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Light On Abhinavagupta's Contribution To The Advaita Shaiva Spiritual Philosophy of Kashmir-Debabrata Sen Sharma

1) Abhinavagupta was an influential philosopher who helped develop and synthesize the non-dual Shaiva philosophy of Kashmir, known as Trika. 2) He studied various philosophical schools, which gave him a syncretic outlook. He integrated ideas from different traditions into his philosophy. 3) Abhinavagupta viewed the philosophies of Agama, Spanda, and Pratyabhijna not as divergent but as complementary phases in the development of Kashmiri Shaivism. He called this unified system the Trika school.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
192 views8 pages

Light On Abhinavagupta's Contribution To The Advaita Shaiva Spiritual Philosophy of Kashmir-Debabrata Sen Sharma

1) Abhinavagupta was an influential philosopher who helped develop and synthesize the non-dual Shaiva philosophy of Kashmir, known as Trika. 2) He studied various philosophical schools, which gave him a syncretic outlook. He integrated ideas from different traditions into his philosophy. 3) Abhinavagupta viewed the philosophies of Agama, Spanda, and Pratyabhijna not as divergent but as complementary phases in the development of Kashmiri Shaivism. He called this unified system the Trika school.

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Abhinavagupta in Assembly

Light on Abhinavagupta’s Contribution


to the Advaita Shaiva
Spiritual Philosophy of Kashmir
Dr Debabrata Sen Sharma
image: www.abhinavagupta.net

O
ut of the eight schools of Shaiva most prominent one on account of richness in
spiritual philosophy that had their ori- terms of literary output and the depth in its
gin and development in different parts spiritual thought projections. Eight schools of
of India in different periods of time, the Advaita Shaiva spiritual thought arranged in chrono-
Shaiva spiritual philosophy of Kashmir is the logical order are: the Pashupata Shaiva school,
Dr Debabrata Sen Sharma is Professor of Indology, the Lakulisha Pashupata school, the Nandike-
at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, shvara Shaiva school, the Shaiva Siddhanta, the
Kolkata. Virashaiva school, the Raseshvara Shaiva school,

88 PB January 2016
Light on Abhinavagupta’s Contribution 99

the Advaita Shaiva school of Kashmir, and the Advaita Shaivism and the mode of their spirit-
Shaiva school founded and propagated by Shri- ual practice to realise his true nature was fulfilled
kantha in Kashmir. The first three schools of by Lord Shiva himself, who appeared before him
Shaivism mentioned above originated in the be- in his dream and told him: ‘Here, on this moun-
ginning as religious cults in chronological order tain [Mahadeva mountain], there is the Secret
in the pre-Christian era in the north-western Esoteric Teaching under a big stone. Having ob-
and south-western parts of India. Very limited tained it, reveal it to those who are fit for receiv-
literature that was created later is available per- ing [my] Divine Grace.’1
taining to them, shedding light on their spiritual On waking up next morning, Vasugupta
thought projections. went there, and by a mere touch that particular
The Shaiva Siddhanta school of spiritual stone slab turned upside down, and he found the
thought is also one of the ancient schools of Shiva Sutra inscribed on it. The mountain and
Shaivism that has extensive literature and also the stone slab still exist in the valley of Harvan
following even today in Tamil Nadu. The ori- stream, behind the Shalimar Gardens, near pre-
ginal texts were created in Tamil based on the sent-day Srinagar in India. Thus, Vasugupta was
oral teachings of Shaiva saints. Later works were not the author of Shiva Sutra. It is a revealed text,
written in Sanskrit by some writers for dissemi- technically called Agama. Other works belong-
nation of their spiritual philosophy in North ing to the category of Agama and also those that
India, especially in Kashmir. The Virashaiva are oft-quoted in the later works describing the
school that flourished in Karnataka was founded spiritual philosophy of this school are the Ma-
by Revana, later developed by Basava. It has a linivijaya Tantra, the Svachchhanda Tantra, the
fairly rich literature written in Sanskrit and also Netra Tantra, the Vijnanabhairava Tantra, and
a large following even today in Karnataka. The the Rudrayamala Tantra.
followers of this school wear an idol of Shiva Vasugupta taught Kallata (c. 855 ce) the spir-
on their body, a practice started by Basava in itual philosophy contained in the Shiva Sutra.
the twelfth century. The followers of this school Kallata grasped the purport of the spiritual
are now called lingayatas. The existence of the thought conveyed in the Shiva Sutra, which
Raseshvara school of Shaivism is known to us were reproduced by him in his own way in the
only from the description of the main tenets of work Spanda Karika. In this way, he gave rise
its philosophical thought given by Madhava­ to a distinct phase in the development of the
charya in his well-known Sanskrit compendium, Advaita Shaiva thought, called Spanda. Kallata
Sarva-darshana-samgraha. wrote a vritti, gloss, on these karikas, which to-
The Advaita school of spiritual philosophy gether with the commentary is known as Spanda
was founded in Kashmir by sage Vasugupta in Sarvasva. Three commentaries on the karikas
the last quarter of the eight century ce. It is said are available: Vivriti by Ramakantha (c. 925 ce),
that he was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and Pradipa by Utpala Bhatta (tenth century ce),
was very keen to learn the Shaiva mode of spir- and Nirnaya by Kshemaraja. Kshemaraja also
itual practice. But he could not find a suitable wrote a bigger work, Spanda Nirnaya, which he
guru, who could satiate his thirst for learning summarised in Spanda Sandoha.
the Shaiva mode of spiritual practice. His intense Vasugupta’s disciple Siddha Somananda (c.
yearning for learning the spiritual philosophy of 850 ce) gave a new turn to the development of

