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

10 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
following his opinion in such respect. It appears that some mutual
rivalry grew between the teachers in the lines of Vasugupta and
Somānanda in the time of Kṣemarāja. The last couplet no. 53 of
Spandakārikā was added to it by the teachers of these two lines
in two different versions, one ascribing vaguely the authorship
of Spandakārikā to Vasugupta and the other ascribing it clearly
to Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa. That 53rd couplet does not exist in the texts
explained by the ancient commentators, that is, Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa
himself and Rāmakaṇṭha, one of his younger contemporaries.
Kṣemarāja emphasized the former view and also tried to criticise
Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa. But Rāmakaṇṭha, having lived during the reign of
Avantivarman, must have been a younger contemporary of Bhaṭṭa
Kallaṭa. He must have known him and his works very well. His
opinion carries thus a far greater weight than that of Kṣemarāja
who appeared in the eleventh century and who was prejudiced
against Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa. Rāmakaṇṭha says in clear terms that the
fiftysecond couplet, अगाध-संशयाम्बोधि... (Agādha-saṁśayāmbodhi...)
etc., is meant to pay homage to Vasugupta, the preceptor of the
author of the work in hand, that is, Spandakārikā. Thus he does
not mention Vasugupta as the author of Spandakārikā but as the
teacher of its author. The text of his work consists of only fifty-
two couplets. The fiftythird couplet is therefore definitely a later
interpolation.
Many great teachers and authors of Śaiva monism appeared in
Kashmir during the reign of king Avantivarman and composed
many works of great importance. Bhaṭṭa Pradyumna, a cousin of
Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa, composed Tattvagarbha-stotra, a lyric, throw-
ing light on the principles of Śaivism and written in the manner
befitting Śāktism. Somānanda, the presiding teacher of the school
of Tryambaka, wrote Śivadṛṣṭi, the first philosophical treatise on
Śaiva monism. His commentary on Parātriṁśaka is known only
through references and quotations. His chief disciple, Utpaladeva,
wrote many important works and commentaries, some of which
are available but some have been lost. His Īśvara-pratyabhijñā is
the most important work on the theoretical side of Śaiva monism.
His three smaller works, known jointly as Siddhitrayī, form
supplements to his Īśvara-pratyabhijñā. His commentaries on all
these four works and also on Śivadṛṣṭi are available in fragments.
Some such quotations from his pen are available, which do not
exist in any of his known works, and that points towards the

Introduction 11
fact of his having written some more important work or works.
He was not only a philosopher but a poet of high merit as well.
His Śivastotrāvalī, containing religio-philosophic poetry of high
merit, is still sung popularly in the Valley. Rāmakaṇṭha, a disciple
of Utpaladeva and a younger brother of Muktākaṇa, the court
poet of King Avantivarman, wrote Spandavivṛtti, a detailed com-
mentary on the Kārikā of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa and a Śaivite commen-
tary on Bhagavadgītā, following the Kashmirian version of the
text. His other works are not available even by name. Bhaṭṭa
Nārāyaṇa, the author of Stavacintāmaṇi, a philosophic lyric in
praise of Śiva, also belonged to the same period.
Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara, the seventh teacher in the line of Vasugupta,
explained the teachings contained in Śivasūtra through his Vārtika
on them. His explanation of the Sūtras of Śiva is the most authen-
tic one, because firstly it expresses the knowledge received through
an unbroken direct line of disciples from Vasugupta, the preceptor
of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa. Most of the teachers in the line were them-
selves practical philosophers having direct realization of the prin-
ciples of Śaiva monism and its Trika system of practice. Secondly
he does not over burden his Vārtika with any discussions on any
controversial topics and quotations from other works on spiritual
philosophy, but explains the doctrines learnt through tradition and
expressed in the Sūtras. His Vārtika carries thus a greater weight
than the scholarly commentary written later by Kṣemarāja. He be-
longed to the period before that of Abhinavagupta. Probably he is
the same Bhāskara who has been mentioned by Abhinavagupta as
one of his teachers. He cannot be identified with Bhaṭṭa Divākara-
vatsa, though he mentions himself as Daivākari. To the same period
belongs Utpala Vaiṣṇava who, though a follower of the Pāñcarātra
system, composed a scholarly commentary on Spandakārikā. His
work named Spandapradīpikā is of great importance as it provides
many clues to some unknown important facts regarding the
history of Kashmir Śaivism. He quotes profusely from the Pāñcarā-
tra texts and tries to elevate that system to the same level of
importance as was enjoyed by Śaiva monism and its Trika system
of practice. Some works of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa are known through
quotations available only in his Spandapradīpikā. A couplet from
the pen of Siddhanātha is also found in it. Both he and Bhāskara
accept Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa as the author of Spandakārikā. Abhinava-
gupta appeared on the scene in the middle of the tenth century.

