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Bhāradvāja

1. Bhāradvāja.– One of the two chief disciples of Kassapa Buddha. J.i.43; Bu.xxv.39; SNA.i.293.

2. Bhāradvāja Thera.– He belonged to the Bhāradvājagotta and was a brahmin of Rājagaha. He sent his son Kaṇhadinna to Takkasilā, to study under a certain teacher, but, on the way there, the boy met a Thera, entered the Order, and became an Arahant. Bhāradvāja, too, heard the Buddha teach at Veḷuvana, became a monk, and attained Arahantship. Later, when Kaṇhadinna visited the Buddha at Rājagaha, he met his father and learnt from him of his attainments.

Thirty-one world-cycles ago, Bhāradvāja met the Pacceka Buddha Sumana and gave him a vallīkāra fruit (Thag.vss.177‑8; ThagA.i.302 f). He is, perhaps, identical with Vallīkāraphaladāyaka of the Apadāna. Ap.ii.416; but the same Apadāna verses are given under Bhalliya (ThagA.i.49).

3. Bhāradvāja Thera.– He was the eldest of a clan of Bhāradvājas living in Rājagaha and his wife was a Dhanañjāni brahminee. The wife was a devout follower of the Buddha, and constantly sang the praises of the Buddha, of his teachings, and of the Order. Annoyed at this, Bhāradvāja went to the Buddha and asked a question. He was so pleased with the answer that he joined the Order and not long after became an Arahant (S.i.160 f), several of his brothers following his example. See Bhāradvāja (5)

4. Bhāradvāja.– A young brahmin, pupil of Tārukkha. A discussion between him and Vāseṭṭha led to the teaching of the Tevijja Sutta (D.i.235), and also the Vāseṭṭha Sutta (SN., p.115 ff; M.ii.197 f).

Bhāradvāja later became the Buddha’s follower (D.i.252; SN., p.123). The Aggañña Sutta was taught him and to Vāseṭṭha when they were undergoing the probationary period prior to their becoming fully ordained monks (D.iii.80).

Buddhaghosa says (DA.iii.860) that they accepted the Buddha as their teacher at the conclusion of the Vāseṭṭha Sutta and entered the Order at the end of the Tevijja Sutta. Later, while meditating on the teachings of the Aggañña Sutta, they became Arahants (DA.iii.872). According to Buddhaghosa, Bhāradvāja belonged to a noble family worth four hundred and fifty million (DA.iii.860).

5. Bhāradvāja.– The name of a brahmin clan; about twenty individuals belonging to this clan are mentioned in the Piṭakas. In one family, living at Rājagaha, the eldest was married to a Dhanañjāni brāhminee and later became an Arahant. See Bhāradvāja Thera (3)

His brothers: Akkosaka Bhāradvāja, Asurindaka°, Bilaṅgika°, and Saṅgārava°, followed him (S.i.160 ff; SA.i.175 ff; MA.ii.808). Several other Bhāradvājas living in Sāvatthi visited the Buddha there, joined the Order, and became Arahants; viz., Ahimsaka Bhāradvāja, Jatā°, and Suddhika°; Aggika° joined the Order at Veḷuvana, Sundarika° on the banks of the Sundarikā, and Bahudhītīka° in a forest tract in Kosala. Kasi°, Katthahāra° and Navakammaki° became lay disciples.

The elder Piṇḍola-Bhāradvāja also belonged to the Bhāradvājagotta; so did Kāpathika (M.ii.169 f). The clan was evidently considered to be very ancient. Mention is made in the books of a Bhāradvāja is among the authors of the runes of the brāhmaṇas (e.g., D.i.242; M.ii.169, 200; A.iii.224; iv.61, etc.) The Kāliṅgabodhi Jātaka speaks of a Kālingabhāradvāja brahmin, while the brahmin carpenter in the Phaṇḍana Jātaka belongs to the same clan.

The chief priest (purohita) Sucīrata, of Dhanañjaya Koravya (in the Sambhava Jataka), is a Bhāradvāja, as is also Jūjaka of the Vessantara Jātaka. In a Vinaya passage (Vin.iv.6; but see DA.iii.860) the Bhāradvājagotta is mentioned together with the Kosiya as a low clan (hīnagotta).

6. Bhāradvāja.– A brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan living at Kammāssadhamma. The Buddha once stayed there and slept on a mat in his fire hut, and there he met the wanderer Māgaṇḍiya. M.i.501 ff.

7. Bhāradvāja.– A yakkha chief to whom disciples of the Buddha should make appeal in time of need. D.iii.204.

8. Bhāradvāja.– A Pacceka Buddha. M.iii.70.