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

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

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 31 chains of ignorance and finitude, is known as a paśu, a bonded being. Carrying further the phenomenal evolution, Lord Anantanātha shakes up Māyā-tattva and expands it into five kañcukas or sheaths that cover and hide the divine nature of the ātman and present it in the form of a bonded being called paśu. Depriving it of its omnipotence and limiting its powers to do, it appears in it as kalā, a limited capacity to do just a little. Contracting the omniscience of the ātman, it appears there as the impure Vidyā, a finite capacity to know just a little. Limiting further scope of the kalā and Vidyā of the ātman, Māyā appears as niyati, the law of phenomenal causation, and restricts the kalā, Vidyā and rāga of the finite being at each and every step. Contracting the very person of such a being, Māyā appears as kāla, the sense of time, on account of which he does neither do nor know anything without conditioning these activities by the sense of time appearing as past or present or future. Such sense of time becomes so deeply impressed on his person that he does not even think of his very existence except within the terms of past, present or future. Time, according to Śaivism, is an imagined sense of succession with regard to events and actions. Such sense of time is based on the imagination of the finite being living at the plane of Māyā, Such successions are either regular as those of the apparent move- ments of sun and moon, change of seasons, blossoming of flowers, ripening of fruits and grains and so on: or these are irregular as those of the routine actions of individual beings. We very often measure all the irregular series of successions with some regular successions mentioned above and say that such and such person lived a life of one hundred years; such and such book was read by me in one month; today you slept for eight hours, and so on. Time in Śaivism is thus a mere conception and not any substance. It is a special type of relativity which is itself a substanceless con- ception based on human imagination. The finite I-consciousness, shrouded by Māyā and these five tattvas of limitation, is termed as puruṣa, a bonded finite being known as paśu or aṇu or jīva and so on. अधुनैव किञ्चिदेवेदमेव सर्वात्मनैव जानामि । मायासहितं कञ्चुकषट्कमणोरन्तरङ्गमिदमुक्तम् ॥ १७ ॥

32 Paramārthāsāra of Abhinavagupta 17. Adhunaiva kiñcidevedameva sarvātmanaiva jānāmi Māyā-sahitaṃ kañcuka- ṣaṭkamaṇorantaraṅgamidamuktam. "I know only now and know just a little and just this much of it quite completely"; such is the group of six sheaths including Māyā. These have been taken as the six interior limitations of a finite being. The omnipotence of Śiva is reduced to the position of kalā in a finite being. His omniscience becomes here the impure Vidyā. The perfectness of Śiva is reduced here to rāga-tattva. His eternity is brought down to the position of kāla-tattva and niyati-tattva occu- pies the place of His complete independence. The five pure elements discussed previously, and these six im- pure elements raise the number of the tattvas in the process of phenomenal evolution to eleven and puruṣa is the twelfth such tattva. The six kañcukas, being the part and parcel of the person of a finite being, are his interior limitations while the subtle mental body and the gross material body are his exterior limita- tions, because he wears them like clothes, changes the gross ones and sheds them off, but the interior limitations of kañcukas have become the essential nature of his person. A puruṣa is a puruṣa because of these kañcukas; otherwise he should have been a pure being residing in the plane of either pure Vidyā or Śakti. कम्बुकमिव तण्डुलकणविनिविष्टं भिन्नमप्यभिदा । भजते तत्तु विशुद्धिं शिवमागौन्मुख्ययोगेन ॥ १८ ॥ 18. Kambukamiva taṇḍulakaṇa- viniviṣṭaṃ bhinnamapyabhidā Bhajate tattu viśuddhiṃ Śiva-mārgaunmukhya-yogena. Though the group of five kañcukas is, in fact, different from puruṣa, yet it is set in him in such a way as to appear to be non- different from him, just like the thin yellowish covering of the grains of rice. It can however be washed off by means of (a keenly attentive and self contemplative) practice in Śaiva yoga. Rice grains have two coverings. One is the outer chaff which is removed by simple husking. But inside it there is a thin and yellowish white covering which appears as the part and parcel of the edible rice itself. It is often rubbed off only with the help

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 33 of a polisher fitted in a husking machine. Rice shines in snow white colour only after the removal of such inner covering known in Kashmiri language as komb, Sanskrit kambuka. Likewise, the six kañcukas appear as part and parcel of the finite subject whose real nature can shine brilliantly only after washing away such coverings of kañcukas by means of Śaiva yoga. सुखदुःखमोहमात्रं निश्चयसङ्कल्पनाभिमानाच्च । प्रकृतिरथान्तःकरणं बुद्धिमनोऽहङ्कृति क्रमशः ॥ १६ ॥ 19. Sukha-duḥkha-moha-mātram niścaya-saṅkalpanābhimānācca Prakṛtirathāntaḥkaraṇam buddhimano'haṅkṛti kramaśaḥ. Prakṛti is the even amalgamation of simple pleasure, pain and delusion (or ignorance) and the three interior instrumental ele- ments are (i) buddhi, the understanding sense that forms definite conceptions, (ii) manas, or mind, the organ of such thinking as gives rise to indefinite ideations (about phenomena) and (iii) ahaṅkāra, the egoist sense that connects such psychic activities with the finite subject. Prakṛti is the initial objective element that becomes the focus of the activities of the finite subject who feels it afterwards either as pleasure or pain or simple ignorance. Such three feelings are known respectively as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, the three guṇas. Prakṛti is that state of the complete amalgamation of three guṇas in which these do not at all appear in their separate individual character. It is their absolute equilibrium. Both Puruṣa and Prakṛti are the creations of Lord Anantanātha. Lord Īśvara, desended to the plane of threee guṇas is known as Śrīkaṇṭhanātha. Umāpati- nātha is another divine form of Śrīkaṇṭhanātha. He is the Śiva of epics and purāṇas. Śrīkaṇṭhanātha shakes up Prakṛti, disturbs the equilibirium of the guṇas and creates the instrumental and objec- tive elements out of it through a process of transformation. The first result of such transformation is the creation of interior senses including ego and the last one is that of gross physical elements known as bhūtas. Sāṁkhya system maintains that Prakṛti under- goes transformation into instrumental and objective elements by virtue of its own essential nature, without any help from any quarters. But Śaivism declares that Lord Śrīkaṇṭhanātha directs it, disturbs its equilibrium and transforms it into the twenty-three

34 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta tattvas from mahattattva (buddhi) to earth, because, being insen- tient in character, it cannot undergo any change by itself and requires guidance for such purpose from some sentient person and such person is Lord Śrīkaṇṭhanātha. श्रोत्रं त्वगक्षिरसनाघ्राणं बुद्धीन्द्रियाणि शब्दादौ । वाक्पाणिपादपायूपस्थं कर्मेन्द्रियाणि पुनः ॥ २० ॥ 