PB January 2016 89
100 Prabuddha Bharata

the Advaita Shaiva spiritual philosophy by writ- syncretist, who discovered the thread of unity
ing Shivadrishti, in which he made an attempt underlying the divergent spiritual thought-cur-
to rationalise the philosophical thought projec- rents that had their origin and development in
tions by introducing dialectics for the first time. successive periods of time. In his magnum opus,
He is therefore spoken of as ‘Tarkasya karta; Tantraloka and Paratrimshika, he has said that
the creator of logic’. His pupil, Utpaladeva (c. the spiritual thought-currents known as Agama,
970 ce) wrote Ishvarapratyabhijna or Praty- Spanda, and Pratyabhijna are not divergent in
abhijna Karika, in which he tried to present nature, but these are mutually complementary.2
the summary of the thought projections of his Historically speaking, these represent three suc-
teacher. But this work assumed so much im- cessive phases in the development of the Advaita
portance that the Advaita Shaiva philosophy Shaiva philosophy in Kashmir. He has therefore
came to be known as the Pratyabhijna Shastra, named it as the Trika school of Shaivism.
even outside Kashmir. Abhinavagupta wrote Abhinavagupta has mentioned three triads,
two commentaries on this work: Vimarshini, a trika, in his magnum opus Tantraloka as con-
shorter commentary and Vivriti Vimarshini, a stituting the subject matter of the Trika school
detailed commentary. of Shaivism. These are: Shiva, Shakti, and their
Abhinavagupta (950–1020 ce) was a master union; Shiva, Shakti, and Nara; and Para Shakti,
Abhinavagupta

