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6: śramana, Vol 64, No. III, July-Sept. 2013
CE. The conceptualizations of this ancient migration are intimately tied to the legendary figure of Bhadrabāhu and in particular to stories connecting Bhadrabāhu to one Chandragupta. 38 The basic narrative is that Bhadrabāhu, the last śrutakevali, due to a twelve year famine, sent or led a group of Jains to south India.39 Chandragupta, often identified as King Chandragupta Maurya (340-298 BCE), became a disciple of Bhadrabāhu, abdicated his throne and accompanied the group on their journey south. The destination of the group is regularly identified as Mysore district of Karnataka or specifically the site of Śravana Belgola. From there, Jainism is said to have spread to the rest of South India, i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In order to understand the significance of these narratives within Jaina history, it is necessary to clarify the historical and literary character of Bhadrabāhu, his role in the migration to South India and the significance of Śravaņa Belgo!a as the central locus of this migration. Bhadrabāhu: One or Many? Bhadrabāhu is a significant figure in Jaina religious, literary and political history. As an historical figure, he is estimated to have died c. 365 BC. He was a pontiff within the early Jaina community; a leader whose authority may be definitively traced back in the line of ācāryas to Mahāvīra. As noted above, he was the last Srutakevalī, the last person to know the entirety of the Jaina canon. After Bhadrabāhu the canon began to disintegrate, causing rifts between different communities of Jains. Consequently, the origins of the two major sects of Jainism, the Digambaras and the Svetāmbaras, are often traced back to him.
The name Bhadrabāhu is associated with a number of important Jaina texts. The Kalpasūtra, which contains the biographies of the tirtharikaras and three of the Chedasūtras (BȚhatkalpa, Vyavahāra and the Niśītha), which deal with the codification of monastic law, are attributed to Bhadrabāhu and dated c. 300 BCE. A person named Bhadrabāhu is also identified in the works of Kundakunda as his (gamaka guru) ('valid teacher').41 There is also much later another Bhadrabāhu, often referred to as Bhadrabāhu II or Niryuktikāra Bhadrabāhu, who lived between 4th to 6th century CE.42 He is identified as a Svetāmbara ācārya and author of ten niryuktis, or commentaries.43
Jain and Surana refer to this later Bhadrabāhu as the 'occult-powered ācārya’ and place him c. Vikram 124 (67 CE).44 According to the Bhāvasamgraha, a Digambara text, this later Bhadrabāhu also foresaw a twelve year famine. However, in this case, an ācārya called śānti brought the group of Jain ascetics from Ujjain to Valabhi Nagara in Saurastra (Gujarat). Unfortunately, in Gujarat there was also a famine. Therefore, ācārya Śānti allowed his congregation to take up the walking stick, rug and bowl and to wear white clothing. After the famine was over, Sānti advised the group to go back to the old ways, but one of the disciples, Jinacandra, refused. He hit śānti with his stick and killed him. This is the Digambara version of how the Svetāmbara sect came into being.
There is also another story from the Titthogāliya painnā, dated early 5th century Vikram era (4th to 5th century CE), which tells the story of the earlier Bhadrabāhu.45 In this version, Bhadrabāhu was born into a noble family and converted to Jainism. He practiced yoga for twelve years and
