परमार्थसार (महामाहेश्वर अभिनवगुप्त - त्रिक-दर्शन, अद्वैत शैव साधना एवं सान्वय सटीक)

Introduction 11 fact of his having written some more important work or works. He was not only a philosopher but a poet of high merit as well. His Śivastotrāvalī, containing religio-philosophic poetry of high merit, is still sung popularly in the Valley. Rāmakaṇṭha, a disciple of Utpaladeva and a younger brother of Muktākaṇa, the court poet of King Avantivarman, wrote Spandavivṛtti, a detailed com- mentary on the Kārikā of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa and a Śaivite commen- tary on Bhagavadgītā, following the Kashmirian version of the text. His other works are not available even by name. Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa, the author of Stavacintāmaṇi, a philosophic lyric in praise of Śiva, also belonged to the same period. Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara, the seventh teacher in the line of Vasugupta, explained the teachings contained in Śivasūtra through his Vārtika on them. His explanation of the Sūtras of Śiva is the most authen- tic one, because firstly it expresses the knowledge received through an unbroken direct line of disciples from Vasugupta, the preceptor of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa. Most of the teachers in the line were them- selves practical philosophers having direct realization of the prin- ciples of Śaiva monism and its Trika system of practice. Secondly he does not over burden his Vārtika with any discussions on any controversial topics and quotations from other works on spiritual philosophy, but explains the doctrines learnt through tradition and expressed in the Sūtras. His Vārtika carries thus a greater weight than the scholarly commentary written later by Kṣemarāja. He be- longed to the period before that of Abhinavagupta. Probably he is the same Bhāskara who has been mentioned by Abhinavagupta as one of his teachers. He cannot be identified with Bhaṭṭa Divākara- vatsa, though he mentions himself as Daivākari. To the same period belongs Utpala Vaiṣṇava who, though a follower of the Pāñcarātra system, composed a scholarly commentary on Spandakārikā. His work named Spandapradīpikā is of great importance as it provides many clues to some unknown important facts regarding the history of Kashmir Śaivism. He quotes profusely from the Pāñcarā- tra texts and tries to elevate that system to the same level of importance as was enjoyed by Śaiva monism and its Trika system of practice. Some works of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa are known through quotations available only in his Spandapradīpikā. A couplet from the pen of Siddhanātha is also found in it. Both he and Bhāskara accept Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa as the author of Spandakārikā. Abhinava- gupta appeared on the scene in the middle of the tenth century.

12 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta He carried the Kashmirian Śaiva monism to its climax in both of its aspects of philosophic theory and practical sādhanā. He wrote detailed commentaries on all the philosophic works of Utpaladeva and Somānanda. Two among them are still available. One of them is his Vimarśinī on the couplets of Īśvara-pratyabhijñā of Utpaladeva and the other one consists of detailed notes on the works picked up from Utpaladeva's own Ṭīkā on those couplets. Since the Ṭīkā of Utpaladeva is not at all available, the latter one does not become so useful to students as it could have become had the text of the said Ṭīkā become available. This work is named as Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśinī. The former one, named Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vimarśinī, has ever since enjoyed the position of the best and the highest work on the philosophical side of Kashmir Śaivism. His commentaries on Śivadṛṣṭi and Siddhitrayī have unfortunately been lost. Abhinavagupta collected, compiled, arranged in order and inter- preted the main doctrines of the Trika system of Śaiva yoga and that of the religio philosophic rituals of that system and expressed them in philosophic style in his voluminous work named Tantrā- loka, which is the best and unique treatise among all the works on the practical side of spiritual philosophy in the whole world. Abhi- navagupta's Tantrasāra is a gist of his Tantrāloka and is written in simple prose. His Vivaraṇa on Parātriṁśaka, a scriptural work on Trika system of yoga, is very profound in character and con- tains highly minute ideas regarding the esoteric principles and doctrines of the Trika system of Śaiva yoga in its highest aspect. One of his very important works on the philosophic principles and the doctrines of practice of Kashmir Śaivism is Mālinīvijaya- vārtika which is a voluminous work written in simple Sanskrit verse. Such an important and wonderful work on the monistic spiritual philosophy does not bear any commentary, though it requires explanatory notes very badly. Reference to and quotations from many of his other works on the practice of Śaivism are avail- able, but such works could not be actually found so far. One of the most important works among them is his Kramakeli, a commentary on the Kramastotra of Siddhanātha dealing with the Kālī worship in the Śākta yoga of the Trika system. Like Utpala- deva he also was a good poet as well and some of his philosophic lyrics are still available though some have been lost. Several of them have been published as appendices to his book on Abhinava-

