Abhinavagupta | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | Shankara c. 950CE |
| Died | c. 1016CE |
| Notable work(s) | Tantrāloka etc |
| Known for | Doctrine of Vibration (spanda) |
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| Religion | Hinduism |
| Creed | Kashmir Shaivism |
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Abhinavagupta (Devanāgarī अभिनवगुप्तः; c. 950 – 1016CE[1][2]: 27 ) was aphilosopher,mystic andaesthetician fromKashmir.[3] He was also considered an influentialmusician,poet,dramatist,exegete,theologian, andlogician[4][5] – apolymathic personality who exercised strong influences onIndian culture.[6][7]
Abhinavagupta was born in aKānyakubja Brāhmin family of scholars and mystics whose ancestors immigrated fromKannauj on invitation by the great king of Kashmir,Lalitaditya Muktapida.[8][9][10] He studied all the schools of philosophy and art of his time under the guidance of as many as fifteen (or more) teachers andgurus.[2]: 35 In his long life he completed over 35 works, the largest and most famous of which isTantrāloka, an encyclopedic treatise on all the philosophical and practical aspects ofKaula andTrika (known today asKashmir Shaivism). Another one of his very important contributions was in the field of philosophy of aesthetics with his famousAbhinavabhāratī commentary ofNāṭyaśāstra ofBharata Muni.[11]
"Abhinavagupta" was not his real name, rather a title he earned from his Guru, meaning "competence and authoritativeness".[2]: 20 [12] In his analysis, Jayaratha (1150–1200 AD)[2]: 92 – who was Abhinavagupta's most important commentator – also reveals three more meanings: "being ever vigilant", "being present everywhere" and "protected by praises".[13]: 4 Raniero Gnoli, the onlySanskrit scholar who completed a translation ofTantrāloka in a European language, mentions that "Abhinava" also means "new",[14] as a reference to the ever-new creative force of his mystical experience.
From Jayaratha, we learn that Abhinavagupta was in possession of all the six qualities required for the recipients of the tremendous level ofśaktipāta, as described in the sacred texts (Śrīpūrvaśāstra):[15] an unflinching faith in God, realisation ofmantras, control over objective principles (referring tothe 36 tattvas), successful conclusion of all the activities undertaken, poetic creativity and spontaneous knowledge of all disciplines.[2]: 21
Abhinavagupta's creation is well equilibrated between the branches of the triad (Trika): will (icchā), knowledge (jñāna), action (kriyā); his works also include devotional songs, academical/philosophical works[2]: 20 and works describing ritual/yogic practices.[16]
As an author, he is considered a systematiser of the philosophical thought. He reconstructed, rationalised and orchestrated the philosophical knowledge into a more coherent form,[17] assessing all the available sources of his time, not unlike a modern scientific researcher.
Various contemporary scholars have characterised Abhinavagupta as a "brilliant scholar and saint",[18] "the pinnacle of the development of Kaśmir Śaivism"[18] and "in possession of yogic realization".[2]: 20
The term by which Abhinavagupta himself defines his origin is "yoginībhū", 'born of ayoginī'.[2]: 20 [19] In Kashmir Shaivism and especially in Kaula it is considered that a progeny of parents "established in the divine essence ofBhairava",[20] 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 ofShiva",[13] to enumerate but a few of the classical attributes of his kind.
Abhinavagupta was born in aKanyakubja Brahmin family in Kashmir.[21][22] His mother,Vimalā (Vimalakalā) died when Abhinavagupta was just two years old;[23][2]: 31 as a consequence of losing his mother, of whom he was reportedly very attached,[15] he grew more distant from worldly life and focused all the more on spiritual endeavour.
