[INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"

[Uskokov, Aleksandar]

Dear Paul,

I think Matthew's suggestion is on the right track. I don't think Vaiśvānara here is Agni, but rather Virāṭ, the macrocosmic person—in the Māṇḍukya and Gauḍapāda, the first level of reality is directly called Vaiśvānara/Viśva: waking as the interpersonal domain. In Vedānta, that Vaiśvānara is ensouled by Hiraṇyagarbha (also called Prāṇa) as its fine aspect; put simply, Prajāpati Brahmā as the macrocosmic person (Vaiśvānara) and the world soul (Hiraṇyagarbha).

That Vyāsa should be coupled with Brahmā is only natural in their shared function of being kavis, poet/creators. That is quite common an association.

Bhāvanā is indeed often used for Upaniṣadic meditation.

Note also that traditionally Hiraṇyagarbha is taken to be the progenitor of yoga.

So, probably "doctrine of (Upaniṣadic etc.) meditation," unless a work by that name somehow turns up.

Best wishes,
Aleksandar


Aleksandar Uskokov

Senior Lector and Associate Research Scholar

South Asian Studies Council, MacMillan Center, Yale University

DUS, South Asian Studies

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From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Rolf Heinrich Koch via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2025 8:25 AM
To: indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] The meaning of "bhāvanādharmaḥ"


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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