{ "id": "ep7caahxh6", "slug": "bhadrabahu", "title": "Bhadrabahu", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india", "label": "India and South Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.india" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india.maurya", "label": "Maurya Empire (322 to 185 BC)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.india.maurya" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india.maurya.administration-economy-and-religion", "label": "Administration, economy, and religion", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.india.maurya.administration-economy-and-religion" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india.maurya", "label": "India · 500 BC to AD 999: Maurya Empire (322 to 185 BC)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india.maurya", "path": [ { "id": "geo.ind", "label": "India", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500", "label": "India · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india", "label": "India and South Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india.maurya", "label": "Maurya Empire (322 to 185 BC)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t500.society.history.asia.india.maurya" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Bhadrabahu (भद्रबाहु) was a Jain monk revered by both major orders as the last knower of the complete early Jain scriptures, traditionally dated c. 367 – c. 298 BC.", "snippet": "Bhadrabahu (भद्रबाहु) was a Jain monk revered by both major orders as the last knower of the complete early Jain scriptures, traditionally dated c. 367 – c. 298 BC.", "node": "society.history.asia.india.maurya.administration-economy-and-religion", "markdown": "# Bhadrabahu\n\n**Bhadrabahu** (भद्रबाहु) was a Jain monk and teacher (acarya) whom both the [Digambara](https://www.edgepedia.org/digambara) and Shvetambara orders revere as the last Shruta Kevalin, the last person who knew the whole of the early Jain sacred texts.[15](https://jainpedia.org/article/themes/principles/sacred-writings/purvas/) [Tradition](https://www.edgepedia.org/tradition) places him in the generations after Mahavira, in the age of the first Mauryan emperors, and one reference chronology dates him c. 367 – c. 298 BC.[1](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/historical-figures/bhadrabahu)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Sect standing | Revered by both Digambara and Shvetambara Jains as the last knower of the complete early canon (Shruta Kevalin)[15](https://jainpedia.org/article/themes/principles/sacred-writings/purvas/) |\n| Dates | Reference chronology c. 367 – c. 298 BC; death 298 BCE[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I) |\n| Birthplace | Pundravardhan, in present-day Bangladesh[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I) |\n| Famous disciple | Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empire, said to have abdicated to become his monk[16](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Bhadrabahu-I/79019) |\n| Migration | To Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, dated 310 BCE in Digambara tradition, after a predicted twelve-year famine[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I) • [4](https://www.artheonmuseum.org/artists/bhadrabahu) |\n| Attributed works | The Kalpa Sutra (Shvetambara tradition), the Cheda-sutras Dasha, Kappa, and Varshahara, and Niryuktis on ten scriptures[5](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/scriptures-texts/kalpa-sutra) • [6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) • [2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I) |\n\n## Origins and family\n\nBhadrabahu was born at Pundravardhan, a town in what is now Bangladesh, during the Mauryan period.[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I) A Digambara narrative relates that the boy came under the protection of the teacher [Govardhana](https://www.edgepedia.org/govardhana), mastered the sciences, took Jain initiation with his parents' permission, became a Digambar monk, and was installed by Govardhanacharya on his seat (patt) with the full burden of the sangha handed over to him.[7](https://www.jinvaani.org/acharya-bhadrabahu---chandragupt.html)\n\n## Career: the famine migration and the works\n\nThe migration south is the event with which Bhadrabahu's name is inseparably joined. Digambara tradition holds that in 310 BCE, after a twelve-year famine, Bhadrabahu and [Chandragupta](https://www.edgepedia.org/chandragupta), who had become a Jain monk, led an exodus from the Jain stronghold in northern India to [Shravanabelagola](https://www.edgepedia.org/shravanabelagola) in present-day [Karnataka](https://www.edgepedia.org/karnataka).[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I) • [4](https://www.artheonmuseum.org/artists/bhadrabahu) One account says he perceived the coming famine through nimitta jnan and migrated with a group of twelve thousand disciples, bringing with him Chandragupta, the aging founder of the Mauryan Empire turned Jain monk.