Bhadrabahu

Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Bhadrabāhu was a Jaina monk. According to Digambara tradition, he led a group of monks south to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka in about 310 BCE, after a 12-year famine, together with Chandragupta Maurya [4][5]. He matters because Jainas link his story to the split of Jainism into the Digambara and Shvetāmbara sects, and to the spread of Jainism into South India.

Explanation

Background: Jainism before the split

• Jainism is older than Mahāvīra. Jaina tradition names 24 tīrthankaras (teachers "who guide men and women across the river of existence"). Mahāvīra was the 24th and last of the present age [1].
• Mahāvīra practised strict self-denial and gave up all possessions. He followed the five great vows, the mahāvratas, which include not owning property [2][3].
• Mahāvīra himself did not wear clothes. Later monks disagreed about whether monks should copy him in this. Bhadrabāhu's story sits right on this point of dispute.

The famine and the migration south (Digambara account)

• Cause: a 12-year famine made it hard for monks to live in the north, because they depended on householders for food.
• Event: in about 310 BCE, the monk Bhadrabāhu led a migration south to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka [4][5].
• Royal companion: Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan king, went with him. By then he had become a Jaina monk [4][5].
• The monks who stayed behind in the north were led by Sthūlabhadra [4].

The dispute over clothing

• Bhadrabāhu insisted on nudity. He followed Mahāvīra's own example [4].
• Sthūlabhadra allowed white garments for the northern monks [4].
• The result, according to tradition:
• Monks who kept nudity became the Digambara ("Sky-Clad", meaning naked) [4][5].
• Monks who wore white robes became the Shvetāmbara ("White-Robed") [4][5].

How far we can trust the story

• Britannica warns that both sects' accounts are partisan. Each side tells the story in a way that supports itself [4][5].
• The accounts were written long after the events. The earliest Digambara account dates from the 10th century CE, more than a thousand years after 310 BCE [4][5].
• So the true origin of the split remains obscure (unclear) [4][5]. The Bhadrabāhu story is best read as tradition, not proven history.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 310 BCE, in the time of the Mauryan Empire. The date is traditional and approximate [4][5].
• Ruler: Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan king, who had become a Jaina monk according to Digambara tradition [4][5].
• Places: monks left the north because of the famine and settled at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, in the south [4][5].
• Key people:
• Bhadrabāhu: led the southern group and insisted on nudity [4].

• Sthūlabhadra: led the northern group and allowed white garments [4].

• Evidence:

• Mainly Digambara religious tradition. Its earliest written account is from the 10th century CE [4][5].
• The Shvetāmbara side tells its own version. Both are partisan [4][5].
• There is no contemporary record of the split that settles the question. This is why historians call its origin obscure [4][5].

Don't confuse with

• Sthūlabhadra: he led the monks who stayed in the north and allowed white garments [4]. Bhadrabāhu went south and insisted on nudity [4].
• Mahāvīra: the 24th tīrthankara, c. 599–527 BCE [3]. Bhadrabāhu was a later monk, not a tīrthankara.
• Chandragupta Maurya vs Chandragupta I: the Bhadrabāhu story involves Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan king [4][5]. Chandragupta I was a Gupta ruler of a much later period.
• Digambara vs Shvetāmbara: Digambara = "sky-clad" (naked monks, Bhadrabāhu's line in tradition). Shvetāmbara = "white-robed" (Sthūlabhadra's side) [4][5].

Prelims Hooks

• Bhadrabāhu + Chandragupta Maurya → Shravanabelagola (Karnataka), c. 310 BCE, after a 12-year famine, according to Digambara tradition [4][5].
• Digambara means "sky-clad". Shvetāmbara means "white-robed" [4][5].
• Bhadrabāhu insisted on nudity. Sthūlabhadra allowed white garments [4].
• Trap: Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of an empire, is linked by Jaina tradition to becoming a Jaina monk and going south with Bhadrabāhu [4][5].
• The earliest Digambara account of the split dates from the 10th century CE, not the Mauryan period [4][5].
• Order: Parshvanātha (23rd tīrthankara) → Mahāvīra (24th) → Bhadrabāhu and Chandragupta Maurya (c. 310 BCE) [2][3][4].

Mains Points

• Spread of Jainism to the south. The Bhadrabāhu tradition ties Shravanabelagola in Karnataka to Jainism from Mauryan times [4][5]. Use it to show how a faith from the Gangetic plain reached the Deccan. It also links to the Jaina literature in Tamil and to Jaina temple libraries in the south.
• Limits of religious-tradition sources. The story of the famine and migration comes mainly from partisan accounts written centuries later, the earliest in the 10th century CE [4][5]. It is a good example for answers on how historians must treat sect histories with care. The origin of the split remains obscure [4][5].
• Why the split happened: a debate over practice, not belief. The quarrel was about how strictly to copy Mahāvīra:
• Bhadrabāhu's side said monks must be naked, as Mahāvīra was.
• Sthūlabhadra's side allowed white robes [4].
• This shows that aparigraha (non-possession, giving up material things) could be read in different ways. This led to the lasting division into Digambara and Shvetāmbara [4][5].

Related concepts

• Jainism
• Tirthankara
• Rishabhanatha
• Parshvanatha
• Mahavira
• Kevala jnana
• Ahimsa
• Karma
• Five vows of Jainism
• Aparigraha

Read more

• Mahāvīra and the message of the Jainas