12 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
He carried the Kashmirian Śaiva monism to its climax in both of
its aspects of philosophic theory and practical sādhanā. He wrote
detailed commentaries on all the philosophic works of Utpaladeva
and Somānanda. Two among them are still available. One of
them is his Vimarśinī on the couplets of Īśvara-pratyabhijñā of
Utpaladeva and the other one consists of detailed notes on the
works picked up from Utpaladeva's own Ṭīkā on those couplets.
Since the Ṭīkā of Utpaladeva is not at all available, the latter one
does not become so useful to students as it could have become
had the text of the said Ṭīkā become available. This work is
named as Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśinī. The former one,
named Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vimarśinī, has ever since enjoyed the
position of the best and the highest work on the philosophical
side of Kashmir Śaivism. His commentaries on Śivadṛṣṭi and
Siddhitrayī have unfortunately been lost.
Abhinavagupta collected, compiled, arranged in order and inter-
preted the main doctrines of the Trika system of Śaiva yoga and
that of the religio philosophic rituals of that system and expressed
them in philosophic style in his voluminous work named Tantrā-
loka, which is the best and unique treatise among all the works on
the practical side of spiritual philosophy in the whole world. Abhi-
navagupta's Tantrasāra is a gist of his Tantrāloka and is written
in simple prose. His Vivaraṇa on Parātriṁśaka, a scriptural work
on Trika system of yoga, is very profound in character and con-
tains highly minute ideas regarding the esoteric principles and
doctrines of the Trika system of Śaiva yoga in its highest aspect.
One of his very important works on the philosophic principles
and the doctrines of practice of Kashmir Śaivism is Mālinīvijaya-
vārtika which is a voluminous work written in simple Sanskrit
verse. Such an important and wonderful work on the monistic
spiritual philosophy does not bear any commentary, though it
requires explanatory notes very badly. Reference to and quotations
from many of his other works on the practice of Śaivism are avail-
able, but such works could not be actually found so far. One of
the most important works among them is his Kramakeli, a
commentary on the Kramastotra of Siddhanātha dealing with the
Kālī worship in the Śākta yoga of the Trika system. Like Utpala-
deva he also was a good poet as well and some of his philosophic
lyrics are still available though some have been lost. Several of
them have been published as appendices to his book on Abhinava-

gupta by Dr. K.C. Pandey. His Bhairavastotra is still sung by
people in Siva temples and homes in Kashmir. In addition, he
wrote certain easy text books for students and the most important
one among them is his Paramārthasāra, the work in hand. Another
such brief work from his pen is Bodhapañcadaśikā. Abhinava-
gupta represents the highest peak in the evolution of Kashmir
Śaivism. He was followed by authors of secondary importance
who either wrote easy works or explained the works of the above
mentioned great authors. Abhinavagupta is the final authority on
both the sides of theory and practice of the Śaiva monism of
Kashmir.
Kṣemarāja, a disciple of Abhinavagupta, wrote Pratyabhijñā-
hṛdaya, and Parāprāveśikā for beginners. Besides, he wrote some
detailed commentaries on ancient works. His Śivasūtravimarśinī
has become well known in the present age. His Spandanirṇaya also
has been published and translated. Both the works are scholarly in
character. While writing the previous one, he appears to be very
keen to show his all round scholarship and tries to over-awe his
readers by it. He tries to explain the Sūtras but succeeds in show-
ing his knowledge of many śāstras and many systems with which
he confuses the Trika system. His interpretation of the Sūtras
becomes clear only with the help of Śivasūtravārtika by his dis-
ciple Varadarāja. His view on the interpretation of the Sūtras is
not so convincing as that of Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara mentioned above.
His Spanda-sandoha is an explanation of the Spanda principle of
Kashmir Śaivism. He wrote commentaries on Stavacintāmaṇi
of Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa and Śivastotrāvalī of Utpaladeva. Besides,
he wrote short commentaries on some Tāntric works like Svac-
chanda Tantra and Netra Tantra. His commentary on Vijñāna-
bhairava has been lost. The most important one among such post
Abhinavagupta writers is Jayaratha of the twelfth century. He
appears to be a disciple of Kalhaṇa, the great historian of Kash-
mir and did a highly valuable service to Kashmir Śaivism by
writing a voluminous commentary on Tantrāloka of Abhinava-
gupta. That commentary alone explains the couplets of Tantrā-
loka. Besides, it is a treasury of quotations from many non-available
Tantric texts and a storehouse of multifarious historical informa-
tion regarding the evolution of Kashmir Śaivism. Many things
would have remained unknown but for the valuable work of Jaya-
ratha on Tantrāloka. The seventeenth century produced Śivopā-