[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I) According to *After Mahavira & The Schism* by T. K. Tukol, the first inscription at Sravanabelagola, of 600 AD, refers to this event and records that Bhadrabahu foretold in Ujjayani a calamity lasting twelve years, upon which the entire sangha set out from the North to the South.[8](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=AfterMahaviraTheSchism) A 6th–7th century inscription from Shravanabelagola states that Chandragupta became a Digambar monk under Bhadrabahu's guidance, the teacher being called Prabhachandra in the record.[9](https://duhocchina.com/en/Bhadrab%C4%81hu)\n\nAccording to the Marathi Vishwakosh, while Bhadrabahu was away, [Sthulabhadra](https://www.edgepedia.org/sthulabhadra) convened learned monks at [Pataliputra](https://www.edgepedia.org/pataliputra), arranged the eleven Angas, and composed the twelfth Anga (Ditthivaya) from the surviving portions of the fourteen Purvas.[6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) According to the Ahimsa Foundation's account, Bhadrabahu taught Sthulabhadra but forbade him to teach the Purvas to others, and the fourteen Purvas in their original form died with these two men.[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I) \n\nWorks attributed to Bhadrabahu fall into two groups. By tradition, he composed the three Cheda-sutras Dasha (Dasasrutaskandha, also called Acaradasa), Kappa (Kalpa), and Varshahara (Vyavahara); according to the Panchakalpachurni he also composed the Acharakalpa (Nishitha-sutra).[14](https://jainqq.org/explore/006565/84) • [6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) Shvetambara tradition further names him the author of the Kalpa Sutra, the text recited annually during [Paryushana](https://www.edgepedia.org/paryushana), which describes the life of Mahavira and other Tirthankaras and lists a succession of heads of the monastic order beginning with Sudharmaswami.[5](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/scriptures-texts/kalpa-sutra) • [9](https://duhocchina.com/en/Bhadrab%C4%81hu) He is also credited with the Niryuktis, short commentaries on ten of the twelve original sacred books.[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I)\n\n## Political influence\n\n[Chandragupta Maurya](https://www.edgepedia.org/chandragupta-maurya), the founder of the dynasty, is said to have abdicated his throne, become Bhadrabahu's disciple, accompanied him to Karnataka, and died there by the ritual fast of sallekhana.[10](https://www.worldhistory.org/Chandragupta_Maurya/) • [1](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/historical-figures/bhadrabahu) Inscriptions in Karnataka dating between the 5th and 15th centuries CE mention a Chandragupta in connection with the Jain saint Bhadrabahu.[10](https://www.worldhistory.org/Chandragupta_Maurya/)\n\nThe lasting institution attached to his name is the monastic geography of Jainism itself. According to [Encyclopædia Britannica](https://www.edgepedia.org/encyclop-dia-britannica), some scholars, particularly in the West, recognize the migration as the beginning of the schism between the Digambara and Shvetambara sects.[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I) The Marathi Vishwakosh presents the sequence directly: when Bhadrabahu's followers returned to Magadha after the famine, they found the monks there wearing white clothes while they themselves remained naked according to the old practice, and they did not accept the Shvetambara canon, and thus the two sects arose.[6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) After Bhadrabahu, Digambara monks belong to the lineage of Acharya Vishakha and Shvetambara monks follow the tradition of Acharya Sthulabhadra.[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I)\n\n## Death and successors\n\nOne narrative has him stay on a low hill as death approached and order his followers to go on, with Chandragupta remaining to serve him and then performing sallekhana himself after the teacher died.[6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) Sources differ on where his final years fell: some authorities say that after the famine he retired in seclusion to Nepal, while others say he remained in Mysore.[2](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I)\n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nModern scholarship treats the traditional picture with caution on several points. The Kalpa Sutra attribution is read as traditional rather than documentary: the text shows layers from different periods, its final redaction is generally placed at the council of Valabhi in the fifth century CE under Devardhigani Kshamashramana, roughly eight centuries after Bhadrabahu's traditional dates, and no manuscript evidence reaches back to confirm authorship at the traditional date.