[INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"

[Paul Thomas]

Hello Colleagues,

I'm currently working on a translation of the *Vimalaprabhā *for the 84000
translation project. The *Vimalaprabhā* is the most extensive Indian
commentary on the Buddhist *Laghukālacakratantra*, composed in the earlier
part of the eleventh century.

There, I’ve come across the title of a text, or, more likely, a term for a
genre of texts that was current in medieval India at the time that the
*Vimalaprabhā* was composed.  The term comes in the commentary on
*Laghukālacakratantra* 2.96 that lists out false sources of knowledge (
*vidyā*), listing the Vedas with their ancillaries, the Smārta doctrines,
logic (Pramāṇa), the Śaiva Siddhānta, and the works (*śāstram*) composed by
Vyāsa (the *Mahābhārata*) and Vaiśvānara.  It is the last on this list, the
work(s) composed by Vaiśvānara that I can’t identify:

*Laghukālacakratantra* 2.96ab:

*vedaḥ sāṅgo na vidyā smṛtimatasahitas tarkasiddhāntayuktaḥ**śāstrañ cānyad
dhi loke kṛtam api kavibhir vyāsavaiśvānarādyaiḥ* |

The commentary defines the works of Vaiśvānara, who, as I understand it, is
the god Agni, as the *bhāvanādharmaḥ*, using a construction parallel to
that used to describe the “teachings of the Purāṇas,” composed by
Mārtaṇḍeya (*mārtaṇḍeyakāvyaṃ* *purāṇadharmādayaḥ*). Therefore I think
*bhāvanādharmaḥ* here is not a title strictly speaking, but rather should
be interpreted to mean “the teachings of *bhāvanā,*” whatever that may mean:

*Vimalaprabhā* v. 1, p. 221:
*evaṃ śāstraṃ cānyad dhi loke kṛtam api kavibhir vyāsavaiśvānarādyair iti
vyāsakāvyaṃ bhārataṃ vaiśvānarakāvyaṃ bhāvanādharmaḥ | ādiśabdena
vālmīkikāvyaṃ rāmāyaṇaṃ mārkaṇḍeyakāvyaṃ purāṇadharmādayaḥ saṃgṛhītāḥ kṛtaṃ
kavibhir ebhir na vidyā* |.

Some sources say that Vaiśvānara composed some of the hymns of the Ṛgveda,
but this doesn’t seem to be what is referred to here.  The Tibetan
translations are of no help, simply translating *bsgom pa’i chos* if I
recall, and neither does the Tibetan scholar mKhas grub rje
(1385–1438) identify
what this is.
Any ideas?
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