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

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

46 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta within His own self known as Śiva. His will to create a particular type of phenomenon presupposes its existence inside His aware- ness, because nothing particular could have otherwise become the object of His conation, or creation. The phenomenon appears initially in Him and that is due to His cognitive power. It shines clearly in Him as the object to be created and is thus created there actually through His creative power. Its outward creation is due to the phenomenal growth of His kriyā-śakti. A worldly creator also follows such process. He creates only that thing outwardly which is initially created by him in his own self. A painter creates initially a wonderful form in his own will and then he illuminates it thoroughly while forming a clear idea about it in his mind and afterwards he starts to paint it actually on a board. So does the Lord create the phenomenon in His own subjective self before manifesting it outwardly and objectively. That is the interior creation which the couplet in hand is meant to express. पुनरपि च पञ्चशक्तिप्रसरणक्रमेण बहिरपि तत् । अण्डत्रयं विचित्रं सृष्टं बहिरात्मलाभेन ॥ ४६ ॥ 46. Punarapi ca pañca-śakti-prasaraṇa- krameṇa bahirapi tat Aṇḍa-trayaṁ vicitraṁ sṛṣṭaṁ bahirātma-lābhena. At the next step the Lord created outwardly the complexly wonderful three spheres (of Māyā, Prakṛti and Pṛthvī) by manifes- ting and finding Himself outwardly as well through the process of outward manifestation of His five divine powers. The five divine powers of the Lord are: cit or pure consciousness, ānanda or blissfulness, icchā or conative power, jñāna or cognitive power and kriyā or creative porwer. These powers shine in Him as His own self. Their outward manifestation reflects them as the creation of the objective existence consisting of three spheres of Māyā, the causal creation, Prakṛti, the subtle creation and Pṛthvī, the gross creation. The whole of such creation is complexly wonderful. It is the outward or objective manifestation of the essential nature of God. Here He finds out His own self in an objective aspect and that is His 'bahirātma-lābha'.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 47 इति शक्तिचक्रयन्त्रं क्रीडायोगेन वाहयन् देवः । अहमेव शुद्धरूपः शक्तिमहाचक्रनायकपदस्थः ॥ ४७ ॥ 47. Iti śakti-cakra-yantraṁ krīḍā- yogena vāhayan devaḥ Ahameva śuddha-rūpaḥ śakti-mahā- cakra-nāyaka-padasthaḥ. Putting thus playfully the machine of the circle of divine powers in motion, I am myself the Lord, with purity as my nature, working at the highest post as the master hero of the infinite wheel of Śaktis or divine powers. Concluding the discussions noted above, an aspirant realizes that he is not a finite being but the great Lord who is the only hero having the multitudes of divine powers as His heroins. He feels actually that he is himself activating playfully the whole circle of such powers, the primary one among which are five: (1) cit, (2) ānanda, (3) icchā, (4) jñāna, and (5) kriyā. Their amalgamated unity appears in twelve forms in the process of all psychic activities of all beings and are known as Śakti-cakra or the group of twelve Kālīs. Such Kālīs absorb in them the psychic activities of all subjects, the functions of their psychic apparatus and the objective elements that become foci of such activities. A successful practitioner of Śaivism realizes and visualizes such fact through his personal experience. मय्येव भाति विश्वं दर्पण इव निर्मले घटादीनि । मत्तः प्रसरति सर्वं स्वप्नविचित्रत्वमिव सुप्तात् ॥ ४८ ॥ 48. Mayyeva bhāti viśvaṁ darpaṇa iva nirmale ghaṭādīni Mattaḥ prasarati sarvaṁ svapna- vicitratvamiva suptāt. Having a direct realization of his dynamic Godhead, an adept practitioner of Kashmir Śaivism feels like this: "The whole universe appears in me, just as objects like a pitcher etc. appear in a clear mirror; everything flows out from me, just as the manifold variety of the dream world emanates from the dreaming person." A successful Śivayogin, realizing his real nature, feels all pheno- mena as the wonderful reflections of his own divine powers. He

48 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta sees them as emanated from his own self just as dream world ema- nates from a dreaming person. अहमेव विश्वरूपः करचरणादिस्वभाव इव देहः । सर्वस्मिन्नहमेव स्फुरामि भावेषु भास्वरूपमिव ॥ ४९ ॥ 49. Ahameva viśva-rūpaḥ kara-caraṇādi- svabhāva iva dehaḥ Sarvasminnahameva sphurāmi bhāveṣu bhāsvarūpamiva. Such a yogin feels further like this: "Just as it is the very nature of a body to be its limbs like hand, feet etc. so is the whole phenomenon my own form. Just as it is light which shines in the form of all existent substances, so do I myself glitter as all existence." A body is one though its limbs are many. So in one Ātman alone the whole existence of diverse character. To have limbs is the very nature and character of a body; to appear as all pheno- mena is the basic nature of the self. Just as every existent entity shines within the light that illuminates it, so does everything shine within the psychic light of the consciousness of the Ātman. In fact it is light that takes up the forms of all material substances against which it is focussed and shines as such substances. In the same way the Ātman assumes the forms of all phenomena and shines as everything phenomenal in character. Such arguments are put up to prove the correctness of the supreme monism or Parādvaita principle of Kashmir Śaivism. द्रष्टा श्रोता घ्राता देहेन्द्रियवर्जितोऽप्यकर्तापि । सिद्धान्तागमतर्कांश्चित्रानहमेव रचयामि ॥ ५० ॥ 50. Draṣṭā śrotā ghrātā dehendriya- varjito'pyakartāpi Siddhāntāgama-tarkāṁścitrān- ahameva racayāmi. He feels further like this: "Though in fact I do not have any body or senses or organs, and do not commit any deeds, yet I see, hear, smell and I alone compose wonderfully different śāstras like Siddhāntas, Āgamas and logical treatises." The Ātman is pure consciousness that transcends all insentient entities like bodies, senses, organs etc. and yet all such entities