[5](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/scriptures-texts/kalpa-sutra) • [1](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/historical-figures/bhadrabahu) Scholars also note that at least one later teacher also named Bhadrabahu appears in Jain historical memory, raising the possibility of conflation between figures separated by centuries.[5](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/scriptures-texts/kalpa-sutra)\n\nDating is unsettled. On the schism, the positions conflict directly: the Marathi Vishwakosh presents the famine migration and the returning monks' rejection of the Shvetambara canon as the origin of the two sects,[6](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/) while other accounts state plainly that the theory that the schism occurred at that time has not been historically proven. Dr. Hoernle concluded that before Bhadrabahu the Jain community was undivided and that the Digambara separation resulted from the migration southwards under Bhadrabahu after a severe famine in Bihar.[8](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=AfterMahaviraTheSchism) On Chandragupta, S. R. Sharma stated that V. A. Smith's conclusion that the emperor accompanied Bhadrabahu to Mysore and died there by sallekhana may be accepted,[8](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=AfterMahaviraTheSchism) though historians more broadly treat the famine and migration as plausible in outline and the Chandragupta episode as unverified.[12](https://theindosphere.com/bhadrabahu/)\n\nA scholarly survey of early Jain migration places the earliest movement from north to south India in the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE and notes that conceptualizations of this migration are intimately tied to the figure of Bhadrabahu; it concludes on archaeological and epigraphic grounds that the most probable earliest route ran along the [Eastern Ghats](https://www.edgepedia.org/eastern-ghats) through Orissa and [Andhra Pradesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/andhra-pradesh) to [Tamil Nadu](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-nadu).[13](https://www.academia.edu/40964596/Early_History_of_Jainism_and_Migrations_to_South_India) \n\n## Legacy\n\nBhadrabahu stands in Jain memory as a hinge figure: the last point at which both orders agree the teaching was complete.[12](https://theindosphere.com/bhadrabahu/) The Kalpa Sutra credited to him is still recited annually during Paryushana in the Shvetambara tradition.[1](https://divinity.interactivelion.com/historical-figures/bhadrabahu) At Shravanabelagola, a hill and a cave are named for Chandragupta, the disciple whose renunciation of the Mauryan throne the tradition ties to Bhadrabahu's teaching.[12](https://theindosphere.com/bhadrabahu/)\n\n## References\n\n1. Bhadrabahu – Historical Figures – https://divinity.interactivelion.com/historical-figures/bhadrabahu\n2. Bhadrabahu I – Encyclopaedia Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhadrabahu-I\n3. Acharya Bhadrabahu – Ahimsa Foundation – https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Archarya_Bhadrabahu-_I\n4. Bhadrabahu – Biography & Artworks – https://www.artheonmuseum.org/artists/bhadrabahu\n5. Kalpa Sutra – Scriptures & Texts – https://divinity.interactivelion.com/scriptures-texts/kalpa-sutra\n6. भद्रबाहु – मराठी विश्वकोश प्रथमावृत्ती – https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/29983/\n7. Acharya Bhadrabahu – Chandragupt – https://www.jinvaani.org/acharya-bhadrabahu---chandragupt.html\n8. After Mahavira & The Schism, by T. K. Tukol – https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=AfterMahaviraTheSchism\n9. Acharya Bhadrabāhu: Indian Jain monk – https://duhocchina.com/en/Bhadrab%C4%81hu\n10. Chandragupta Maurya – World History Encyclopedia – https://www.worldhistory.org/Chandragupta_Maurya/\n11. Acharya Badhrabahu & Shravanabelagola – https://www.oocities.org/tamiljain/bahubali/pages/essays/bhadrabahu4.htm\n12. Bhadrabahu – The Indosphere – https://theindosphere.com/bhadrabahu/\n13. Early History of Jainism and Migrations to South India – https://www.academia.edu/40964596/Early_History_of_Jainism_and_Migrations_to_South_India\n14. jainqq.org. https://jainqq.org/explore/006565/84\n15. [Pūrvas - Jainpedia](https://jainpedia.org/article/themes/principles/sacred-writings/purvas/)\n16. [Bhadrabahu I - Scholars | Britannica Kids | Encyclopedia](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Bhadrabahu-I/79019)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Maurya Empire (322 to 185 BC) › Administration, economy, and religion*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Bhadrabahu\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Bhadrabahu](https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu](https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Bhadrabahu\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bhadrabahu. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Bhadrabahu was a Jain monk revered by both major orders as the last knower of the complete early Jain scriptures, traditionally dated c. 367 – c. 298 BC." }