User:Visarga/Abhinavagupta

Philosophical Study
 * TODO: find all the translations and commentaries of Abhinavagupta's works and provide biographical links to the master-list of his works
 * Add infobox
 * remove list of works. Try to put in prose form
 * Add links like Kalidasa, Bhairava etc.
 * Use common English Shiva instead of IAST Śiva for consistency
 * Need a date for Madhurāja Yogin to prove pic is PD; else is fair use
 * a quote from The triadic heart of Siva, Paul Muller Ortega
 * picture comes from: K. C. Pandey, Abhinavagupta: An Historical and
 * Madhurāja Yogin quote
 * Date for commentator Jayaratha; Raniero Gnoli
 * Why does God link to Shiva???? defies NPOV as implies (the only) God is Shiva.
 * Again objective principles linking to The 36 tattvas is not so WP:OBVIOUS.
 * Avoid using too many Sanskrit words like tīvra - unfamiliar to an English audience. tremendous - the literal translation is enough. At the traditon of śaktipāta can not be summed up in the literal translation of Divine Grace.
 * What is Śrīpūrvaśāstra - ref for "we learn that Abhinava was in possession of all the six qualities required for the recipients of the tremendous(tīvra) level of Divine Grace(śaktipāta), as described in the sacred texts"
 * Pur ref after punctuation marks as per WP policy.
 * "Besides his academical education[7] and intuitional understanding of one's Self(jñāna), he equally makes strides into devotion(bhakti) and action(kriyā)[8] - by action understanding any exterior ritual or yogic technique." - meaning less obvious
 * Use "Abhinavagupta" everywhere rather than just "Abhinava" for consistency
 * "While such descriptions border the magical, all those who are informed about Abhinavagupta's life and works agree, at least, that he was a genius." - not so encyclopedic. a POV
 * "as a consequence of loosing his mother, of whom he was reportedly very attached" needs ref
 * ref for Ambā (name, her tale). If "name not known precisely", where did Ambā come from?????
 * who's????? Isn't it whose?
 * "Yogeśvaridatta whose qualities were on par with his name" means?????
 * "Even today we would need a large group of sanskritologs and experts on Indian philosophy, working over many decades, to re-access Abhinavagupta's work, and unfortunately we are still in the early stages of that." POV. not so encyclopedic. - lot more to do. --Redtigerxyz (talk) 06:55, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

more references

 * the cave episode : 'Local tradition has it that, after completing his final commentary on the Pratyabhijna system, Abhinava Gupta, accompanied by 1,200 disciples, entered the Bhairava cave near the Kashmiri villiage of Magam and was never seen again. He is remembered to this day as a fully realized adept (siddha).' p355 The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein.

right|thumb|The great visionary [[Abhinavagupta, surrounded by his disciples, in a contemporary picture by Madhurāja Yogin ]]

Abhinavagupta (approx. 950 - 1020 CE ) was one of India's greatest philosophers, mystics and aestheticians. He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exeget, theologian, and logician - a polymathic who exercited strong influences in the Indian culture.

He was born in the Valley of Kashmir in a lineage of scholars and mystics and studied all the schools of philosophy and art of his time under the guidance of as many as fifteen (or more) teachers and gurus. In his long life he completed over 35 works, the largest and most famous of which was Tantrāloka, an encyclopedic treatese on all the philosophical and practical aspects of Trika and Kaula (known together today under the name of Kashmir Shaivism). Another very important contribution was in the field of philosophy of aesthetics with his famous Abhinavabhāratī commentary of Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata Muni.

A genius of his time
It is reported that "Abhinavagupta" was not his real name, rather a title he earned from his master, carrying a meaning of "competence and authoritativeness". In his analysis Jayaratha, who was Abhinavagupta's most important commentator, also reveals three more meanings: "being ever vigilant", "being present everywhere" and "protected by praises". Raniero Gnoli, the only Sanskrit scholar who completed a translation of Tantrāloka in an European language, mentions that "Abhinava" also means "new", as a reference to the ever new creative force of his mystical experience.

From his closest commentator, Jayaratha, we learn that Abhinava was in possession of all the six qualities required for the recipients of the tremendous(tīvra) level of Divine Grace(śaktipāta), as described in the sacred texts : unflinching faith in God, realization of Mantras, control over objective principles, successful conclusion of all the activities undertaken, poetic creativity and spontaneous knowledge of all disciplines.

