FallonMansom317 at 10:12, 10 January 2024

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{{short description|Hindu writer and exponent of Shaktism}}
{{Saktism}}
[[File:Tripura Sundari2.jpg|130px|thumb|Bhaskararaya was Lalitaʻs devotee.]]
'''Bhāskararāya Makhin''' (1690–1785) was a religious exponent and writer known for his contributions to the [[Shaktism|Shakta]] tradition of [[Hinduism]]. He was born in a [[Maharashtrian Brahmin|Maharashtrian]] Brahmin<ref>{{cite book |author= Martin Gaenszle, Jorg Gengnagel (Ed.) |title= Visualizing Space in Banaras: Images, Maps, and the Practice of Representation |year= 2006 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cMJMNvvpEuYC&dq=Visualizing%20Space%20in%20Banaras%3A%20Images%2C%20Maps%2C%20and%20the%20Practice%20of%20Representation&pg=PA90 |publisher= Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn= 978-3447051873 |page=90}}</ref> family at [[Hyderabad, Telangana]]. Bhaskara raya was welcomed by king [[Serfoji II]] of Bhonsle dynasty in South India, and thereupon he settled in [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Brooks1990"/> According to Douglas Renfrew Brooks, a professor of Religion specializing in [[Shaktism]] studies, Bhāskararāya was "not only a brilliant interpreter of Srividya, he was an encyclopedic writer", and that he was a "thinker who had the wealth of Tantric and Vedic traditions at his fingertips".<ref name="Brooks1990">{{cite book|author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks|title=Secret of the Three Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXD8crHUdPQC |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-07570-9|pages=x–xii}}</ref> He belonged to the Srividya tradition of the Shakta Tantrism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks|title=Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo_cEGxebREC |year=1992|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1145-2|page=23}}</ref>

Bhāskararāya is the attributed author of more than 40 writings that range from [[Vedanta]] to poems of devotion, from [[Indian logic]] and [[Sanskrit grammar]] to the studies of [[Tantra]].<ref name=brooksxiii>{{cite book|author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks|title=Secret of the Three Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXD8crHUdPQC |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-07570-9|pages=xiii–xiv}}</ref> Several of his texts are considered particularly notable to the [[Shaktism]] tradition, one focussed on the Mother Goddess:

*Commentary on ''[[Tripura Upanishad]]'' and ''[[Bhavana Upanishad]]''<ref name=brooksxiii/>
*Commentary on ''[[Devi Mahatmya]]'', titled ''[https://sreenivasaraos.com/tag/guptavati/ Guptavati]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=D Kali|title=Devimahatmyam: In Praise of the Goddess|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQREXy8bVMgC |year=2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-2953-4|page=18}}</ref> Bhaskara raya, in his Guptavati, offers comments on 224 out of the 579 verses of the Devi Mahatmya.
*''Varivasya Rahasya'',<ref>Śrī Bhāskararāya Makhin. Varivasyā-Rahasya and Its Commentary Prakāśa. Edited with English Translation by Pandit S. Subrahmanya-Sastri. The Adyar Library Series: Volume Twenty-Eight. (The Adyar Library and Research Center: Adyar, Chennai, 1976) {{ISBN|81-85141-30-4}}. First Edition, 1934. This edition provides the full Sanskrit text for the Varivasyā-Rahasya and its associated commentary Prakāśa, both by the hand of Bhāskararāya.</ref> is a commentary on Sri Vidya mantra and worship. The ''Varivasya Rahasya'' contains 167 ślokas numbered consecutively. It has an accompanying commentary entitled "Prakāśa", also by Bhaskara raya.
*''Setubandha'' is a technical treatise on Tantric practice. It is his ''magnum opus''. It is a commentary on a portion of the Vāmakeśvara-tantra dealing with the external and internal worship of [[Tripura Sundari]]. This work was completed either in 1733 AD or in 1741 AD.
*"Soubhāgyabhāskara"is a commentary (bhāsya) on ''[[Lalita Sahasranama]]''.<ref>Lalitāsahasranāma, With Bhāskararāya's Commentary. English Translation By R. Ananthakrishna Sastry. (Gian Publishing House: Delhi, 1986) This edition provides the full Sanskrit text plus English interpretation.</ref><ref>L. M. Joshi. Lalitā-Sahasranāma: A Comprehensive Study of Lalitā-Mahā-Tripurasundarī. (D. K. Printworld Ltd.: New Delhi, 1998) {{ISBN|81-246-0104-6}}. Provides an English translation based on Bhāskararāya's Commentary, with references to the Sanskrit source.</ref> This work was completed in 1728 AD.

His ''Khadyota'' ("Firefly") commentary on the ''[[Ganesha Sahasranama]]'' is considered authoritative by [[Ganapatya]].<ref>{{IAST|Gaṇeśasahasranāmastotram: mūla evaṁ srībhāskararāyakṛta ‘khadyota’ vārtika sahita}}. ({{IAST|Prācya Prakāśana: Vārāṇasī}}, 1991). Includes the full source text and the commentary by Bhāskararāya in Sanskrit.</ref>

The important events of Bhāskararāya's life is written by his disciple Jagannath Paṇḍitor Umānandnātha in Bhaskaravilas Kavyam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/25.shrilalitasahasranamastotrambatuknathkhiste/page/n8/mode/1up|title = 25. Shri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotram Batuk Nath Khiste}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhaskararaya}}
[[Category:1690 births]]
[[Category:1785 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]
[[Category:Shaktas]]

Bhaskararaya - Revision history

FallonMansom317 at 10:12, 10 January 2024