There are no historical records on his life from India. The only info that we know about him comes from Chinese records. One document from the 6th century states that he died on the Luo River in 534 and was buried by this disciple Huike in the area. However, a scholar suggests that he might have been one of the many people who were killed by imperial forces in Henan province in 528. A later record from the 10th century states that he died at the age of 150 (an obvious embellishment) and was buried in Mt. Xiong. But he was seen 3 years later walking back to India. This spawned a legend that is still popular today.

The recent Tamil sci-fi film 7am Arivu (2011) provides a fictional story for his death. The film explains after teaching his martial arts to the Chinese people, Bodhidharma decides to go back to his own country of India. The Chinese do not want him to leave, so they serve him food mixed with poison. Bodhidharma discovers this and asks them why. They tell him that since he is a master of medicine, his body will keep China disease-free. Bodhidharma accepts this fate and willing eats the food. His body is buried in the village.