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

8 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
commentary on Tantrāloka of Abhinavagupta fell on Jayaratha in
the twelfth century. It appears from the writings of Kṣemarāja
that he was over-conscious about his superior intelligence and
scholarship and was very keen to make a show of it by finding out
new meanings and by expressing things in a complex way. In his
commentaries on some important works like Śivasūtra he takes
greater interest in quoting passages from various texts and
tries less to explain the sense and the words of the ancient texts.
So far as his philosophic works like Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya are con-
cerned, he tried to confuse the doctrines of Kashmir Śaivism by
presenting them in a complex form and by combining together
the theoretical principles and practical doctrines in order to make
his scholarship and intelligence felt. Besides, he did not try his
pen on works containing minute philosophic thought and chose
Stotras and Āgamas instead. This tendency did not permit
him to make things clear and to work on the important works of
Abhinavagupta. In addition, he expresses disregard towards
very great ancient preceptors like Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa for whom
Abhinavagupta had immense respect and reverence. It is perhaps
on such account that the great teacher did not mention his name in
any of his available works in which he describes the worth of some
of his worthy disciples and simply mentions many of them by name.
But it is a great merit in Yogarāja that he does not inherit any
confusing tendency from Kṣemarāja. Modern scholars have so far
been studying Abhinavagupta and other great teachers through
the writings of Kṣemarāja. But now they can start their study of
Śaivism through the Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta and that
will make a marked difference in their understanding.
Kashmir Śaivism as a distinct school of monistic Śaiva philoso-
phy and its sādhanā of the Trika system were introduced to the
Valley by Saṅgamāditya in the eight century AD. He was the six-
teenth teacher in the line of Tryambakāditya I who, having learnt
it from sage Durvāsas at the Kailāśa mountain, gave a new start to
its teaching in two lines of disciples, one through his son and the
other through his daughter. Saṅgamāditya appeared in the former
line named Tryambaka-maṭhikā. The other tradition of its teaching
was known as Ardha-tryambaka-maṭhikā. It flourished later at the
Jālandhara-pīṭha at the modern town of Kāṅgaṛā. The divine scrip-
tures of the Tryambaka-maṭhikā were revealed to its teachers in
the Valley of Kashmir between AD 700 and 800. These included