gupta by Dr. K.C. Pandey. His Bhairavastotra is still sung by people in Siva temples and homes in Kashmir. In addition, he wrote certain easy text books for students and the most important one among them is his Paramārthasāra, the work in hand. Another such brief work from his pen is Bodhapañcadaśikā. Abhinava- gupta represents the highest peak in the evolution of Kashmir Śaivism. He was followed by authors of secondary importance who either wrote easy works or explained the works of the above mentioned great authors. Abhinavagupta is the final authority on both the sides of theory and practice of the Śaiva monism of Kashmir. Kṣemarāja, a disciple of Abhinavagupta, wrote Pratyabhijñā- hṛdaya, and Parāprāveśikā for beginners. Besides, he wrote some detailed commentaries on ancient works. His Śivasūtravimarśinī has become well known in the present age. His Spandanirṇaya also has been published and translated. Both the works are scholarly in character. While writing the previous one, he appears to be very keen to show his all round scholarship and tries to over-awe his readers by it. He tries to explain the Sūtras but succeeds in show- ing his knowledge of many śāstras and many systems with which he confuses the Trika system. His interpretation of the Sūtras becomes clear only with the help of Śivasūtravārtika by his dis- ciple Varadarāja. His view on the interpretation of the Sūtras is not so convincing as that of Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara mentioned above. His Spanda-sandoha is an explanation of the Spanda principle of Kashmir Śaivism. He wrote commentaries on Stavacintāmaṇi of Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa and Śivastotrāvalī of Utpaladeva. Besides, he wrote short commentaries on some Tāntric works like Svac- chanda Tantra and Netra Tantra. His commentary on Vijñāna- bhairava has been lost. The most important one among such post Abhinavagupta writers is Jayaratha of the twelfth century. He appears to be a disciple of Kalhaṇa, the great historian of Kash- mir and did a highly valuable service to Kashmir Śaivism by writing a voluminous commentary on Tantrāloka of Abhinava- gupta. That commentary alone explains the couplets of Tantrā- loka. Besides, it is a treasury of quotations from many non-available Tantric texts and a storehouse of multifarious historical informa- tion regarding the evolution of Kashmir Śaivism. Many things would have remained unknown but for the valuable work of Jaya- ratha on Tantrāloka. The seventeenth century produced Śivopā-

14 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta dhyāya, the last one among the ancient writers on Kashmir Śaiv- ism. His commentary on Vijñāna-bhairava is a scholarly work of a practical yogin. Many Śaiva practitioners and authors adopted the Śākta view as expressed by Bhaṭṭa Pradyumna in his Tattvagarbhastotra. The most prominent of such teachers are Puṇyānanda and Amṛtā- nanda who give clues to many other such teachers. There is another tradition of Śāktism started by some Śivānandanātha some time about the eighth century AD. It is a special type of highly sophisticated practice in jñānayoga and is popularly known as Kālinaya. It teaches the worship of Kālī, the absolute divine power of the Absolute God, in its twelve aspects and such wor- ship is conducted only through mental contemplation of unity with such power. Modern research scholars count it as a different and independent system of Tantric practice, but the great Abhi- navagupta took it as a special type of Śāktopāya and included it in the yoga of the Trika system. Śivānanda imparted its practical knowledge to three female disciples named Keyūravatī; Madanikā and Kalyāṇikā. It appears that the Apabhraṁśa passages in verse and prose, quoted by Abhinavagupta in Tantrasāra and in his Vivaraṇa on Parātriṁśaka, belong to Madanikā whose teachings on Kālinaya were received by him through a line of several teach- ers starting from Ujjaṭa and Udbhaṭa. Three chief disciples of these three famous female teachers were—(1) Govindarāja, (2) Bhānukācārya and (3) Erakanātha. The lines of the disciples of the first two of them spread well in Kashmir. Govindarāja initiat- ed Somānanda. His teachings reached Jayaratha through a long line of teachers. As said above, Abhinavagupta got its knowledge from the teachers in the line of Bhānuka. Kālinaya became so popular in Kashmir by the twelfth century that it was accepted by its adherants as a separate system of Tāntric sādhanā and conse- quently Jayaratha refers to it as Kramadarśana. Such recognition by Jayaratha made the scholars of the present age think in such line and some of them have vowen many things around such view of Jayaratha. But, doing so, they are not perhaps taking into consi- deration the views of Abhinavagupta, the highest authority on the theory and the practice of Kashmir Śaivism. In the far South there appeared a saint scholar named Maheśvarānanda, alias Gorakṣanātha, who lived in the Cola country. He was a Kaula in his practical sādhanā and his philosophic view point was Śāktic