image: http://library.the-possible.org

90 PB January 2016
Light on Abhinavagupta’s Contribution 101

Apara Shakti, and Parapara Shakti. He has pro- Chumma tradition that was then popular with
jected the idea of their essential identity by the common masses in Kashmir, and assimilated
naming the Advaita Shaiva school of spiritual them in the spiritual philosophy named by him
philosophy as Trika. as Trika. It may be mentioned here that no litera-
When we carefully study the early formative ture was available to him then, which is evident
life of Abhinavagupta, we find that the syncretic from his quoting verses in the local dialect with-
outlook developed in his mental make-up due out naming the source and incorporating them
to his studying different subjects with different at the end of some chapters of his work, Tan-
teachers of his time, whom he has mentioned by trasara. In this manner, Abhinavagupta made the
name. For instance, his father Narasimhagupta Advaita Shaiva philosophy, the most perfect and
alias Chukhulaka was his first teacher from powerful school of spiritual philosophy in Kash-
whom he learnt Sanskrit grammar, Sanskrit lit- mir, eclipsing the popularity of other schools
erature, and logic or Nyaya (37.58). He studied like Shaiva Siddhanta, Yogachara Buddhism, and
Nyaya, Mimamsa, Yogachara Buddhism, Arhata Pancharatra Vaishnavism in Kashmir.
philosophy, Pancharatra Vaishnavism, and so on, Abhinavagupta’s syncretic outlook is also re-
under different teachers. He stayed in different flected in his description of the Advaita Shaiva
mathikas or gurukulas, schools that were meant cosmology. According to him, Samvid or the su-
for initiating students into the study of different preme Real conceived in a non-corporeal form as
schools of philosophical thought with a view to abstract metaphysical principle or Parama Shiva
generate a balanced philosophical approach in or Parameshvara conceived in a corporeal form
them. He has mentioned Bhutiraja and his son resolves to manifest himself as the universe out of
Helaraja of Nathamathika (37.60), Vamanana- his free will. He does so by exercising his divine
tha for studying dualistic Shaivism, Lakshma- power, technically called the svatantrya shakti,
nagupta of Trayambaka Mathika for studying the power of divine freedom. His power then
Kulaprakriya, which is the same as Yogini-Kaula­ functions in three different forms, technically
mata founded by Siddha Matsyendranatha. called Para Shakti or Mahamaya, Parapara Shakti
Matsyendranatha is said to have founded the or Maya Shakti, and Apara Shakti or Prakriti
Yogini Kaula school of Kamakhya, where he per- Shakti on the three stadia in world creation.
formed his sadhana and obtained perfection. He As a result of this, the universe is manifested in
was venerated as a siddha in Tibet where he is three different forms, technically called shud-
known as Luipa. He was venerated in Nepal as dha adhva, shuddhashuddha adhva or mayadhva,
an incarnation of Bodhisattva. He was also the and ashuddha adhva or Prakriti. In his work,
guru of Gorakshanatha. Paramarthasara, Abhinavagupta conceptualised
Abhinavagupta has mentioned that he these adhvas as constituting spheres which he
moved from one guru to another like a black named as andas.3 These are named by him as
bee to collect scented honey from different shaktyanda, in which the divine power functions
flowers and blend them to produce a master- in its pure form as chitshakti or mahamaya; ma-
piece, namely, a spiritual philosophy that is rich yanda, in which the divine power is held to be
and sublime in the form of the Advaita Shaiva functioning as sukshma achit shakti or maya; and
philosophy of Kashmir (13.335). prakrityanda, in which achit shakti functions in
He also borrowed spiritual thoughts from the its gross form or Prakriti. Abhinavagupta adds

PB January 2016 91
102 Prabuddha Bharata

one more anda, a sphere, which he calls prithvy- of creation mentioned earlier, but also of infin-
anda. He has classified thirty-six tattvas or levels ite number of limited beings—pramata, experi-
of manifested universe admitted in the Advaita ents, and their objects of prameya, experience,
Shaiva school of Kashmir under four andas: which exist on each of the levels of the mani-
sadashiva tattva; ishvara tattva and the shud- fested universe described above. Actually, it is
dhavidya tattva constituting the shaktyanda; ma- the supreme Being, Parama Shiva, who manifests
yashakti and five kanchukas namely, kala, vidya, himself both as so many tattvas or levels of cre-
raga, kala, and niyati, constituting mayanda; ation and also as an infinite number of experients
Purusha, Prakriti, buddhi, ahamkara, and manas, and their objects of experience by assuming self-
five powers of sense perception called jnanendri- contraction out of his free will (6).
yas, five powers of action called karmendriyas, The experients thus manifested by Parama
and five primary Shiva can be clas-
subtle elements sified under two
called tanmatras heads—pure ex-
constituting the perients existing
p ra kr i t y a n d a ; on three levels
five gross ma- within shakty-
terial elements anda or shuddha
called mahabhu- adhva are tech-
tas that are the nically called
product of five mantramahesh-
tanmatras con- vara, mantresh-
stituting prithvy- vara, and mantra
anda. The total existing on the
number of tattvas pure levels of
constituting the sada­shiva-tattva,
manifest world is ishvara-tattva,
thirty-four. The and shuddhav-
remaining two idya-tattva re-
tattvas out of a Trident Yantra of Parama Shiva spectively. These
total number of thirty-six tattvas, Shiva-tattva pure experients are equipped with pure bodies
and Shakti-tattva are held to be eternally exist- made up of bindu or divine power in a concen-
ent as such, as these stay above the world cre- trated form, technically called baindavadeha.
ation. Parama Shiva, the supreme Being exists Baindava­deha of pure experients serves as a ve-
on the top as the transcendent Reality and the hicle for enjoyment only by them. Pure expe-
Absolute. He is also immanent or creative at the rients have no independent will of their own,
same time. His creative nature is represented by hence they exist like gods immersed in their true
image: visarga

