Bhaskararaya Explained

Bhāskararāya Makhin (1690–1785) was a religious exponent and writer known for his contributions to the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. He was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin^[1] 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. 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".^[2] He belonged to the Srividya tradition of the Shakta Tantrism.^[3]

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.^[4] 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^[4]
• Commentary on Devi Mahatmya, titled Guptavati.^[5] Bhaskara raya, in his Guptavati, offers comments on 224 out of the 579 verses of the Devi Mahatmya.
• Varivasya Rahasya,^[6] 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.^{[7] [8]} This work was completed in 1728 AD.

His Khadyota ("Firefly") commentary on the Ganesha Sahasranama is considered authoritative by Ganapatya.^[9]

The important events of Bhāskararāya's life is written by his disciple Jagannath Paṇḍitor Umānandnātha in Bhaskaravilas Kavyam.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Book: Martin Gaenszle, Jorg Gengnagel (Ed.) . Visualizing Space in Banaras: Images, Maps, and the Practice of Representation . 2006 . Harrassowitz Verlag . 978-3447051873 . 90.
2. Book: Douglas Renfrew Brooks. Secret of the Three Cities. 1990. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-07570-9. x–xii.
3. Book: Douglas Renfrew Brooks. Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India. 1992. State University of New York Press. 978-0-7914-1145-2. 23.
4. Book: Douglas Renfrew Brooks. Secret of the Three Cities. 1990. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-07570-9. xiii–xiv.
5. Book: D Kali. Devimahatmyam: In Praise of the Goddess. 2006. Motilal Banarsidass. 978-81-208-2953-4. 18.
6. 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) . 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.
7. 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.
8. L. M. Joshi. Lalitā-Sahasranāma: A Comprehensive Study of Lalitā-Mahā-Tripurasundarī. (D. K. Printworld Ltd.: New Delhi, 1998) . Provides an English translation based on Bhāskararāya's Commentary, with references to the Sanskrit source.
9. . (1991). Includes the full source text and the commentary by Bhāskararāya in Sanskrit.
10. Web site: 25. Shri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotram Batuk Nath Khiste.