20. Śrotraṁ tvagakṣi-rasanā-ghrāṇaṁ buddhīndriyāṇi śabdādau Vāk-pāṇi-pāda-payūpasthaṁ karmendriyāṇi punaḥ. The exterior senses, helpful in grasping objects like sound, touch etc., are: srotra, the auditory sense, tvac, the sense to feel some touch, akṣi, the sense to see, rasanā, the sense to taste and ghrāṇa, the sense to smell. The exterior organs helpful in outward actions are: vāc, the organ to speak, pāṇi, the organ to grasp, pāda, the organ to move about, pāyu, the organ to discharge and upastha, the organ to enjoy sexual bliss. Each sense has its fixed place in the gross body while an organ works through more than one limbs. One can catch hold of some- thing with the help of his mouth also, can discharge through several outlets in the body, can enjoy sexual bliss through kisses and embraces as well. All these senses and organs are produced through a process of the transformation of ego in its different aspects. एषां ग्राह्यो विषयः सूक्ष्मः प्रविभागवर्जितो यः स्यात् । तन्मात्रपञ्चकं तत् शब्दः स्पर्शो महो रसो गन्धः ॥ २१ ॥ 21. Eṣāṁ grāhyo viṣayaḥ sūkṣmaḥ pravibhāga-varjito yaḥ syāt Tanmātra-pañcakaṁ tat śabdaḥ sparśo maho raso gandhaḥ. The finer undiversified objects to be caught by the five senses are: sound, touch, light, taste and smell respectively. These are known as five tanmātras. Tanmātra means "that much". For instance, śabda tanmātra means simple sound alone, without any particulars. These are the finer objects of the senses and are produced out of a particular aspect of ego through the process of transformation, because all of them shine as egoistic feelings and ideas and not as any inde-

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 35 pendent entities. It is the ego which takes them up as its parti- culars and shines itself in these five forms. एतत्संसर्गवशात् स्थूलो विषयस्तु भूतपञ्चकताम् । अभ्येति नभः पवनस्तेजः सलिलं च पृथ्वी च ॥ २२ ॥ 22. Etat-saṁsarga-vaśāt sthūlo viṣayastu bhūta-pañcakatām Abhyeti nabhaḥ pavanas-tejaḥ salilaṁ ca pṛthvī ca. The gross objective existence, evolved through the mixing up of these five subtle objects, appears as the five gross physical ele- ments called pañca-bhūtas which are: ether, air, fire, water and earth. Five subtle objects of senses, when mixed together and disturbed, get evolved into five gross elements of physical existence. These have the subtle objects as their special attributes called viśeṣa- guṇas. The creation of gross objective elements is something like the coagulation of the subtle ones. तुष इव तण्डुलकणिकामावृणुते प्रकृतिपूर्वकः सर्गः । पृथ्वीपर्यन्तोऽयं चैतन्यं देहभावेन ॥ २३ ॥ 23. Tuṣa iva taṇḍula-kaṇikāmāvṛṇute prakṛti-pūrvakaḥ sargaḥ Pṛthvī-paryanto'yaṁ caitanyaṁ dehabhāvena. Just as husk covers a grain of rice, so do all these created elements, right from prakṛti to earth, become the subtle and gross bodies of the finite I-consciousness and cover and conceal it completely. Both subtle and gross bodies of a being are evolved out of an admixture of elements from prakṛti to earth. Such bodies form the outer covering of I-consciousness, which takes them as its self. But kañcukas, constituting the very finitude of the finite conscious- ness, shine as its essential part and parcel and are therefore its interior covering. परमावरणं मल इह सूक्ष्मं मायादि कञ्चुकं स्थूलम् । बाह्यं विग्रहरूपं कोशत्रयवेष्टितो ह्यात्मा ॥ २४ ॥ 24. Paramāvaraṇaṁ mala iha sūkṣmaṁ māyādi-kañcukaṁ sthūlam

36 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta Bāhyaṃ vigraha-rūpaṃ kośa-traya-veṣṭito hyātmā. Mala, the basic impurity, is the finer covering of pure conscious- ness. Six cloaks from Māyā to Niyati are its subtle coverings and the external physical body is its gross covering. The Ātman is thus covered with these sheaths. God, hiding His purity, divinity etc., appears as a finite being who forgets his real nature and becomes ignorant about it. Such basic ignorance of a being regarding his purity, divinity, omni- science, omnipotence etc. is his finer covering. It conceals the very nature of his inner being and appears as his part and parcel. It is termed in Śaivism as mala or impurity. Māyā, along with its five evolutes called kañcukas, limiting the scope of the powers of a being, is his interior and subtle covering. His external gross covering is his individual body, both mental and physical. The real nature of the Ātman remains thus hidden under such three sheaths, the last one among which can be analysed further into two, the thinner one and the grosser one, that is, the mental one and the physical one. अज्ञानतिमिरयोगादेकमपि स्वं स्वभावमात्मानम् । ग्राह्यग्राहकनानावैचित्र्येणावबुद्ध्येत ॥ २५ ॥ 25. Ajñāna-timira-yogād-ekamapi svaṃ svabhāvamātmānam Grāhya-grāhaka-nānā- vaicitryeṇāvabuddhyeta. The finite being, suffering from the eye-disease of ignorance, sees his own self as a multifarious diversity of subjects and objects, while in reality he is only the monistic consciousness. The moon is one, but a person suffering from an eyedisease sees it as two. So does an ignorant being see his monistic divine nature as a complex diversity with the result he goes on commit- ting good and bad deeds and reaping the results of them in end- less cycles of births, deaths, rebirths etc. रसफाणितशर्करिकागुडखण्डाद्या यथेक्षुरस एव । तद्वदवस्थाभेदाः सर्वे परमात्मनः शम्भोः ॥ २६ ॥ 26. Rasa-phāṇita-śarkarikā- guḍa-khaṇḍādyā yathekṣu-rasa eva Tad-vadavasthā-bhedāḥ sarve paramātmanaḥ Śambhoḥ.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 37 Just as thin juice, thick juice, still thicker molasses (राब), coarse sugar and refined sugar etc. are all only the juice of sugarcane (appearing in different forms), so are all phenomena just some different states of Lord Śiva in His universal aspect. God shines in His two aspects, the noumenal one and the pheno- menal one. In the former one He is infinite and pure I-conscious- ness and that alone. But within such transcendental consciousness lies that infinite divine power of Godhead through which all phenomena shine in Him as reflections in a crystal. He appears thus as the whole mental and physical existence and that is His phenomenal aspect. विज्ञानान्तर्यामिप्राणविराड्देहजातिपिण्डान्ताः । व्यवहारमात्रमेतत् परमार्थेन तु न सन्त्येव ॥२७॥ 27. Vijñānāntaryāmi-prāṇa-virāḍ- deha-jāti-piṇḍāntāḥ Vyavahāra-mātrametat paramārthena tu na santyeva. The flow of momentary consciousness, the single self working in all minds, the power of animation, the universal soul shining as the whole phenomenon, the gross and subtle forms, the generali- ties or species and lastly the individual being, all these consist of mere dialectical conception and do not at all exist in reality. The Buddhist thinkers maintain that the constant flow of momentary consciousness is the only reality. The Vedic thinkers say that the single self, penetrating inside, pervading, directing and governing all the minds, is the ultimate reality. Some Upani- ṣadic thinkers take the power of animation as the ultimate truth, while other such thinkers say that one universal Ātman, shining as all phenomena, is the only reality. Some other thinkers take either the psycho-physical organism or the generalities or lastly the individual as the ultimate truth. But all such theories are merely some dialectical speculations useful in discussions and debates. None among such entities has a real existence, as all these are mere suppositions and imaginary concepts of thinkers. रज्ज्वां नास्ति भुजङ्गस्त्रासं कुरुते च मृत्युपर्यन्तम् । भ्रान्तेर्महती शक्तिर्न विवेक्तुं शक्यते नाम ॥२८॥ 28. Rajjvāṁ nāsti bhujaṅgas-trāsaṁ kurute ca mṛtyu-paryantam

