[INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"

[Matthew Kapstein]

Dear Paul,

Just a guess:
I wonder if the term might not be used here as in the Upanisads, in which case bhāvanādharma would be a euphemism for adhyātmavidyā, ie the Upanisads themselves. I recall that Bhāviveka uses bhāvanā in reference to absorption in Brahman.

For what it’s worth,
Matthew

On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 11:47, Paul Thomas via INDOLOGY <[indology at list.indology.info](mailto:On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 11:47, Paul Thomas via INDOLOGY <<a href=)> wrote:

> Thanks! Indeed I have, and she was just as stumped as I am. She left it in Sanskrit.
>
> On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM Shrikant Bahulkar < shrikant.bahulkar at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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 (mārtaṇḍeyakāvyaṃpurāṇadharmādayaḥ). 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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