Introduction 15 in character. He appears to have been impressed by the style of Abhinavagupta as he has adopted it in writing his commentary named Primala on his own philosophic work named Mahārtha- mañjarī. That commentary also is a store house of information about the history of Kashmir Śaivism. Puṇyānanda wrote Kāma- kalā-vilāsa and Amṛtānanda explained it. In addition he wrote Cidvilāsa; a detailed commentary on Yoginīhṛdaya, a Tāntric text, and many other works known only through references and quota- tions. Śitikaṇṭha, a Kashmirian teacher of Kaulism, wrote Mahā- nayaprakāśa in old Kashmiri language in about the thirteenth century. Another Kashmirian author of Kaulism was Sāhib-Kaula, alias Ānandanāth who flourished, in the seventeenth century and wrote many wonderful works on Śāktic Śaivism. His Devīnāma- vilāsa has been published. His Śivajīvadaśaka appeared in a college magazine and many other works from his pen are lying unpublished. Śaiva and Śākta philosophies of monism are not any two diffe- rent schools of thought. The Ultimate Truth is both, Śiva and Śakti, that is, God and His Godhead. It is one but is understood and taught in such two aspects. God is that absolute and pure I-cons- ciousness which transcends all material and mental phenomena and shines through the psychic lustre of that consciousness. He is always aware of His Godhead and such awareness makes Him active towards its outward manifestation which results in the show of all His divine activities. He is Śiva when thought about in His transcendental aspect of pure I-consciousness. He is Śakti when contemplated upon in the aspect of His divine activities of creation, preservations and absorption of all phenomena and oblivion and revelation of His nature of purity and divinity. Śāktism and Śaivism are just two aspects of one and the same philosophy, the former aspect giving more importance to the practical sādhanā and the latter one to the philosophic theory. When God inspires playfully the correct and real knowledge in any beings they recognize and realise themselves as none other than the Almighty God Himself, shining in His above mentioned two aspects of Śivahood and Śaktihood. That is the pratyabhijñā or the recognition of the self as established in Kashmir Śaivism. The same pratyabhijñā of the real nature and character of the self is the final aim of all practices in Śāktism which accepts the philosophical principles of Śaivism. All Śaiva authors and teachers

16 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta adopt Śākta methods of sādhana for the sake of a quick self- recognition. Śaivism and Śāktism are thus simply two aspects of one and the same philosophy, the former one giving greater importance to the theoretical knowledge of the Truth and the latter one to that practical sādhanā which yields as its final result the actual self-experience of the Truth. Philosophers like Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa, Somānanda and Abhinavagupta can be taken as both Śaivas and Śāktas. Bhaṭṭa Pradyumna, the Śākta philosopher, has been mentioned by Utpaladeva as a Śaiva and a Svayūthya, that is, a philosopher belonging to his own rank, the rank of Śaivas. Such Śaiva/Śākta authors were all these philosophers from Śiva- nandanātha and Maheśvarānanda to Sāhib Kaula. The sur- name Nātha was generally adopted by such Śākta/Śaiva practi- tioners. Lalleśvarī, who was a master of religio philosophic lyric poetry composed in Kashmiri language, was a follower of Śaivism. She gave start to an order of saints following the sādhanā of both Śaivism and Sufism. Members of such order are still roaming about in Kashmir. The tradition of writing commentaries and minor works on Śaivism continues still in the Valley and an example of it is the Svātantryadarpaṇa by the writer of these pages. It is a new textbook of Kashmir Śaivism written in Kārikā style. The basic philosophy of Abhinavagupta is theistic absolutism. He accepts the monistic and absolute pure consciousness as the only eternal reality and establishes Godhead as the very essential nature of such monistic reality. It is in fact beyond the reach of mind, intellect and speech and is thus the absolute truth. But the manifestation of all phenomena is due to its divine power which is its basic nature and therefore it is the Almighty God. It is the only infinite, eternal and perfect I-consciousness which is not to be taken as ego, but as pure self-awareness. Being eternal and infinite, it is not conditioned by time and space. Being absolutely self dependent, it is not bound by any rules of causa- tion and does not require anything other than it for the sake of the conduct of the activities of Godhead. Such activities are creation, preservation, dissolution, obscuration and revelation. The first three run the whole universe, the fourth one pushes souls towards self oblivion and the fifth one inspires in them the true knowledge of the whole phenomenon. Conducting such divine activities it is accepted as God. The aspect of the pure and perfect I-consciousness of the Abso-

Introduction 17 lute is His static aspect in which He is known as Śiva or God and the aspect of His phenomenal manifestation through the five divine activities is His dynamic aspect in which He is known as Śakti or Godhead. Śiva is thus the basic eternal reality and Śakti is the divine nature of such absolute reality. The phenomenal divine activities are basically neither due to any external element like Māyā nor to anything internal like Vāsanā, the flow of mental impressions. The appearance of the phenomenon is not basically due to ignorance but to the Godhead of the eternal truth. Māyā, Vāsanā etc. work in it at some intermediary stages of its evolution and are themselves due to the outward manifestation of the Godhead of the absolute reality. The phenomenon is not to be taken as false but as the absolute reality itself, appearing through its divine powers in such form. It is not to be rejected as something non-existent. Such an outlook may amount to deceiv- ing one's own self. It is to be taken as correct and true at the mundane phenomenal level. At the level of correct knowledge it is to be seen as God and He alone. That is the view of Kashmir Śaivism with respect to the phenomenon and that is one of its main differences from the Vedāntic and the Buddhist absolutism. The absolute consciousness is blissful by its basic nature and such nature makes it constantly playful. Its divine playfulness urges it to be active in outward manifestation of its divine powers. Such manifestation does not involve it into any change or trans- formation. It takes place in the manner of a reflection. The divine powers of God become reflected inside the psychic light of His pure self-consciousness and such reflections of these powers shine as the creation etc., of the whole phenomenal existence. The Absolute God appears thus as all the pure and impure beings as well as the whole mental and material existence. All this happens on account of the theistic nature of God. Such playful activity does not imply any want in Him. It is His essential nature to play like that. God, shorn of such nature, would cease to be God and would get reduced to the position of pure space or even to that of absolute nihility and nothing other than such nihility would have ever come to being in that case. Bondage and liberation are just two stages of the divine dramatic play of God. Pushing His divine and pure nature into oblivion, He appears as a bonded soul, undergoing all misery in the cycles of births and deaths. That is the first stage of His divine play as an individual being. At its

