Short answer: Jain tradition says yes, a famine in Magadha helped set the stage for the split into Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras, but the exact details differ between traditions and later scholars.

What Jain tradition says

• Famine: A severe famine in Magadha around the 4th–3rd centuries BCE is an important turning point in many accounts. Acharya Bhadrabāhu and a large group of monks left Magadha to escape the famine, going south to Karnataka; a separate group stayed behind. This migration is central to the story of the two sects. ( jainknowledge.com)
• Two lines after the famine:

- Digambaras: The southward group followed stricter ascetic practice (traditionally described as sky-clad or naked) and did not retain the same canonical texts. They came to be known as Digambaras. - Śvetāmbaras: The northern group, who stayed in Magadha and later developed a more “white-clad” monastic code, and who are associated with preserving and compiling certain scriptures. - When the groups met again later, differences in dress, practice, and scriptures led to a formal distinction. The Vallabhi council (5th–6th century CE) is often cited as the period when Śvetāmbara texts were codified; Digambaras did not accept these codifications. ( jainknowledge.com)

• Other traditions note additional narratives:

- Some Digambara sources speak of Bhadrabāhu’s leadership and a separate line of tradition, while Śvetāmbara texts sometimes date the split to events tied to different leaders (e.g., Sivabhuti in later narratives). These are later medieval–early modern entries and reflect sectarian historiography rather than a single, universally agreed origin. ( jainpedia.org)

Important caveats

• The dating and exact sequence vary between Digambara and Śvetāmbara traditions, and between modern scholarly retellings. Some sources emphasize the famine as the decisive cause; others place more emphasis on textual/canonical disputes and later councils. The core Jain ethical teachings remain shared across both sects, despite the historical divergences. ( en.wikipedia.org)

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