तन्त्रसार (महामाहेश्वर अभिनवगुप्त - तन्त्रालोक का प्रामाणिक सार-संग्रह सटीक)

FOREWARD I have great pleasure in introducing to the world of scholars the Tantrasāra of Abhinavaguputa translated for the first time into Hindi by Pndit Hemendra Nath Chakravarty, B, A, B, Ed Nyaya-Tarka-Tirtha. The beautiful valley of Kāśmīr has produced a galaxy of Śaivācāryas among whom Abhinavagupta was the most erudite and lucid exponent of the Advaita Śaiva Philosophy, popu- larly called Kāśmīra Śaivism. He was a prolific writer who is believed to have amalgamated diverse currents of Tāntricism, then prevalent in Kāśmīra. As many as forty-four works on Kaśmīra Śaivism in the form of commentaries on various works, including Śaiva Tantras, original works, devotional poems are ascribed to him. His magnum opus the Tantrāloka aims at throwing light on the philosophy of spiritual discip- line as advocated in the Śaiva Tantras in the backdrop of Śaiva metaphysical theory. As this work runs in 12 volumes. Abhinavagupta himself has condensed its entire contents in his prose work Tantrasāra which is a veritable digest of his encyclopaedic work Tantrāloka. Later he wrote the Tantra- vaṭadhānikā, small work in verse, which purports to give the teachings of Śaiva Tantras in a nutshell. The present work containing twenty-two āhnikas deals with a variety of topics which have bearing on spiritual dis- cipline. Like any other Tantra work, it gives prominence to the various modes of spiritual discipline prescribed for different classes of spritual aspirants and other ancilliary topics such as the concept of Divine Grace, different kinds of initiatory rites, modes of Śaiva worship etc. Besides