18 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta second and final stage a being studies divine scriptures and works on philosophy, comes into contact with a right preceptor, receives initiation in Śaiva path from him, practises yoga, develops correct understanding about the real truth of everything and finally realizes such truth through intuitional self-experience. Thus he realizes his real nature and recognizes himself as none other than God Him- self. Such self-realization is the aim of Kashmir Śaivism. As shown above, the monistic absolutism of Abhinavagupta is quite different from such principle of Advaita Vedānta because that philosophy takes theism as based on Māyā, an external ele- ment that comes into contact with Brahman and consequently presents it as God, soul and the objective existence. Besides, the Advaita Vedānta takes Brahman to be pure and tranquil conscious- ness, devoid of all activity. Kashmir Śaivism finds a divine and subtle stir within such tranquillity of the Absolute. It is the stir of divine power shining as the infinite blissfulness and such stir is the Godhead of the Absolute. Such stir of blissfulness of the pure consciousness is its kriyā without which it can not become aware of even itself. Such activity of awareness has been taken in Śaivism as the essence of all consciousness, but the quest of Vedāntins does not generally go so deep into the secrets of pure consciousness. The Buddhist absolutism does not at all touch even the outer level of such theistic consciousness. Their search stops at the dreamless state of animation and does not penetrate into the fourth state, the state of intuitive self revelation called the Turyā state. The theism of Vaiṣṇava philosophers does not go beyond the mythological conception of God and cousequently does not penetrate into the realm of absolutism. The pantheists in the West see everything as God but do not see Him beyond every thing. Like the Indian Vaiṣṇavas, they avoid absolutism. Śaivism teaches to see everything as God and also to see Him as pure and divinely potent consciousness, shining as transcendental reality beyond the whole phenomenon. The theism of Nyāya- Vaiśeṣika sees God as a divine authority dependent on many things other than Him. He has to work in accordance with the law of nature and the law of karman and has to depend on atoms etc. Such divine authorities are simply some supergods in Śaivism and the Absolute God is perfectly self dependent. Besides, Nyāya- Vaiśeṣika is a pluralistic and non-absolutist philosophy. Many schools of Indian philosophy maintain that Śakti, the divine power

Introduction 19 of God, undergoes transformation, while appearing as the pheno- menon. But Śaivism sees God and His Śakti as simply two names of one and the same reality seen in its two aspects. There- fore it does not see any transformation of either God or His divine power Śakti. The theory of material transformation works, according to Śaivism, at a lower level of phenomenal evolution, while the basic creation is something like a kind of transmutation brought about by the supreme spontaneous unrestrictible, divine and playful will of the theistic Absolute without any change in its basic character.

Essence of the Exact Reality or Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta अभिनवगुप्तकृतः परमार्थसारः परं परस्थं गहनादनादिम् एकं निविष्टं बहुधा गुहासु । सर्वालयं सर्वचराचरस्थं त्वामेव शम्भुं शरणं प्रपद्ये ॥ १ ॥

1. Paraṁ parasthaṁ gahanādanādim Ekaṁ niviṣṭaṁ bahudhā guhāsu Sarvālayaṁ sarvacarācarasthaṁ Tvāmeva Śambhuṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye. O Lord Śambhu, thou art great God in the highest position lying beyond the mysterious sphere of Māyā. Thou art one and hast yet penetrated in multifarious ways into the hearts of all beings having thee as their abode. Thou art present in all static and dynamic phenomena. I take only thee as my shelter. Śambhu is the transcendental reality, but at the same time He manifests Himself as all phenomena which have Him as their only basic source. He has thus a pantheistic character and is yet the absolute reality that transcends all phenomena. His position lies beyond the pluralistic and impure sphere of Māyā. He is the monistic absolute of Śaivism and Godhead is His essential nature. The fundamental philosophic principle of Śaivism is thus a theis- tic absolutism of monistic character. गहन (gahana)=mysterious Māyā. गुहा (guhā)=cavern-like cavity of the heart of a living being. गर्भाधिवासपूर्वकमरणान्तकदुःखचक्रविभ्रान्तः । आधारं भगवन्तं शिष्यः पप्रच्छ परमार्थम् ॥ २ ॥
2. Garbhādhivāsapūrvaka- maraṇāntaka-duḥkha-cakra-vibhrāntaḥ Ādhāraṁ bhagavantaṁ Śiṣyaḥ papraccha paramārtham.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 21 A disciple, having moved about in the cycles of the miseries beginning with confinement in a mother's womb and ending in death, approached Lord Śeṣa and asked him about the real truth of the whole existence. आधारः (ādhāra) = Patañjali who is believed to be an incarnation of Śeṣanāga, the serpent god who, according to Hindu mythology, supports the earth from beneath, परमार्थ (paramārtha) = the real truth about every thing. आधारकारिकाभिस्तं गुरुरभिभाषतेस्म तत्सारम् । कथयत्यभिनवगुप्तः शिवशासनदृष्टियोगेन ॥ ३ ॥ 3. Ādhāra-kārikābhistam gurur- abhibhāṣatesma tatsāram Kathayatyabhinavaguptaḥ Śivaśāsana-dṛṣṭi-yogena. The preceptor (Patañjali) discussed the topic with him through the work named Ādhārakārikā (the Paramārthasāra of Patañjali), the essence of which is being expressed by Abhinavagupta through the view point of Śaivism. The name of the original work of Patañjali was Ādhārakārikā. Abhinavagupta adopted its style, drew its essence and presented it as a work on Śaiva monism under the title Paramārthasāra. Such new name was afterwards given to the original work of Patañjali as well. That work has a Vaiṣṇavite character. निजशक्तिवैभवभरादण्डचतुष्टयमिदं विभागेन । शक्तिर्माया प्रकृतिः पृथ्वो चेति प्रभावितं प्रभुणा ॥ ४ ॥ 4. Nijaśakti-vaibhava-bharād- aṇḍa-catuṣṭayamidaṃ vibhāgena Śaktirmāyā prakṛtiḥ pṛthvī ceti prabhāvitaṃ prabhuṇā The Almighty Lord brought into existence these four spheres of Śakti, Māyā, Prakṛti and Pṛthvī by means of the abundance of luxuriousness of His divine powers. An aṇḍa is a sphere that contains in it a series of phenomenal elements and serves as a sheath that covers and hides the divine nature of the Absolute. Four such sphere are: (i) Śakti, the divine power of God projecting itself externally and covering the Absolute with the pure creation. Manifes- ting diversity within unity, it hides the basic absoluteness

