Jabalpur)

Bhadrabahu decided the famine would make it harder for monks to survive and migrated with a group of twelve thousand disciples to South India, bringing with him Chandragupta, the founder of the Mauryan Empire turned Jain monk.

According to the inscriptions at Shravanabelgola, Bhadrabahu died after taking the vow of Sallekhana.

Works

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

Legacy

Bhadrabahu remains an exemplar of dedication to first principles at any cost. After him, the Sangha split into two separate teacher-student lineages of monks. Digambar monks belong to the lineage of Acharya Vishakha and Shvetambar monks follow the tradition of Sthulabhadra. Bhadrabahu composed some new texts as well. In the Shvetambar tradition, Brihatkalpa, Vyavahara, and Nisitha are considered his works.