The father, Narasiṃhgupt, after his wife's death favoured an ascetic lifestyle, while raising his three children. He had a cultivated mind and a heart "outstandingly adorned with devotion to Mahesvara (Shiva)"[23] (in Abhinavagupta's own words). He was Abhinavagupta's first teacher, instructing him ingrammar,logic andliterature.[2]: 30
Abhinavagupta had a brother and a sister. His brother, Manoratha, was a well-versed devotee of Shiva.[2]: 22 His sister, Ambā (probable name, according to Navjivan Rastogi), 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 Abhinavagupta's older sister Ambā,[2]: 24 who looked with reverence upon her illustrious brother. Ambā and Karṇa had a son, Yogeśvaridatta, who was precociously talented in yoga[2]: 23
Abhinavagupta also mentions his disciple Rāmadeva as faithfully devoted to scriptural study and serving his master.[2]: 24 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.[2]: 25 And last but not least, Vatasikā, Mandra's aunt, who got a special mention from Abhinavagupta for caring for him with exceptional dedication and concern; to express his gratitude, Abhinavagupta declared that Vatasikā deserved the credit for the successful completion of his work.[2]: 26
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 Abhinavagupta as their spiritual master. Such a supporting group of family and friends was equally necessary as his personal qualities of genius, to complete a work of the magnitude ofTantrāloka.
By Abhinavagupta's own account, his most remote known ancestor was called Atrigupta, born in antarvedKānyakubja inMadhyadesha, i.e. the Middle Country. From Madhyadeśa he travelled toKashmir at the request of kingLalitāditya,[2]: 28 [13]: 3 around year 740 CE.[24]
Abhinavagupta is famous for his voracious thirst for knowledge. To study he took many teachers (as many as fifteen),[2]: 33 both mystical philosophers and scholars. He approachedVaiṣṇavas,Buddhists,Śiddhānta Śaivists, and theTrika scholars.
Among the most prominent of his teachers, he enumerates four, two of whom were Vāmanātha, who instructed him in dualistic Śaivism,[2]: 54 and Bhūtirāja in the dualist/nondualist school. Besides being the teacher of the famous Abhinavagupta, Bhūtirāja was also the father of two eminent scholars.[2]: 34
Lakṣmaṇagupta, a direct disciple ofUtpaladeva, in the lineage of Trayambaka, was highly respected by Abhinavagupta and taught him all the schools of monistic thought: Krama,Trika, and Pratyabhijña (exceptKula).[2]: 54 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 to 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."[13]: 7 Abhinavagupta received Kaula initiation through Śambhunātha's wife (acting as a dūtī orconduit). The energy of this initiation is transmitted 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 he writeTantrāloka. As guru, he had a profound influence in the structure ofTantrāloka[25] and in the life of its creator, Abhinavagupta.[2]: 44–54
As many as twelve more of his principal teachers are enumerated by name but without details.[2]: 35, 54 It is believed that Abhinavagupta had more secondary teachers. Moreover, during his life he had accumulated a large number of texts from which he quoted in his magnum opus, in his desire to create a syncretic, all-inclusive system, where the contrasts of different scriptures could be resolved by integration into a superior perspective.
Abhinavagupta remained unmarried all his life,[2]: 32 and as an adept ofKaula, at least initially maintainedbrahmacharya and supposedly used the vital force of his energy (ojas) to deepen his understanding of the spiritual nervous system he outlined in his works—a system involving ritual union between Purusha (as Shiva) and Shakti. Such union is essentially non-physical and universal, and thus Abhinavagupta conceived himself as always in communion with Shiva-Shakti. In the context of his life and teachings, Abhinavagupta parallels Shiva as both ascetic and enjoyer.
Abhinavagupta studied assiduously at least until the age of thirty or thirty-five.[24] To accomplish that he travelled, mostly inside Kashmir.[13]: 6 By his own testimony, he had attained spiritual liberation through his Kaula practice, under the guidance of his most admired master, Śambhunātha.[2]: 44–54 He lived in his home (functioning as anashram) with his family members and disciples,[26] and he did not become a wandering monk, nor did he take on the regular duties of his family, but lived out his life as a writer and a teacher.[13]: 7 Abhinavagupta's personality was described as a living realisation of his vision.[4]
In an epoch pen-painting, Abhinavagupta is depicted seated in Virasana, surrounded by devoted disciples and family, performing a kind of trance-inducing music on aveena while dictating verses ofTantrāloka to one of his attendees--behind him two dūtī (womenyogi) 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 1,200 disciples and marched off to a cave, today this cave is known by (Abhinavagupta Cave) located at hill called Bairam at Beerwah, reciting his poemBhairava-stava, a devotional work. They were never to be seen again, supposedly translating together into the spiritual world.[27]
Abhinavagupta's works fall into multiple sections: manuals of religious ritual, devotional songs, philosophical works and philosophy of aesthetics. Here are enumerated most of his works.[11] Bold type faced titles represent the most important ones.
