Bhāskararāya Makhin (1690–1785) was a religious exponent and writer known for his contributions to theShakta tradition ofHinduism. He was born in aMaharashtrian Brahmin[1] family atHyderabad, Telangana. Bhaskara raya was welcomed by kingSerfoji II of Bhonsle dynasty in South India, and thereupon he settled inTamil Nadu.[2] According to Douglas Renfrew Brooks, a professor of Religion specializing inShaktism 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 fromVedanta to poems of devotion, fromIndian logic andSanskrit grammar to the studies ofTantra.[4] Several of his texts are considered particularly notable to theShaktism tradition, one focussed on the Mother Goddess:
Commentary onDevi Mahatmya, titledGuptavati.[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. TheVarivasya 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 hismagnum opus. It is a commentary on a portion of the Vāmakeśvara-tantra dealing with the external and internal worship ofTripura Sundari. This work was completed either in 1733 AD or in 1741 AD.
"Soubhāgyabhāskara"is a commentary (bhāsya) onLalita Sahasranama.[7][8] This work was completed in 1728 AD.
^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)ISBN81-85141-30-4. 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.
^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.
^L. M. Joshi. Lalitā-Sahasranāma: A Comprehensive Study of Lalitā-Mahā-Tripurasundarī. (D. K. Printworld Ltd.: New Delhi, 1998)ISBN81-246-0104-6. Provides an English translation based on Bhāskararāya's Commentary, with references to the Sanskrit source.
^Gaṇeśasahasranāmastotram: mūla evaṁ srībhāskararāyakṛta ‘khadyota’ vārtika sahita. (Prācya Prakāśana: Vārāṇasī, 1991). Includes the full source text and the commentary by Bhāskararāya in Sanskrit.
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