History of the religeous title bhagavAn

[Peter Wyzlic]

On Fri, 10 Nov 2000, Stephen Hodge wrote:

> From: Ven. Tantra:
> > >referred to the exegesis of "bhagavat" which
> > >is sometimes glossed as "bhaga-endowed" where "bhaga"
> > > = "yoni".
> > What's going on there? Is this reliable? If he's back
> > from Egypt, maybe he can fill us in.
> 
> I believe it is a "creative" etymology such as one sometimes finds in
> commentorial literature.  I have just had a quick look a few reference
> sources on hand but I couldn't find what I was looking for -- a lot of
> my books are stashed away right now.  I'll have a more thorough search
> to track a reference down for you if you want when I have finished
> current writing obligations.  The Tibetan sGra-sbyor -- a useful
> etymological commentary to accompany part of the Mahaavyutpatti will
> have some info about "bhagavat" but I doubt it covers tantric

Concerning the sgra-sbyor, see for example Simonsson's study:
	Simonsson, Nils: Indo-tibetische Studien : die Methoden
	der tibetischen Übersetzer ... / von Nils Simonsson. -- 1.
	-- Uppsala : Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri, 1957, S.
	266-268 (on bhagavat)

The sgra-sbyor explains why bhagavat is translated as bcom ldan
'das. Indeed, it does not seem to represent tantric ideas.

Peter Wyzlic

-- 
Peter Wyzlic
Indologisches Seminar, Universitaet Bonn
Regina-Pacis-Weg 7
D-53113 Bonn