Bhadrabahu III

Unlike the Digambara tradition which suggests the existence of multiple distinct men named Bhadrabahu, the Śvetāmbara tradition mentions only one Bhadrabahu. Two 14th century texts by Śvetāmbara authors - Merutunga's Prabandha Chintamani and Rajashekhara-suri's Prabandha Kosha (Chaturvimsati prabandha) - describe the 6th-century astrologer Varahamihira as a brother and rival of Bhadrabahu. Merutunga places the two brothers in Pataliputra, while Rajashekhara places them in Pratishthana. The story also appears in some later works with some minor changes. All these legends are historically inaccurate. The texts by Merutunga and Rajashekhara feature several other anachronisms, such as describing the 7th-century poets Bana and Magha as contemporaries of the 11th-century king Bhoja.^[2]

Although these Śvetāmbara legends identify Varahamihira's alleged brother with the 4th-century BCE Bhadrabahu, it is likely that their authors confused him with either Bhadrabahu II or Bhadrabahu III of the Digambara texts.^[2]

According to one theory, Bhadrabahu II is same as the alleged brother of Varahamihira, because both traditions describe him as a pupil of Yashobhadra and knowledegable about astrology. However, it is equally likely that Bhadrabahu III is same as the alleged brother of Varahamihira, since Varahamihira lived in the 6th-century BCE, not first century BCE.^[2] Bhadrabahu III is credited with writing niryuktis (commentaries) on the redacted Agama-sutras; the Jain tradition places the redaction of the Śvetāmbara canon in 5th century CE, so Bhadrabahu III can be considered as a contemporary of Varahamihira.^[1]