Besides his academical education, and intuitional understanding of one's Self(jñāna), he equally makes strides into devotion(bhakti) and action(kriyā) , by action understanding any exterior ritual or yogic technique.

As an author he is considered a systematizer, a system-builder of the philosophical thought; he reconstructed, rationalized and orchestrated the knowledge into a more coherent form, assessing all the available sources of his time, not unlike a modern scientific researcher of Indology.

Various modern scholars have characterized Abhinava as a "brilliant scholar and saint", "the pinnacle of the development of Kasmir Śaivism" and "in possession of yogic realization".

Abhinavagupta's many domains of interest
His training was deemed "encyclopedic", with "an universal intellect which encompassed all the major disciplines of his time" by the modern researchers. .
 * Yogin, philosopher and metaphisician of the Trika school of Śaivism - one of the most accomplished Indian philosophers, excelling both in subtlety and breadth of scope; he was also precisely informed on all the different schools of philosophy of the time
 * Art critic of dramaturgy, dance and music - wrote a complex commentary on Nātya-śastra named Abhinavabhāratī, work which is highly regarded to this day ; he critically analyzed art concepts such as humor, the various types of artistic savor (rasā) and established the "santa rasā" (peaceful savor) as the fundament of all the other types of artistic savor; he held a spiritual view on art as an instrument ultimately capable of inducing the spiritual revelation
 * Devotee and Poet - Abhinavagupta composed several hymns to Śiva, besides having most of his work written in versified form
 * Historiographer, editor and commentator of all the current philosophies; he gives valuable information about his ancestral and perceptorial lineages From his analysis and critique of rival philosophical schools we have information about some traditions that are lost today in their own sources.
 * He was known as great performing artist of his time ; in a contemporary pen picture he is illustrated playing the Nāda-vīṇā
 * Trained in Logic, Grammar and Literature from childhood, as a fundamental stage in his academic formation

Significance of Abhinavagupta today

 * 1000 years before our times, Abhinavagupta acts as an exemplary editor, research scholar (in the modern sense of the word)


 * during the last 50 years of contemporary Indological research (which itself ceased to be an Indian affair and has taken a very international flavor), the focus gradually shifted from Vedas to Buddhism and then to Tantra, of which Abhinavagupta occupies center stage; some even go as far to talk about an multinational "craze" to explore the "unfathomed intellectual depths" of Abhinavan thought
 * his contribution is profoundly original and raises above the past tradition, yet it is still actual and has a seminal power to influence the future, too


 * professor Paul Muller-Ortega (Univ. Rochester), one of the modern researchers of Abhinavagupta's work, who even wrote the encyclopedia entry on his name (HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion), called him "the greatest genius that India ever produced"


 * "Abhinavagupta is one of the most potent sources of the Indian contribution to the world thought"


 * "undoubtedly the greatest genius of India in the fields of philosophy's aesthetics, poetics, dramaturgy, Tantra and mysticis" ; "undoubtedly the greatest figure in the history of Indian aesthetics"


 * 50+ books carry his name in the title
 * 2000+ papers, articles and thesis mention him
 * significance of his art philosopy today
 * a towering presence in Tantra
 * historycal references in his works; his philosophical critique of rilal schools is a gold mine for today's researchers
 * he gave exact years for many of his works
 * he includes many autobiographical notes in his works, especially at the conclusion of Tantrāloka and Parātriṃśikāvivaraṇa
 * the traditional study of Abhinavagupta's works has continued trough the centuries in Kashmir up to the present exodus of pandits from the valley because of political difficulies . The last three exponents were Swami Ram, followed by Swami Mehtābakak and Swami Lakshman Joo, a lineage said to descend directly from Abhinavagupta.

A "magical" birth
The term by which Abhinavagupta himself defines his origin is "yoginībhū" - "born of a yoginī". In Kashmir Shaivism and especially in Kaula it is considered that a progeny of parents "established in the divine essence of Bhairava", is endowed with exceptional spiritual and intellectual prowess. Such a child is supposed to be "the depository of knowledge", who "even as a child in the womb, has the form of Śiva", to enumerate but a few of the classical attributes of his kind. While such descriptions border the magical, all those who are informed about Abhinavagupta's life and works agree at least that he was a genius.

Mother and father
Abhinagavupta had a noble birth in a brahmin family (of the highest caste of society), a family endowed with deep devotion towards God and an inclination for intellectual pursuits.