38 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta Bhrānter mahatī śaktirna vivektuṁ śakyate nāma. No serpent exists in a rope, but (even then) it causes dread even upto that of death. Such immense power of delusion cannot be explained or discussed fully. A hanging rope, moving this way and that way in a gentle breeze, causes immense dread when it is mistaken for a serpent in its zigzag gait. तद्वद् धर्माधर्म-स्वर्-निरयोत्पत्ति-मरण-सुख-दुःखम् । वर्णाश्रमादि चात्मन्यसदपि विभ्रमबलाद् भवति ॥ २९ ॥ 29. Tadvad dharmādharma-svar- nirayotpatti-maraṇa-sukha-duḥkham Varṇāśramādi cātmanyasadapi vibhrama-balād bhavati. In the same way the matters like piety and sin, heaven and hell, birth and death, pleasure and pain, social castes and stages of life, and so on, do never exist in reality, but appear in the self on account of the effect of delusion. No diversity is the real truth. Its existence is simply apparent. It shines in the Ātman as reflections shine in a mirror. All this appears to a bonded being on account of the delusion caused by Māyā. Śaivism, taking in this way the phenomenon as a mere apparent entity, comes very close to the Advaita Vedānta. But Māyā the basic cause of such reflectional appearance of the pheno- menon, has been taken in Śaivism as the divine power of the Ātman, while it is being accepted in the Advaita Vedānta as a foreign entity coming into contract with the Ātman and manifes- ting it falsely as God, soul and insentient substances. Śaivism propounds thus a highly theistic absolutism, while the fundamen- tal principle of the Advaita Vedānta is sufficiently nihilistic in character. एतत् तदन्धकारं यद् भावेषु प्रकाशमानतया । आत्मानतिरिक्तष्वपि भवत्यनात्माभिमानोऽयम् ॥ ३० ॥ 30. Etat tadandhakāraṁ yad bhāveṣu prakāśamānatayā Ātmānatirikteṣvapi bhavatya- nātmābhimāno'yam. The darkness of delusion is this that all existent phenomena

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 39 are taken as different from the self, though these are non-different from it because of their becoming apparent only inside its psychic light of consciousness. Only such a thing can appear as an existent entity which shines within prakāśa, the psychic luminosity of consciousness. In fact it is such prakāśa itself which, taking up the forms of such entities, shines like that. How can then any such entity be different from prakāśa known as Ātman? But still all this is taken as non-self and that is the darkness of ignorance. तिमिरादपि तिमिरमिदं गण्डस्योपरि महानयं स्फोटः । यदनात्मन्यपि देहप्राणादावात्ममानित्वम् ॥ ३१ ॥ 31. Timirādapi timiramidaṃ gaṇḍasyopari mahānayaṃ sphoṭaḥ yadanātmanyapi deha-prāṇādā- vātma-mānitvam. The egoistic conception of self-hood with regard to non-self like the physical body, functions of animation etc. is a darkness over a darkness. It is a big boil on a tumour. One type of ignorance is the forgetfulness about one's pure and infinite universal nature. It gives rise to another type of ignorance on account of which a being develops the conception of self-hood with respect to limited and insentient objects like the physical body etc., all of which are, in reality, non-self. Such double faced delusion is a disease over a disease and a darkness over a darkness. देहप्राण-विमर्शन-धीज्ञान-नभःप्रपञ्च-योगेन । आत्मानं वेष्टयते चित्रं जालेन जालकर इव ॥ ३२ ॥ 32. Deha-prāṇa-vimarśana-dhījñāna- nabhaḥ-prapañca-yogena Ātmānaṃ veṣṭayate citraṃ jālena jāla-kara iva. How strange ! Just as a silk-worm confines its own self inside the cacoon woven by it, so does a finite being conceal his real self under the immense amplifications of—(a) his egoistic feeling with regard to his physical body and animation, (b) his conceptual cognitions and (c) the feelings of nihility beyond his mental organism. The conception and feeling of I-ness with respect to physical

