[INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"

[Shrikant Bahulkar]

Have you checked an English translation of Paṭala II by Prof. Vesna Wallace?

The Kālacakratantra : the chapter on the individual together with the
Vimalaprabhā

On Tue, 23 Sept 2025 at 12:33, Paul Thomas via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> 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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