Shiva-tattva, which symbolises the initial cre- consciousness nature tasting bliss.
ative movement. The universe manifested by the The experients existing on a different level of
supreme Being, Parama Shiva out of his free will, world manifestation existing within the sphere
not only consists of thirty-six tattvas or levels of Prakriti called prakrityanda are technically

92 PB January 2016
Light on Abhinavagupta’s Contribution 103

known as sakalas, literally meaning equipped that is characterised by his fullness nature in re-
with kala or gross physical body. Abhinavagupta spect of both knowledge and action. Exercising
has described in his work Paramarthasara, the his power of divine freedom that ‘vibrates’ with-
constitution of psycho-physical body framework out break coalesced with him, Shiva appears as
of sakalas. According to him the body structure, limited in knowledge and action out of his free
individual, of sakalas is made up of the gross will to manifest himself as the multiplicity of the
physical body and the subtle body technically world. Again, it is he, the supreme Lord, who re-
called puryashtaka. The gross physical body is moves all veils in the form of defilements in the
made up of five gross physical elements called the form of the idea of smallness and the like, hiding
mahabhutas, while puryashtaka is comprised of his true nature by exercising the same power of
five subtle elements, intellect, the sense of ego, divine freedom. As a result, he shines, as it were,
and mind. Abhinavagupta conceives the phys- in his pristine form as Shiva, the supreme Lord.
ical body of an embodied individual as a temple This is described as moksha.
in which Shiva resides as the Self (7). Embod- In his Paramarthasara, Abhinavagupta states
ied human beings participating actively in world that there is no separate region for liberated per-
transactions are not aware of his presence in the sons to proceed towards.5 Moksha is attained
innermost core of their being on account of their by them by piercing the knots of ignorance by
vision directed towards the world existing out- developing in them the power of divine free-
side them. Spiritual practitioners have to pur- dom. Abhinavagupta says in his Tantraloka that
sue the path of spiritual disciplines to discover moksha should not be considered as the attain-
the presence of Shiva in the sanctum sanctorum ment of knowledge but it is the cause of know-
of their physical body and recognise him there. ledge.6 It is the manifestation of one’s real nature
This involves the changing of the direction of as Atman or Shiva.
their vision from the world existing outside All schools of Indian philosophical thought
oneself to within by performing the appropriate are unanimous in regarding ignorance as the
kind of spiritual practices called introversion, root cause of embodied beings passing through
developing an inner vision. When they would repeated cycles of birth and death, but these
succeed, they would realise the supreme goal, schools describe the nature of ignorance differ-
namely the recognition of their real self or Shiva. ently. Without going into a discussion of the na-
This is technically called pratyabhijna, recog- ture of ignorance as conceived by these schools,
nition. Incidentally, it may be mentioned here let us confine ourselves to the examination of
that the same idea also occurs in a mantra in the the nature of ignorance postulated by the Trika
Katha Upanishad: ‘The self-existent Lord des- school of Shaivism. According to the teachers
troyed the outgoing senses. Therefore, one sees of this school, ignorance is the product of the
the outer things and not the inner Self. A rare self-contraction assumed by the supreme Lord
discriminating man, desiring immortality, turns exercising his divine freedom out of his free will
his eyes away and then sees the indwelling Self.’4 in order to manifest himself as the multiplicity
Abhinavagupta holds perfect knowledge to of the world. This results in the creation of ana-
be the cause of the attainment of liberation. The vamala, the impurity of limitedness, which is re-
perfect knowledge, according to him, is the reve- garded as the basic defilement, mulamala, innate
lation of Shiva nature in the spiritual aspirants in all individual beings in the world. Its origin