40 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta body and pure animation is the gross covering that hides the real nature of the self. The subtle covering is the multitude of multi- farious conceptual cognitions being always formed by his under- standing capacity. The finer covering is his feeling of I-ness with regard to pure but finite individual consciousness, freed from all subjective and objective ideas. It can be compared to the nihility of the void. These are the amplifications with which the natural infinity, purity, eternity, divinity etc. of the potent and pure cons- ciousness of a being become concealed and remain hidden. Since God appears as all beings, it is He who conceals wonderfully His real nature in this way. स्व-ज्ञान-विभव-भासन-योगेनोद्वेष्टयेन्निजात्मानम् । इति बन्ध-मोक्ष-चित्रां क्रीडां प्रतनोति परमशिवः ॥ ३३॥ 33. Sva-jñāna-vibhava-bhāsana- yogenodveṣṭayennijātmānam, Iti bandha-mokṣa-citrāṃ krīḍāṃ pratanoti Paramaśivaḥ. Sometimes the Lord may Himself unbound and reveal His real nature by means of yoga that illumins the infinite luxury of one's self-knowledge. Paramaśiva, the Absolute God, plays thus His wonderful game of bondage and liberation. Bondage is not basically due to any foriegn element like Avidyā, but is due to the very divine nature of the absolute reality itself. God, shorn of such playful nature, would be reduced to the posi- tion of insentient pure space. It is such playfulness which is His natural Godhead. Neither bondage nor liberation can basically be due to anything other than such divine nature of God. सृष्टि-स्थिति-संहारा जाग्रत्स्वप्नौ सुषुप्तमिति तस्मिन् । भान्ति तुरीये धामनि तथापि तैर्नावृतं भाति ॥ ३४॥ 34. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-saṃhārā jāgrat-svapnau suṣuptamiti tasmin Bhānti turīye dhāmani tathāpi tair nāvṛtaṃ bhāti. All creation, preservation and absorption, as well as the states of waking, dreaming and sleeping shine inside the (divine) light of the fourth state of animation which does not even then appear to be hidden by such phenomena. Turyā, the fourth state of animation, is the state of such intui-

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 41 tive revelation as illumines the pure and divinely potent nature of the self. It is the pure consciousness which keeps on shining in all the states of animation as the witnessing reality. It can neither be hidden by the waking state, nor by the dreaming one, nor by the sleeping one, all of which depend on it, because it is the basic light of consciousness pervading every function of a being. It alone illumines all the functions of animation in all these states. जाग्रद्विश्वं भेदात् स्वप्नस्तेजः प्रकाशमाहात्म्यात् । प्राज्ञः सुप्तावस्था ज्ञानघनत्वात् ततः परं तुर्यम् ॥ ३५ ॥ 35. Jāgrad viśvaṃ bhedāt svapnas tejaḥ prakāśa-māhātmyāt Prājñaḥ suptāvasthā jñāna-ghanatvāt tataḥ paraṃ turyam. The waking state, being full of diversity, is known as viśva, the phenomenon. The dreaming state is called tejas (light) because of its power to manifest. The sleeping state, (being aware of only the self,) is named prājña, the possessor of knowledge of the finite self. The state of Turyā is the compact self-knowledge lying above and beyond it. Generally the beings in such states are given such four names, but such states and the beings in them have together been men- tioned here through such four terms. जलधर-धूम-रजोभिर्मलिनीक्रियते यथा न गगनतलम् । तद्वन्मायाविकृतिभिरपरामृष्टः परः पुरुषः ॥ ३६ ॥ 36. Jaladhara-dhūma-rajobhir malinī- kriyate yathā na gagana-talam Tadvan-māyā-vikṛtibhiraparā- mṛṣṭaḥ paraḥ puruṣaḥ. Just as clouds, smoke and dust do not at all pollute the sky, so remains the transcendental self unaffected by the evolutes of Māyā. Five kañcukas are the direct evolutes of Māyā. They narrow down to the utmost the scope of the powers of a finite being. But since these five elements, along with Māyā itself, appear only like reflections inside the psychic luminosity of the supreme self, and do so only by virtue of the playful and divine power of the self, these cannot affect it at all. That is to say that the Lord does not undergo any change in His basic character and continues to be pure, infinite and divine consciousness even while appearing as