14 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
dhyāya, the last one among the ancient writers on Kashmir Śaiv-
ism. His commentary on Vijñāna-bhairava is a scholarly work of a
practical yogin.
Many Śaiva practitioners and authors adopted the Śākta view
as expressed by Bhaṭṭa Pradyumna in his Tattvagarbhastotra.
The most prominent of such teachers are Puṇyānanda and Amṛtā-
nanda who give clues to many other such teachers. There is
another tradition of Śāktism started by some Śivānandanātha
some time about the eighth century AD. It is a special type of
highly sophisticated practice in jñānayoga and is popularly known
as Kālinaya. It teaches the worship of Kālī, the absolute divine
power of the Absolute God, in its twelve aspects and such wor-
ship is conducted only through mental contemplation of unity
with such power. Modern research scholars count it as a different
and independent system of Tantric practice, but the great Abhi-
navagupta took it as a special type of Śāktopāya and included it
in the yoga of the Trika system. Śivānanda imparted its practical
knowledge to three female disciples named Keyūravatī; Madanikā
and Kalyāṇikā. It appears that the Apabhraṁśa passages in verse
and prose, quoted by Abhinavagupta in Tantrasāra and in his
Vivaraṇa on Parātriṁśaka, belong to Madanikā whose teachings
on Kālinaya were received by him through a line of several teach-
ers starting from Ujjaṭa and Udbhaṭa. Three chief disciples of
these three famous female teachers were—(1) Govindarāja, (2)
Bhānukācārya and (3) Erakanātha. The lines of the disciples of
the first two of them spread well in Kashmir. Govindarāja initiat-
ed Somānanda. His teachings reached Jayaratha through a long
line of teachers. As said above, Abhinavagupta got its knowledge
from the teachers in the line of Bhānuka. Kālinaya became so
popular in Kashmir by the twelfth century that it was accepted by
its adherants as a separate system of Tāntric sādhanā and conse-
quently Jayaratha refers to it as Kramadarśana. Such recognition
by Jayaratha made the scholars of the present age think in such
line and some of them have vowen many things around such view of
Jayaratha. But, doing so, they are not perhaps taking into consi-
deration the views of Abhinavagupta, the highest authority on
the theory and the practice of Kashmir Śaivism. In the far South
there appeared a saint scholar named Maheśvarānanda, alias
Gorakṣanātha, who lived in the Cola country. He was a Kaula
in his practical sādhanā and his philosophic view point was Śāktic

Introduction 15
in character. He appears to have been impressed by the style of
Abhinavagupta as he has adopted it in writing his commentary
named Primala on his own philosophic work named Mahārtha-
mañjarī. That commentary also is a store house of information
about the history of Kashmir Śaivism. Puṇyānanda wrote Kāma-
kalā-vilāsa and Amṛtānanda explained it. In addition he wrote
Cidvilāsa; a detailed commentary on Yoginīhṛdaya, a Tāntric text,
and many other works known only through references and quota-
tions. Śitikaṇṭha, a Kashmirian teacher of Kaulism, wrote Mahā-
nayaprakāśa in old Kashmiri language in about the thirteenth
century. Another Kashmirian author of Kaulism was Sāhib-Kaula,
alias Ānandanāth who flourished, in the seventeenth century and
wrote many wonderful works on Śāktic Śaivism. His Devīnāma-
vilāsa has been published. His Śivajīvadaśaka appeared in a
college magazine and many other works from his pen are lying
unpublished.
Śaiva and Śākta philosophies of monism are not any two diffe-
rent schools of thought. The Ultimate Truth is both, Śiva and Śakti,
that is, God and His Godhead. It is one but is understood and
taught in such two aspects. God is that absolute and pure I-cons-
ciousness which transcends all material and mental phenomena
and shines through the psychic lustre of that consciousness. He
is always aware of His Godhead and such awareness makes Him
active towards its outward manifestation which results in the
show of all His divine activities. He is Śiva when thought about in
His transcendental aspect of pure I-consciousness. He is Śakti
when contemplated upon in the aspect of His divine activities of
creation, preservations and absorption of all phenomena and
oblivion and revelation of His nature of purity and divinity.
Śāktism and Śaivism are just two aspects of one and the same
philosophy, the former aspect giving more importance to the
practical sādhanā and the latter one to the philosophic theory.
When God inspires playfully the correct and real knowledge in
any beings they recognize and realise themselves as none other
than the Almighty God Himself, shining in His above mentioned
two aspects of Śivahood and Śaktihood. That is the pratyabhijñā
or the recognition of the self as established in Kashmir Śaivism.
The same pratyabhijñā of the real nature and character of the
self is the final aim of all practices in Śāktism which accepts the
philosophical principles of Śaivism. All Śaiva authors and teachers

