[INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"

[Rolf Heinrich Koch]

Yes, another idea:

bhāvanā is nowaday a common expression at least among Buddhist: On 
fullmoonday they dress in white clothes and go to the monastery to 
"follow bhāvanā". It appears likely to be meditation. The teachings of 
bhāvanā (may be there is a bhāvanā-Upaniṣad?) may refer to this praxis?


Am 23.09.2025 um 09:01 schrieb Paul Thomas via INDOLOGY:
> 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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-- 
Dr. R. H. Koch - Germany/Sri Lanka
www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com/
www.ummaggajataka.wordpress.com
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