42 Paramarthasāra of Abhinavagupta all phenomena. That is the strange pantheism of the Śaiva philo- sophy of Kashmir. It is pantheism combined with absolutism. एकस्मिन् घटगगने रजसा व्याप्ते भवन्ति नान्यानि । मलिनानि तद्वदेते जीवाः सुखदुःखभेदजुषः ॥ ३७ ॥ 37. Ekasmin ghaṭa-gagane rajasā vyāpte bhavanti nānyāni Malināni tadvadete jīvāḥ sukha-duḥkha-bheda-juṣaḥ. When the space inside one pitcher becomes completely dusty, it does not happen like that with respect to the space in other pitchers. In the same way are these finite beings mutually different in the matters of pleasure, pain etc. शान्ते शान्त इवायं हृष्टे हृष्टो विमोहवति मूढः । तत्त्वगणे सति भगवान् न पुनः परमार्थतः स तथा ॥ ३८ ॥ 38. Śānte śānta ivāyam hṛṣṭe hṛṣṭo vimoha-vati mūḍhaḥ Tattva-gaṇe sati bhagavān na punaḥ paramārthataḥ sa tathā. God, while pervading tranquil, happy and deluded complexes of psychic elements, appears as if He also were like that; but in reality he is not like that. God is changeless. Tranquillity, delusion etc. are different psychic states involving change in the character of the entities to which these belong and are caused by three guṇas. God, being the abso- lute reality that transcends guṇas, does not at all undergo any change in His character. But, while acting as a finite being, He looks as if He were undergoing such changes and having pleasure, pain, delusion etc. as his character. यदनात्मन्यपि तद्रूपावभासनं तत् पुरा निराकृत्य । आत्मन्यनात्मरूपां भ्रान्तिं विदलयति परमात्मा ॥ ३६ ॥ 39. Yadanātmanyapi tadrūpāvabhāsanaṃ tat purā nirākṛtya Ātmanyanātma-rūpāṃ bhrāntiṃ vidalayati paramātmā. The great God, having first eradicated the delusion of taking the non-self and insentient substances as self, shatters afterwards

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 43 the other delusive conception of taking the (all inclusive) self as non-self. The self of a person is, in fact, divinely potent, pure and trans- cendental consciousness alone; but a person in delusion takes some insentient substances like the physical body, animation, mental apparatus etc. as his self. That is one type of his delusion. The whole phenomenon, being the manifestation of the divine powers of the real self, is in fact nothing other than one's self, but is taken as non-self. That is another type of delusion. The great God, playing the gracious game of self-revelation, makes a person realize his real nature and to recognize himself as none other than God. Such recognitive self-realization liquidates both the above mentioned types of delusion, one after another. Such a man of realization feels firstly that he is pure, infinite, eternal, independent and perfect consciousness having infinite divine potency as his nature. Afterwards he sees the whole phenomenon as his own self. इत्थं विभ्रमयुगलक-समूलविच्छेदने कृतार्थस्य । कर्तव्यान्तरकलना न जातु परयोगिनो भवति ॥ ४० ॥ 40. Itthaṁ vibhrama-yugalaka-smūla- vicchedane kṛtārthasya Kartavyāntara-kalanā na jātu parayogino bhavati. A superior yogin, having become thus fully satisfied by rooting out and exterminating the delusion of both the types, does never see any thing else to be accomplished by him. पृथ्वी प्रकृतिर्माया त्रितयमिदं वेद्यरूपतापतितम् । अद्वैतभावनवलाद् भवति हि सन्मात्रपरिशेषम् ॥ ४१ ॥ 41. Pṛthvī prakṛtir māyā tritayamidaṁ vedya-rūpatā-patitam Advaita-bhāvana-balād bhavati hi sanmātra-pariśeṣam. The trinity of the objective existence, consisting of (the spheres of) earth, cosmic substance, and Māyā, is reduced to the position of the simple and pure basic existence by means of practice in the contemplation of non-duality. Bhāvanā is a contemplative practice in thinking constantly about the exactly pure and real nature of an entity, self or non-

