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/
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