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 49 are driven into their respective functions by the Ātman which alone conducts thus such functions resulting in works like the com- position of śāstras. इत्थं द्वैतविकल्पे गलिते प्रविलंघ्य मोहनीं मायाम् । सलिले सलिलं क्षीरे क्षीरमिव ब्रह्मणि लयीस्यात् ॥ ५१ ॥ 51. Itthaṃ dvaita-vikalpe galite pravilaṅghya mohanīṃ māyām Salile salilaṃ kṣīre kṣīramiva brahmaṇi layīsyāt. When all the dualistic conceptions are dissolved thus, a being having crossed over the deluding Māyā, becomes one with Brah- man, just as water becomes one with water and milk with milk. इत्थं तत्त्वसमूहे भावनया शिवमयत्वमभियाते । कः शोकः को मोहः सर्वं ब्रह्मावलोकयतः ॥ ५२ ॥ 52. Itthaṃ tattva-samūhe bhāvanayā Śiva-mayatvamabhiyāte Kaḥ śokaḥ ko mohaḥ sarvaṃ brahmāvalokayataḥ. The whole cluster of tattvas, having become thus one with Śiva by means of such contemplative practice in constant conceptions of absolute unity, what can remain there as sorrow or delusion for a yogin seeing everything as Brahman? The viewpoint of diversity is a prominent basic cause of all delusions and sorrows. An aspirant, who sees Brahman alone, is automatically freed from all such misery even while he is yet living in a material form. Such viewpoint of absolute unity can be easily developed by means of jñānayoga called Bhāvanā, a practice in constant contemplation of perfect unity of the divinely potent self with the whole existence. कर्मफलं शुभमशुभं मिथ्याज्ञानेन सङ्गमादेव । विषमो हि सङ्गदोषस्तस्करयोगोऽप्यतस्करस्येव ॥ ५३ ॥ 53. Karma-phalaṃ śubhamaśubhaṃ mithyā-jñānena saṅgamādeva Viṣamo hi saṅga-doṣas-taskara- yogo'pyataskarasyeva. Good or bad fruits of one's deeds are to be tasted by a person only on account of his companionship with incorrect knowledge.

50 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta The evil of bad company is indeed very dangerous. It is like an honest man's company with a thief. Deeds are actually conducted by bodies, senses and organs of finite beings under invariable and invisible direction from God. But, being under a deep effect of incorrect knowledge, we feel that we are ourselves doing them. A deep impression of such feel- ing makes us responsible for the results of such deeds; otherwise, if we see things through the correct angle of vision, and feel con- sequently that the divine powers of God are directing and driving the senses and organs of all living beings, we will not develop any impression of our responsibility for any deeds. लोकव्यवहारकृतां य इहाविद्यामुपासते मूढाः । ते यान्ति जन्ममृत्यु धर्माधर्मार्गलाबद्धाः ॥ ५४ ॥ 54. Loka-vyavahāra-kṛtāṁ ya ihāvidyām- upāsate mūḍhāḥ Te yānti janma-mṛtyu dharmādharmārgalā-baddhāḥ. Deluded people, adhering to incorrect knowledge based on mundane transactions, undergo births and deaths on account of their being bound by the chains of piety and sin. A yogin, having developed correct knowledge, and feeling con- sequently that all deeds are being done by the divine powers of God, is not at all involved in the chains of karman, because it is the egoistic conception of one's having done such and such deeds that makes him responsible for their fruits. The impression of such conceptions is known as karmasaṁskāra. It gives rise to a natural disposition towards rebirth to reap the fruits of such deeds. अज्ञानकालनिचितं धर्माधर्मात्मकं तु कर्मापि । चिरसञ्चितमिव तूलं नश्यति विज्ञानदीप्तिवशात् ॥ ५५ ॥ 55. Ajñāna-kāla-nicitaṁ dharmādharmā- tmakaṁ tu karmāpi Cira-sañcitamiva tūlaṁ naśyati vijñāna-dīpti-vaśāt. Good and bad deeds, accumulated during the period of ignor- ance, are destroyed like heaps of cotton collected since long, by the power of the burning effulgence of actually correct knowledge. Jñāna is the knowledge of the Truth at the level of one's under-