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Gommates vara Commemoration Volume
The earliest available reference to Bhadrabahu is found in Kundakunda's Bodhapāhuda (2nd century A. D.) as follows:
1) Sadda-viyāro huo bhasa-suttesu jam jine kahiyam /
So taha kahiyaṁ näyan siseņa ya Bhaddabāhussa // 61
2) Bārasa-anga-viyāṇam caudasa-puvvanga-vivuia vittharanam /
Suya-nūņi Bhaddahāhūgamayaguru bhayavavo jayau // 62
Here the name Bhadrabahu mentioned in the above first gāhā is with reference to the one who was the preceptor or Dikşāguru of Kundakunda and the name mentioned in the 2nd gāhā is with reference to the one who is a paramparāguru, i. e., Bhadrabāhu the Dvādaśānga Caturdaśa Pūrvin.
There are a few inscriptions that mention the name of Bhadrabāhu, and to them Sravanabelgo!a Inscription No. 1 is the earliest one. In this Inscription the name Bhadrabahu occurs twice: the first one occurs as the 8th name in succession of the name Gautama ganadhara and the 2nd occurs after a few phrases that follow 'Buddhila', a name 17th in succession of these two names the first one refers to Bhadrabāhu the Dvādaśānga Caturdaśa Pūrvin who is referred in the stories as the preceptor of Samrāt Candragupta. The second name refers to a person who lived long after the first Bhadrabāhu. Here in this inscription it is essential to note that there is no mention of the name Candragupta and instead occurs the name Prabhācandra and that this is mentioned in association with the 2nd Bhadrabahu.
There are also few other inscriptions at Sravaṇabelgola which mention Bhadrabāhu in association with Candragupta'.
All the stories, with the exception of one in the Vaddārādhane, tell that Candragupta the king of Ujjayini taking Muni Dikşā accompanied Bhadrabāhu the Caturdaśa Pūrvin in his journey to Dakşiņāpatha and remained with his guru i. e., Bhadrabāhu on the hill Kalbappu. However, the story in the Vaddārädhane gives the name of the king as Samprati Candragupta, whom the same source mentions as the grand son of Asoka and son of Kunala.
In the Svetāmbara traditional accounts the event of Bhadrabāhu's journey to Dakşiņā patha is entirely absent and instead he is mentioned to have lived in Nepal during the period of famine. Hemacandrācārya states that at that period, MauryaCandragupta was ruling the country of Magadha. A thorough investigation into the available records points out that confusion in identifying persons bearing the identical names has led to the distortion and misrepresentation of the historical facts and figures. There were three Acāryas bearing the name Bhadrabāhu and
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