His most important work wasTantrāloka ("Elucidation of Tantra"), a synthesis of the entire Trika system.[2]: 20 The esoteric chapter 29 on the Kaula ritual was translated in English together withJayaratha's commentary by John R. Dupuche.[13]: 4 A complex study on the context, authors, contents and references ofTantrāloka was published by Navjivan Rastogi, Prof. of the Lucknow University.[2] The first complete English translation ofTantrāloka was published by the IndologistMark S. G. Dyczkowski in 2023 after 45 years of work. The last recognized master of the oral tradition of Kashmir Shaivism,Swami Lakshman Joo, gave a condensed version of the key philosophical chapters ofTantrāloka in his book,Kashmir Shaivism – The Secret Supreme.[28]
Another important text was the commentary on Parātrīśikā,Parātrīśikāvivaraṇa, detailing the signification of the phonematic energies and their two sequential ordering systems, Mātṛkā and Mālinī. This was the last major translation project ofJaideva Singh.[29]
Tantrasāra ("Essence of Tantra") is a summarised version, in prose, ofTantrāloka, which was once more summarised inTantroccaya, and finally presented in a very short summary form under the name ofTantravaṭadhānikā – the "Seed of Tantra".
Pūrvapañcikā was a commentary ofPūrvatantra, alias Mālinīvijaya Tantra, lost to this day.Mālinīvijayā-varttika ("Commentary on Mālinīvijaya") is a versified commentary onMālinīvijaya Tantra's first verse.Kramakeli, "Krama's Play" was a commentary ofKramastotra, now lost.Bhagavadgītārtha-saṃgraha which translates "Commentary onBhagavad Gita" has now an English translation by Boris Marjanovic.[30]
Other religious works are:Parātrīśikā-laghuvṛtti, "A Short Commentary on Parātrīśikā",Paryantapañcāśīkā ("Fifty Verses on the Ultimate Reality"),Rahasyapañcadaśikā ("Fifteen Verses on the Mystical Doctrine"),Laghvī prakriyā ("Short Ceremony"),Devīstotravivaraṇa ("Commentary on the Hymn to Devi") andParamārthasāra ("Essence of the Supreme Reality").
Abhinavagupta has composed a number of devotional poems, most of which have been translated into French byLilian Silburn:[31]
One of the most important works of Abhinavagupta isĪśvarapratyabhijñā-vimarśini ("Commentary to the Verses on the Recognition of the Lord") andĪśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśini ("Commentary on the explanation ofĪśvarapratyabhijñā"). This treatise is fundamental in the transmission of thePratyabhijña school (the branch of Kashmir Shaivism based on direct recognition of the Lord) to our days. Another commentary on aPratyabhijña work –Śivadṛṣtyā-locana ("Light on Śivadṛṣṭi") – is now lost. Another lost commentary isPadārthapraveśa-nirṇaya-ṭīkā andPrakīrṇkavivaraṇa ("Comment on the Notebook") referring to the third chapter ofVākyapadīya ofBhartrihari. Two more philosophical texts of Abhinavagupta areKathāmukha-tilaka ("Ornament of the Face of Discourses") andBhedavāda-vidāraṇa ("Confrontation of the Dualist Thesis").
Abhinavaguptas most important work on the philosophy of art isAbhinavabhāratī – a long and complex commentary onNatya Shastra ofBharata Muni. This work has been one of the most important factors contributing to Abhinavagupta's fame up until present day. His most important contribution was that to the theory ofrasa (aesthetic savour).
Other poetical works include:Ghaṭa-karpara-kulaka-vivṛti, a commentary on "Ghaṭakarpara" ofKalidasa;Kāvyakauṭukavivaraṇa, a "Commentary to the Wonder of Poetry" (a work of Bhaṭṭa Tauta), now lost; andDhvanyālokalocana, "Illustration of Dhvanyāloka", which is a famous work ofAnandavardhana.
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