His mother, Vimalā(also mentioned as Vimalakalā) died when Abhinavagupta was just two years old ; as a consequence of loosing his mother, of whom he was reportedly very attached, he grew more distant from the world and all the more focused only on the spiritual endeavor.

The father, Narasiṃhagupta, after his wife's death favored an ascetic lifestyle, while raising his three children. He had a cultivated mind and a heart "outstandingly adorned with devotion to Mahesvara" (in Abhinavagupta's own words). He was Abhinava's first teacher, instructing him in grammar, logic and literature.

Family
Abhinavagupta had a brother and a sister. The brother, Manoratha, was a well versed devotee of Śiva. His sister, Ambā (now known precisely), devoted herself to worship after the death of her husband in late life.

His cousin Karṇa demonstrated even from his youth that he grasped the essence of Śaivism and was detached of the world. His wife was presumably Abhinava's older sister Ambā, who looked with reverence upon her illustrious brother. Ambā and Karṇa had a son - Yogeśvaridatta who's qualities were on par with his name (yogeśvar implies the meaning of "lord of yoga").

Abhinavagupta also mentions his disciple Rāmadeva as faithfully devoted to scriptural study and serving his master. Another cousin was Kṣema, possibly the same as Abhinavagupta's illustrious disciple Kṣemarāja. Mandra, a childhood friend of Karṇa, was their host in a suburban residence; he was not only rich and in possession of a pleasing personality, but also equally learned. And last but not least, Vatasaikā, Mandra's aunt, got a special mention from Abhinavagupta for caring for him with so much dedication and concern, that he credited her for the successful completion of his work.

The emerging picture here is that Abhinavagupta lived in a nurturing and protected environment, where his creative energies got all the support they required. Everyone around him was filled with spiritual fervor and had taken Abhinava as their spiritual master. Such a supporting group of family and friends is equally necessary as his personal genius in order to complete a work of the magnitude of Tantrāloka. Even today we would a large group of sanskritologs and experts on Indian philosophy, working over many decades, to re-access Abhinavagupta's work, and unfortunately we are still in the early stages of that.

Ancestors
By Abhinavagupta's own account, his most remote known ancestor was called Atrigupta, born in Madhyadeśa (probably modern Kannauj), in India and traveled to Kashmir at the request of the king Lalitāditya, around year 740.

Abhinavagupta's masters
Abhinavagupta is famous for his voracious thirst of knowledge. In order to study he took many teachers (as many as 15 or even more!), both mystical philosophers and scholars. He approached Vaiṣṇavas, Buddhists, Śiddhānta Śaivists and the Trika scholars.

Amongst the most proeminent of his teachers he enumerates four. Vāmanātha instructed him in dualistic Śaivism, Bhūtirāja in the dualist-cum-nondualistic school. Besides being the teacher of the famous Abhinava, Bhūtirāja was also the father of two eminent scholars.

Lakṣmasṇagupta, a direct disciple of Somānanda, in the lineage of Trayambaka, was highly respected by Abhinavagupta and taught him all the schools of monistic thought : Krama, Trika and Pratyabhijña (except Kula).

Śambhunātha taught him the fourth school (Ardha-trayambaka). This school is in fact Kaula, and it was emanated from Trayambaka's daughter.

For Abhinavagupta, Śambhunātha was the most admired guru. Describing the greatness of his master, he compared Śambhunātha with the Sun, in his power to dispel ignorance from the heart, and, in another place, with "the Moon shining over the ocean of Trika knowledge".

Abhinavagupta received Kaula initiation through Śambhunātha's wife (acting as a dūtī or conduit). This initiation is transmitted by a special kind of sexual act where the whole energy is transmuted and sublimated into the heart and finally into consciousness. Such a method is difficult but very rapid and is reserved for those who shed their mental limitations and are pure.

It was Śambhunātha who requested of him to write Tantrāloka. As guru, he had a profound influence in the structure of Tantrāloka and in the life of its creator, Abhinavagupta.

As many as twelve more of his principal teachers are enumerated by name but without details. It is believed that Abhinavagupta had more secondary teachers. Even more, he has accumulated during his life a large number of texts from which he quotes in his magnum opus, in his desire to create a synthetic, all inclusive system, where the differences of different scriptures be resolved by integration into a superior perspective.

His lifestyle
Abhinavagupta remained a unmarried all his life, yet we know him to be an adept of Kaula and as such, he was presumably not sexually abstinent.