44 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta self. Such contemplative practice in thinking constantly about the monistic, pure and divine character of everything raises the whole phenomenal existence to the position of the basic existence which is pure consciousness endowed with divine potency. रशनाकुण्डलकाटकं भेदत्यागेन दृश्यते यथा हेम । तद्वद् भेदत्यागे सन्मात्रं सर्वमाभाति ॥४२॥ 42. Raśanā-kuṇḍala-kaṭakaṁ bheda- tyāgena dṛśyate yathā hema Tadvad bheda-tyāge sanmātraṁ sarvamābhāti. Just as gold ornaments like girdle, earring, bangle etc., shedding off their differential character, appear as simple gold, so do all phenomena, shedding off their mutually different character, shine as simple basic existence. तद् ब्रह्म परं शुद्धं शान्तमभेदात्मकं समं सकलम् । अमृतं सत्यं शक्तौ विश्राम्यति भास्वरूपायाम् ॥४३॥ 43. Tad brahma paraṁ śuddhaṁ śāntamabhedātmakaṁ samaṁ sakalam Amṛtaṁ satyaṁ śaktau viśrāmyati bhāsvarūpāyām. That Brahman, the transcendental, pure and tranquil reality, being of monistic nature, is evenly everything. Being immortal and real, it relaxes on its (own) Śakti which has consciousness as its form. Brahman is never involved in the disturbance of anything like Māyā, karman etc. and that amounts to its tranquillity. Since Brah- man alone is everything, everything is as much Brahman as Brahman itself. It is immortal and true and, being self dependent, it relaxes on its own divine power of Godhead which has infinitely potent consciousness, or rather awareness, as its essential form. It has not to relax or to rely on anything other than its divine power. It does not therefore require the assistance of either Avidyā or vāsanā in its universal play which is played by it through its own divine power which is playful in its essential nature and that is the absolute Godhead of Brahman as maintained in Kashmir Śaivism.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 45 इष्यत इति वेद्यत इति सम्पाद्यत इति च भास्वरूपेण । अपरामृष्टं यदपि तु नभःप्रसूनत्वमभ्येति ॥ ४४ ॥ 44. Iṣyata iti vedyata iti sampādyata iti ca bhāsvarūpeṇa Aparāmṛṣṭaṁ yadapi tu nabhaḥ-prasūnatvamabhyeti. All that is ever willed or cognized or created gets reduced to the position of a sky-flower if it is not illumined by consciousness. It is only consciousness which illumines an entity. Only that thing is accepted as an existent or non-existent entity which shines like that within the psychic light of the consciousness of a being. A thing which does never shine there is reduced to total nothing- ness. Therefore it is in fact the divine consciousness alone which shines itself as any phenomenon that is ever willed or observed or created. That proves the supreme theistic monism worked out in Paramārthasāra. शक्तित्रिशूलपरिगमयोगेन समस्तमपि परमेशे । शिवनामनि परमार्थे विसृज्यते देवदेवेन ॥ ४५ ॥ 45. Śakti-triśūla-parigama-yogena samastamapi parameśe Śivanāmani paramārthe visṛjyate devadevena. Initially the Lord of the lords creates the whole phenomenon within His own divine, potent and eternally existent aspect named Śiva, by handling the trident of His divine powers. The conative, cognitive and creative powers of God are His three primary powers known as icchā-śakti, jñāna-śakti and kriyā- śakti. The symbolic trident of Śiva is suggestive of these three divine powers which constitute His essential nature. Śiva, coming face to face to such powers through His awareness, that is, be- coming fully aware of His natural divine powers, becomes prone or inclined towards creation. Such a situation is described as hold- ing in His hand the trident of three divine powers. His conative power is His icchā-śakti, which is depicted in Upaniṣadic passages like “Tadaikṣata, bahu syām, prajāyeya iti”. (तदैक्षत, बहु स्याम्, प्रजायेयेति) (ch. 6-2-3). The basic reality visualizes, “Let me become many, let me be born (in many forms)” and so on. Before creating the phenomenon externally as an objective existence, God creates it