22 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta and the perfect unity of the Absolute God and contains in it the four pure tattvas from Śakti to pure Vidyā. (ii) The sphere of Māyā pushes into oblivion the natural purity and divine potency of the Absolute, covers it with five sheaths or limiting elements called kañcukas and presents the Absolute as a finite being called Puruṣa. It contains in it seven tattvas from Māyā to Puruṣa. (iii) The sphere of Prakṛti covers Puruṣa with all psychic ele- ments, senses, organs, subtle objective elements called tan- mātras, three guṇas and four gross elements upto water. It contains twenty-three tattvas from Prakṛti to water. (iv) Pṛthvī as an aṇḍa or sphere covers the Absolute with the solid gross existence. It contains pṛthvī-tattva alone and consists of the whole solid existence in the universe. (v) Śiva-tattva lies beyond all these four aṇḍas. The above mentioned four spheres contain thirty-five tattvas and cover the pure and divinely potent absolute consciousness with fine, subtle, gross and solid creation. The Absolute God creates them playfully in the process of the manifestation of His Godhead. He creates them out of His own self in the manner of reflections and covers His real self with them. Such creation is something like a kind of transmutation which is different from transformation. Neither God nor His divine power under goes any change or transformation while appearing in the form of all these created tattvas which shine in His psychic light as the reflections of His own divine powers. तत्रान्तर्विश्वमिदं विचित्रतनुकरणभुवनसन्तानम् । भोक्ता च तत्र देही शिव एव गृहीतपशुभावः ॥ ५ ॥ 5. Tatrāntarviśvamidam vicitra-tanukaraṇa-bhuvana-santānam Bhoktā ca tatra dehī Śiva eva gṛhīta-paśu-bhāvaḥ. Within such four spheres lies the whole phenomenon along with its wonderfully diverse types of bodies, senses, organs and series of worlds. The individual finite being is there the experi- encer of pleasure and pain. In reality he is none other than Lord Śiva Himself, having taken up such form of the bounded being. It is the basic nature of Śiva to appear playfully as the finite

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 23 being and to revolve in the cycles of transmigratory existence. Paśu is the finite being who is fastened like an animal with the ropes of karman and the limiting elements called kañcukas. नानाविधवर्णानां रूपं धत्ते यथामलः स्फटिकः । सुरमानुषपशुप्रादपरूपत्वं तद्वदीशोडपि ॥ ६ ॥ 6. Nānā-vidha-varṇānāṁ rūpaṁ dhatte yathāmalaḥ sphaṭikaḥ Sura-mānuṣa-paśu-pādapa- rūpatvaṁ tadvadīśo'pi. Just as a pure and colourless crystal takes up the appearance of different types of hues reflected in it, so does the Lord also take up the forms of gods, humanbeings, animals and plants (in the manner of reflection). God, appearing as different types of beings, does not at all undergo any change. The basic creation conducted directly by God Himself does not at all involve Him or His divine power into pariṇāma or transformation. He reflects His divine powers out- wardly and such reflections of His powers appear as all pheno- mena and their creation etc. Doing so, he does not require any external substances to cast their reflections into divine prakāśa, the psychic luminosity of His pure consciousness. The basic cause of all such phenomenal manifestations is only His playful nature, by virtue of which such reflectionary creation of all phenomena happens. Creation is not thus due either to any external entity like Māyā or Avidyā or to any internal entity like Vāsanā as propounded by the Vedāntins and Buddhists respectively. It is due only to the divinely playful nature of the Absolute. गच्छति गच्छति जल इव हिमकरबिम्बं स्थिते स्थितिं याति । तनुकरणभुवनवर्गे तथायमात्मा महेशानः ॥ ७ ॥ 7. Gacchati gacchati jala iva himakara-bimbaṁ sthite sthitiṁ yāti Tanu-karaṇa-bhuvana-varge tathāyamātmā maheśānaḥ. Just as the disk of moon appears to be moving when reflected in flowing waters and just as it looks to be static in still waters, so does this great master Ātman appear in multifarious variety in the different categories of bodies, senses, organs and worlds. Here the difference between the moon and the Ātman is this