PB January 2016 93
104 Prabuddha Bharata

lies in the power of divine freedom operated by Since the root cause of paurusha-ajnana in
the supreme lord in order to manifest himself as the individual beings is self-contraction assumed
the multiplicity of the world. by the supreme Lord in the beginning of his self-
Anavamala operates in the individual manifestation as the world, it is eternal in the
limited beings in two ways: causing loss of con- sense that it is coterminous with the cosmic dis-
sciousness or awareness of their true nature in solution. It is innate in all limited beings cover-
them, technically called bodha or jnana; caus- ing his true self. It cannot be eradicated by them
ing the loss of freedom of action in them, tech- despite their making all the efforts in the form
nically called kriya.7 of spiritual practices but it gets destroyed imme-
The loss of consciousness or awareness of diately following the influx of the divine grace
their true nature as well as the loss of freedom in them, technically called shaktipata from the
of action in them following their self-contrac- supreme Lord through his representative guru
tion or envelopment by anavamala is technically at the time of their initiation, diksha.
called paurusha-ajnana, ignorance in respect of The bauddha-ajnana, as its very nomen-
their true consciousness nature. clature indicates, has its seat in the buddhi or

image: http://higherdensity.wordpress.com

94 PB January 2016
Light on Abhinavagupta’s Contribution 105

intellect of embodied beings. It is of the nature bauddha-ajnana, is annihilated in the disciple


of both indeterminate and determinate know- for some period of time. As a result, the pauru-
ledge. Its presence in the intellect of all embod- sha-jnana arises in the disciple and the disciple
ied beings prevents them from knowing the real becomes aware of one’s real Self. It illumines
nature of their Self as well as simultaneously the intellect, producing the experience, ‘I am
produces the experience of Self in what actually Shiva, I am Shiva’ in the disciple.
is not-Self in them represented by their phys- The disciple then experiences the entire uni-
ical body and so on. The experience of Self in verse consisting of different objects of the world
not-Self is technically called vikalpa or kalpana, existing in the clear mirror of one’s conscious-
thought-construct, which is symbolised by the ness nature, everything that exists in one’s con-
ego-experience. It is produced when the real sciousness nature to emanate from one, like
Self becomes associated with the gross physical varied objects experienced in dream appearing
body at the time of its appearance on the mun- in a concrete form in the waking state, as it were.
dane plane as an embodied being. It ceases to It is the supreme Self experienced as pure ‘I’,
exist with the Self ’s dissociation from the gross who takes the form of the universe like gross
physical body at the time of the death of the em- physical body composed of hands, feet, and so
bodied being. Sri Ramakrishna called this ego- on. It is the pure ‘I’, who alone is manifest in
experience in embodied beings, the ‘unripe ego’.8 all illumination. ‘The universe shines forth in
The Advaita Shaiva texts of Kashmir admit myself alone just as a pot, and the like, (appear)
paurusha-jnana and bauddha-jnana as counter in a spotless mirror. All springs up from myself
to paurusha-ajnana and bauddha-ajnana de- just like the variegated variety of dreams (arises)
scribed above. The nature of paurusha-jnana is from sleep. I myself have the form of the uni-
described by Abhinavagupta in his Tantrasara verse as if it were a body that by nature consists
as the experience of the Self in the real Self.9 of hands, feet, and the like. I myself shine forth
It is eternal as it exists in every sentient em- in all as the (Shakti or Power) whose essential
bodied individual right from the time of his nature is brightness with reference to (all) the
manifestation simultaneously with the Self— positive entities.’10 P
manifestation by the supreme Lord, Parama
Shiva as the multiplicity of the world. Though References
it is eternal in nature, it is not experienced by 1. Kshemaraja, Shiva Sutra Vimarshini, Introduc-
the embodied individual beings on account tion.
of the ‘screen’ created by the ego-experience, 2. See Abhinavagupta, Tantraloka, 1.7–21.
which hides the experience of Self in real Self 3. See Abhinavagupta, Paramarthasara, 4.
4. Katha Upanishad, 2.1.1.
in them. The ego-experience is a product of
5. See Paramarthasara, 60.
the bauddha-ajnana existing in the intellect 6. See Tantraloka, 1.156.
of all embodied beings since their appear- 7. See Utpaladeva, Ishvara Pratyabhijna Karika,
ance on the mundane plane in the beginning 3.2–4.
of world creation. But when the individual 8. M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami
Nikhilananda (Chennai: Ramakrishna Math,
spiritual aspirant is infused with the divine 2002), 860.
grace of the guru at the time of initiation, the 9. See Abhinavagupta, Tantrasara, Introduction.
‘screen’ veiling the true Self in oneself, that is, 10. Paramarthasara, 48–9.

PB January 2016 95

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