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 
<[[email protected]](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 < 
> [email protected]> 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 < 
>> [email protected]> 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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