24 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta that the former requires some entity other than it to catch its reflections, but the latter reflects His own powers in His own psychic light and appears Himself as His reflections. Ātman is thus divinely independent and appears in multifarious forms through His own divine powers of Godhead. It is, besides, not a chance, but the very essential nature of the Ātman to appear playfully like that. राहुरादृश्योऽपि यथा शशिबिम्बस्थः प्रकाशते तद्वत् । सर्वगतोऽप्ययमात्मा विषयाश्रयणेन धीमुकुरे ॥ ८ ॥ 8. Rāhuradṛśyo'pi yathā śaśi-bimbasthaḥ prakāśate tadvat Sarva-gato'pyayamātmā viṣayāśrayaṇena dhīmukure. Just as Rāhu does shine and appear in the disk of moon, though it is otherwise invisible, so does this Ātman shine only in the mirror of psychic apparatus while witnessing objective reflection, though it is present everywhere. Rāhu is the shadow of earth. It moves always in the sky, but becomes visible only when it becomes focussed on the disk of moon. Ātman, being infinite in nature, is omnipresent, but appears as "I" only in the psychic organs of living beings while having mundane mental experiences. There it forms conceptions like "I have seen such and such object" and, doing so, appears as "I". It does not appear like that in any inanimate substances. आदर्शे मलरहिते यद्वद् वदनं विभाति तद्वदयम् । शिवशक्तिपातविमले धीतत्त्वे भाति भारूपः ॥ ९ ॥ 9. Ādarśe mala-rahite yadvad vadanam vibhāti tadvadayam Śiva-śaktipāta-vimale dhī-tattve bhāti bhārūpaḥ. Just as one's face appears clearly in a clean mirror, so does this Ātman shine as pure consciousness in a mind purified by the bestowal of the divine grace of Lord Śiva. God's bestowal of His grace is known as Śaktipāta. It is the primary factor that directs a being towards the study of divine scriptures, inspires in him a keen desire to know the truth, gives rise to devotion for the Lord in his heart, creates contact between him and a right preceptor and makes him active in the practice

of Śaiva yoga. All that purifies his inner soul and illumins in him the correct and real divine nature of his pure consciousness. भारूपं परिपूर्णं स्वात्मनि विश्रान्तितो महानन्दम् । इच्छासंवित्करणैर्निर्भरितमनन्तशक्तिपरिपूर्णम् ॥ १० ॥ सर्वविकल्पविहीनं शुद्धं शान्तं लयोदयविहीनम् । यत् परतत्त्वं तस्मिन् विभाति षट्त्रिंशात्म जगत् ॥ ११ ॥ 10. Bhārūpaṃ paripūrṇam svātmani viśrāntito mahānandam Icchā-saṃvit-karaṇair nirbharitamananta-śakti-paripūrṇam. 11. Sarva-vikalpa-vihīnaṃ śuddhaṃ śāntaṃ layodaya-vihīnam yat paratattvaṃ tasmin vibhāti ṣaṭtriṃśadātma jagat. The whole phenomenon, consisting of thirty-six tattvas, appears and shines in that transcendental reality which shines as the light of pure consciousness, is perfect in all respects, is infinite bliss by virtue of its complete self-dependence and perfect relaxation on its self, is compact with the functions of willing, knowing and doing, is full of infinite divine powers, is free from all conceptive ideation, is pure and tranquil and has neither any dissolution nor any emergence. Bhāḥ (भाः) is the psychic luminosity of pure-consciousness and that is the basic form of the Absolute. Everything that ever appears, lies internally in the Absolute in the form of pure cons- ciousness and the Absolute is thus compactly full of all pheno- mena. It does not require anything other than its divine power on which to relax or to depend and that is the source of its infinite blissfulness. The Absolute wills to manifest, illumines the manifestable and manifests it objectively. These are its three primary powers through which it conducts all divine activities of Godhead. The Absolute shines through such a psychic luminosity which is free from ideation. It is an intuitive revelation through which the Absolute is realized. The real form of the Absolute is pure, tranquil, infinite, eternal and divinely potent I-conscious- ness. It is the transcendental reality having Godhead as its essen- tial nature, and manifesting such nature through its divine acti- vities of creation etc. Thus it assumes the form of the whole