He studied assiduously at least until the age of 30 or 35 and in order to do that he also took travel, but mostly inside Kashmir.

By his own testimony, he had attained spiritual liberation through his Kaula practice, which is based on trantric sexuality, under the guidance of his most admired master, Śambhunātha.

He lived in his home (functioning as an ashram) with his family members and disciples and he did not become a wondering monk, nor did he take on the regular duties of the brahmin caste.

Thus, Abhinavagupta lived out his life as a writer and a teacher. His personality was a living realization of his vision.

In an epoch pen painting he is depicted seated in Virasana, surrounded by devoted disciples and family, performing a kind of trance inducing music at veena while dictating verses of Tantrāloka to one of his attendees - behind him two dūtī (women yogi) waiting on him.

A legend about the moment of his death (placed somewhere between 1015 and 1025 depending on the source), says that he took with him 1200 disciples and marched off to a cave (the Bhairava Cave, an actual place known to this day), reciting his poem Bhairava-stotra, a devotional work. They were never to be seen again, supposedly translating together in the spiritual world. .

Religious Works

 * Tantrāloka, "Light on Tantra", a synthesis of all the Trika system
 * Tantrasāra, "Essence of Tantra", a summarized version, in prose, of Tantrāloka


 * Bodhapañcadaśikā - "Fifteen Verses on Consciousness"
 * Pūrvapañcikā - a commentary of Pūrvatantra, alias Mālinīvijaya Tantra, lost to this day
 * Mālinīvijayā-varttika - "Commentary on Mālinīvijaya" - a versified commentary on Mālinīvijaya Tantra's first verse
 * Kramakeli - "Krama's Play" - a commentary of Kramastotra, now lost
 * Bhagavadgītārtha-saṃgraha - "Commentary on Bhagavadgītā"
 * Parātrīśikāvivaraṇa - "Commentary on Parātrīśikā", an important text of the Trika school
 * Parātrīśikā-laghuvṛtti - "A Short Commentary on Parātrīśikā"
 * Paryantapañcāśīkā - "Fifty Verses on the Ultimate Reality"
 * Krama-stotra - an hymn, different from the fundamental text of the Krama school
 * Bhairava-stotra - "Hymn to Bhairava"
 * Dehasthadevatācakra-stotra - "Hymn to the Wheel of Divinities that Live in the Body"
 * Śivaśaktyavinābhāva-stotra - "Hymn on the Inseparability of Śiva and Śakti", lost
 * Paramārthadvādaśikā - "Twelve Verses on the Supreme Reality"
 * Paramārthacarcā - "Discussion on the Supreme Reality"
 * Anuttarāṣṭikā - "Eight Verses on Anuttara"
 * Mahopadeśaviṃśatikā - "Twenty Verses on the Great Teaching"
 * Anubhavanivedana - "Tribute of the Inner Experience"
 * Rahasyapañcadaśikā - "Fifteen Verses on the Mystical Doctrine"
 * Laghvī prakriyā - "Short Ceremony"
 * Devīstotravivaraṇa - "Commentary on the Hymn to Devi"
 * Paramārthasāra - "Essence of the Supreme Reality"
 * Tantroccaya - a prose summary of Tantrasāra
 * Tantravaṭadhānikā - "Seed of Tantra" - a very short summary of Tantrāloka

Philosophical Works

 * Śivadṛṣtyā-locana - "Light on Śivadṛṣṭi", lost
 * Padārthapraveśa-nirṇaya-ṭīkā - a lost commentary
 * Prakīrṇkavivaraṇa - "Comment on the Notebook" - referring to the third chapter of Vākyapadīya of Bhartṛhari, called "The Notebook"; lost
 * Kathāmukha-tilaka - "Ornament of the Face of Discourses"
 * Bhedavāda-vidāraṇa - "Confruntation of the Dualist Thesis"
 * Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśini - "Commentary to the Explanation of the Verses on the Recognition of the Lord"
 * Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vimarśini - "Commentary to the Verses on the Recognition of the Lord"

Poetical and Dramatic Works

 * Ghaṭa-karpara-kulaka-vivṛti - a commentary on "Ghaṭakarpara" of Kālidāsa
 * Kāvyakauṭukavivaraṇa - "Commentary to the Wonder of Poetry", a work of Bhaṭṭa Tauta; lost
 * Dhvanyālokalocana - "Illustration of Dhvanyāloka", famous work of Ānandavardhana
 * Abhinavabhāratī - a long and complex commentary on Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata