Arya Bhadrabahu

Author(s): M A Dhaky
Publisher: Z_Nirgranth_Aetihasik_Lekh_Samucchay_Part_1_002105.pdf and Nirgranth_Aetihasik_Lekh_Samucchay_Part_2

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M. A. Dhaky
Jambu-jyoti
the canon, Bhadrabähu was in Nepāla where, as stated also in the cūrni, Hemacandra adds, he had undertaken the yogic maháprana-sadhanā. As its prelude, Hemacandra also talks about the 12 years' drought whereupon the pontiff Suschita dispersed the Samgha to different congenial locales and, at that time, emperor Candragupta attained Samadhimarana, peaceful end/death by ritually undergoing starvation. The work earlier talks at great length about Cānākya and how he helped Candragupta in vanquishing Nanda and in seizing his empire. Then there is a brief report on Candragupta's son and successor Bindusāra, followed by that on Asoka, his son Kunāla, and the circumstances under which Kunāla was blinded; also, he mentions Kunāla's consort (by name Saraccari) and their begetting the son Samprati who eventually was given a share in Aśoka's empire. (He very plausibly ruled from Ujjayani as his capital.) The account thus far and in part is endorsed by the earlier sources except that (Arya) Susthita, in point of fact, was to appear on the historical scene a couple of centuries lateri's. But more serious confusion appears when Hemacandra starts talking about a "second 12 years drought” and Bhadrabāhu next meeting Samprati, an impossible reality, unless he is some other Bhadrabāhu, about whom nothing is known from any other source. It was Arya Suhasti, disciple of Śthūlabhadra, who was contemporary as also the preceptor of Samprati. And this latter notice seems plausible since it synchronizers with the historical chronology of the Mauryan dynasts.
VII
Conclusions After assessing the total evidence from the available earlier writings and related pre-medieval and medieval epigraphs from Karnataka on Arya Bhadrabāhu, the following facts, by way of recapitulation, together with a few additional, brief, clarificatory, and further elucidatory observations now may be put forward. Alongwith it a few speculative thoughts also will be included. The picture delineated even by the collective information from all of the presently available sources, however, is far from complete. There are several gaps, lingering doubts, unresolved enigmas and obvious improbabilities ranged against the apparent plausibilities. The conflicting positions are present at several crucial points, paths, and turnings. As a result, the determinations in all such cases, wherever made, or plausibilities in happenings, wherever suggested, are at best tentative.