26 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta universe in the manner of a reflection. Godhead is thus the essen- tial nature of the Absolute. Such theistic absolutism of Kashmir Śaivism does not require the concept of any element other than the Absolute. Avidyā of the post Śaṅkara Advaita Vedānta or vāsanā of the Buddhist philosophy is not needed here for the sake of the explanation of the phenomenal manifestation. Even Gauḍapāda and Śaṅkara have admitted such theistic nature of the Brahman in their Tāntric works and religio-philosophic lyrics. But such works of these teachers are being very often ignored by the Vedāntins. The powers named icchā, jñāna and kriyā are meant by the compound word icchā-saṃvit-karaṇaiḥ. Vikalpa is mental ideation. दर्पणबिम्बे यद्वन् नगरग्रामादि चित्रमविभागि । भाति विभागेनैव च परस्परं दर्पणादपि च ॥ १२॥ विमलतमपरमभैरवबोधात्तद्वद्विभागशून्यमपि । अन्योन्यं च ततोऽपि च विभक्तमाभाति जगदेतत् ॥ १३ ॥ 12. Darpaṇa-biṃbe yadvan nagara-grāmādi citramavibhāgi Bhāti vibhāgenaiva ca parasparaṃ darpaṇādapi ca. 13. Vimalatama-parama-bhairava- bodhāt tadvad vibhāga-śūnyamapi Anyonyaṃ ca tato'pi ca vibhaktamābhāti jagadetat. Just as the reflections of some multifarious types of objects like a town, a village, a forest and so on, shining inside a mirror, are not separate from it, but even then appear as different and separate from it and also from one another, so do all phenomena appear as mutually different and also as different from the absolutely pure and divinely perfect infinite consciousness known as the supreme Bhairava, the Almighty God, though in fact these are not at all different from Him. Reflections shining in a mirror are not in fact any phenomena that exist outside it, because these shine inside it. But even then these do not appear as one with it, but as entities other than it. Likewise, all phenomena, shining inside the psychic luminosity of I-consciousness, are in fact one with it. It is the I-consciousness which shines itself as such phenomena. But even then these appear

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 27 as different from the subjective I-consciousness. The whole pheno- menon, along with all its functions, appears thus within the lumi- nosity of consciousness in the manner of a reflection shining in a mirror. The main differences between consciousness and mirror are only two. Firstly, a mirror, being a dependent entity, requires outward articles to cast their reflections into it, but the pure cons- ciousness, being divinely potent, perfect, and self dependent, manifests the reflections of its own divine powers of Godhead inside its own psychic lustre of consciousness and does not require any external element, what so ever, for such purpose. It requires neither the avidyā of Vedānta nor the vāsanā of Buddhism for the purpose. Such self-dependence is the cream of its Godhead. An- other great difference between the two is this that a mirror is never aware of either itself or of the reflections shining in it, while I-consciousness is aware of both. Such is the theory of reflectional manifestation of the phenomenon propounded in Śaivism of Kashmir. It saves that philosophy from a hypothetical supposition, like that of Avidyā, reacting on the Absolute. Besides, it keeps away the apprehension of transformation (pariṇāma) with regard to Brahman. The phenomenal manifestation in Śaivism is thus something like a wonderful type of transmutation. Theis- tic absolutism is thus the fundamental and the basic principle of that philosophy. शिवशक्तिसदाशिवतामेश्वरविद्यामयीं च तत्त्वदशाम् । शक्तीनां पञ्चानां विभक्तभावेन भासयति ॥ १४ ॥ 14. Śiva-śakti-sadāśivatāṃ Iśvara-vidyā-mayīṃ ca tattva-daśām Śaktīnāṃ pañcānāṃ vibhakta-bhāvena bhāsayati. The Absolute God manifests the states of five pure tattvas named—Śiva, Śakti, Sadāśiva, Īśvara and pure Vidyā by projecting outwordly His five primary divine powers (named—Cit, Ānanda, Icchā, Jñāna, and Kriyā). The five primary powers of God are (i) consciousness, (ii) bliss- fulness, (iii) divine and unrestrictible will, (iv) power to illumine phenomena, and (v) power to manifest them as entities different from Him. All such powers of God are interdependently mixed together through mutual cooperation and integration and yet each

28 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagapta of them predominates only one of the tattvas mentioned above. Cit, the pure consciousness shines predominantly in Paramaśiva, the Absolute, but projects out itself as Śiva-tattva in which the power of blissfulness attains predominance. Blissfulness projects itself out and shines as Śakti-tattva with the predominance of the power of will. The divine will of the Absolute emerges out as Sadāśiva-tattva with the predominance of jñāna-śakti, the power to illumine. That power gives rise to Īśvara-tattva in which the active power or kriyā-śakti of the Lord predominates. Kriyā emerges out as the pure Vidyā and the power of Vidyā, the correct know- ledge, attains prominence in it. Each of these five primary powers of the Absolute is thus closely related to two tattvas, one being the immediate source of its eman- ation and the other being its field of predominance. In the basic works on Śaiva philosophy these five tattvas are correlated with these five primary divine powers in accordance with the principle of their predominance. Thus Śivadṛṣṭi and Īśvarapratyabhijñā correlate them with tattvas from Paramaśiva to Īśvara. But a different view is taken in the works on theology. Thus in Tantrā- loka and Tantrasāra the five primary powers have been correlated with the five tattvas from Śiva to pure Vidyā, the tattvas emanated as the outward manifestations of these five primary powers. That has been done for the purpose of the upward spiritual progress of a practitioner who, while contemplating on a particular tattva, has to see in it the higher power which is the immediate source of its emanation. Yogarāja follows that very latter view while ex- plaining the above two couplets of the work. Paramaśiva, the Absolute is the infinite pure consciousness endowed with all divine potency. Śiva-tattva is the name given to the same pure consciousness when thought over with the predomi- nance of its noumenal aspect. Śakti-tattva also is the same infinite and pure consciousness but such name is used for it when it is medi- tated upon in the predominance of its phenomenal aspect. The Absolute reality is thought over as God and as His Godhead with the help of these two terms, Śiva and Śakti. Śiva is the original source of all emanation and Śakti is the urge of the Absolute to- wards such emanation of the phenomenon. Śiva is the name given to the inward aspect of the divine and blissful spiritual stir of the pure consciousness and its outward stir is represented by Śakti. The objective existence does not at all appear in its objective

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 29 aspect in these two tattvas where consciousness shines as the in- finite and perfect "I" and that alone, without even the faintest manifestation of this-ness. That is the state of absolute unity thought over in its two aspects imagined by philosophers for the sake of perfect and complete understanding. The Lord is suppos- ed to govern these two tattvas as Śiva and Śakti respectively. Beings who attain the position of such unity are termed as Akala beings. They enjoy constantly the blissful existence of their infinite and pure I-consciousness endowed with infinite divine potency. Sadāśiva and Īśvara-tattvas belong to the plane of unity in diver- sity and are governed by Lord Sadāśiva and Lord Īśvara respecti- vely. The Absolute God, descended to such plane of unity-cum- diversity, is known by these two names. Beings residing at the planes of these two tattvas are respectively called Mantra-mahe- śvaras and Mantreśvaras. They enjoy the awareness of their blissful unity with the undiversified objective existence appearing as simple "this" and feel respectively as "I am this" and "This is myself." The awareness of the element of I-ness predominates in the former type of these beings and the element of this-ness does so in the latter. The viewpoint of unity-cum-diversity, be- longing to both of these types of beings, serves them as their instrumental tattva and is termed as Śuddhavidyā or Sadvidyā, the pure and correct knowledge. Sadvidyā at its lower type is termed as Mahāmāyā. Beings residing in its plane are known either as Mantras or as Vidyeśvaras. They see themselves as divinely potent, pure and infinite consciousness and enjoy its blissfulness but, at the same time, they take the objective existence as different from them. Lord Īśvara, descended to that level is known as Lord Anantanātha who rules over Mantra beings and conducts further creation by means of the divine powers delegated to him by the Lord. Crea- tion up to the level of Mahāmāyā is conducted directly by the Almighty Absolute God Himself, without entrusting it to any of His Avatāras who conduct creation at lower levels. Such creation is known as the pure creation. It is termed as Śuddha-adhvan, the pure path of objective meditation, as taught in the Trika system of practical Śaivism. परमं यत् स्वातन्त्र्यं दुर्घटसम्पादनं महेशस्य । देवी मायाशक्तिः स्वात्मावरणं शिवस्यैतत् ॥ १५ ॥

30 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 15. Paramam yat svātantryaṃ durghaṭa-saṁpādanaṃ maheśasya Devī māyā- śaktiḥ svātmāvaraṇaṃ Śivasyaitat. That supreme self-dependence of Paramaśiva, through which He brings about even that which is not possible, is known as the deity named Māyā-śakti. It serves Paramaśiva as a veil to hide Himself. Māyā, the divine power of the Lord, reflected by Him externally, appears as Māyā-tattva, the sixth one in the process of phenomenal evolution. The Lord, covering Himself with it, conceals His nature of absolute purity and divinity. Making a show of His involve- ment in it, He sees everything through a viewpoint of diversity and forgets the divinity of His I-consciousness. Besides, Māyā- tattva serves as the inanimate objective substance out of which all other insentient elements evolve. It is thus the substantive cause of numerous universes floating in it like bubbles in an ocean. Māyā-tattva is also a creation of the Absolute God. It is His impure creation. Further creation out of Māyā is conducted by Lord Anantanātha, one of the agents of God. मायापरिग्रहवशाद् बोधो मलिनः पुमान् पशुर्भवति । कालकलानियतिवशाद् रागाविद्यावशेन सम्बद्धः ॥ १६ ॥ 16. Māyā-parigraha-vaśād bodho malinaḥ pumān paśur bhavati Kāla-kalā-niyati-vaśād rāgāvidyā-vaśena saṃbaddhaḥ. The pure consciousness, having adopted Māyā as a part and parcel of its self, becomes impure and appears as the finite subject known as Puruṣa who is bound like a beast with (the chains of bondage consisting) of kāla, the sense of time, kalā, the limited capacity to do just a little, niyati, the law of natural causation, rāga, the limited interest in a particular something and Avidyā, the limited capacity to know just a little. Puruṣa is the finite subject who takes a finite individual I-cons- ciousness, having limited powers to know and to do, as his self. Having lost his infiniteness, he is known as 'aṇu' a finite being. He sees everything and everyone as different from him. Such viewpoint of diversity and such finitude are the main impurities of such individual I-consciousness which, being fastened by the