16 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
adopt Śākta methods of sādhana for the sake of a quick self-
recognition. Śaivism and Śāktism are thus simply two aspects of
one and the same philosophy, the former one giving greater
importance to the theoretical knowledge of the Truth and the
latter one to that practical sādhanā which yields as its final result
the actual self-experience of the Truth. Philosophers like Bhaṭṭa
Kallaṭa, Somānanda and Abhinavagupta can be taken as both
Śaivas and Śāktas. Bhaṭṭa Pradyumna, the Śākta philosopher, has
been mentioned by Utpaladeva as a Śaiva and a Svayūthya, that
is, a philosopher belonging to his own rank, the rank of Śaivas.
Such Śaiva/Śākta authors were all these philosophers from Śiva-
nandanātha and Maheśvarānanda to Sāhib Kaula. The sur-
name Nātha was generally adopted by such Śākta/Śaiva practi-
tioners. Lalleśvarī, who was a master of religio philosophic lyric
poetry composed in Kashmiri language, was a follower of Śaivism.
She gave start to an order of saints following the sādhanā of both
Śaivism and Sufism. Members of such order are still roaming
about in Kashmir. The tradition of writing commentaries and
minor works on Śaivism continues still in the Valley and an
example of it is the Svātantryadarpaṇa by the writer of these pages.
It is a new textbook of Kashmir Śaivism written in Kārikā style.
The basic philosophy of Abhinavagupta is theistic absolutism.
He accepts the monistic and absolute pure consciousness as the
only eternal reality and establishes Godhead as the very essential
nature of such monistic reality. It is in fact beyond the reach
of mind, intellect and speech and is thus the absolute truth.
But the manifestation of all phenomena is due to its divine
power which is its basic nature and therefore it is the Almighty
God. It is the only infinite, eternal and perfect I-consciousness
which is not to be taken as ego, but as pure self-awareness. Being
eternal and infinite, it is not conditioned by time and space. Being
absolutely self dependent, it is not bound by any rules of causa-
tion and does not require anything other than it for the sake of
the conduct of the activities of Godhead. Such activities are
creation, preservation, dissolution, obscuration and revelation. The
first three run the whole universe, the fourth one pushes souls
towards self oblivion and the fifth one inspires in them the true
knowledge of the whole phenomenon. Conducting such divine
activities it is accepted as God.
The aspect of the pure and perfect I-consciousness of the Abso-

Introduction 17
lute is His static aspect in which He is known as Śiva or God and
the aspect of His phenomenal manifestation through the five
divine activities is His dynamic aspect in which He is known as
Śakti or Godhead. Śiva is thus the basic eternal reality and Śakti
is the divine nature of such absolute reality. The phenomenal
divine activities are basically neither due to any external element
like Māyā nor to anything internal like Vāsanā, the flow of
mental impressions. The appearance of the phenomenon is not
basically due to ignorance but to the Godhead of the eternal truth.
Māyā, Vāsanā etc. work in it at some intermediary stages of its
evolution and are themselves due to the outward manifestation of
the Godhead of the absolute reality. The phenomenon is not to
be taken as false but as the absolute reality itself, appearing
through its divine powers in such form. It is not to be rejected as
something non-existent. Such an outlook may amount to deceiv-
ing one's own self. It is to be taken as correct and true at the
mundane phenomenal level. At the level of correct knowledge it
is to be seen as God and He alone. That is the view of Kashmir
Śaivism with respect to the phenomenon and that is one of its
main differences from the Vedāntic and the Buddhist absolutism.
The absolute consciousness is blissful by its basic nature and
such nature makes it constantly playful. Its divine playfulness
urges it to be active in outward manifestation of its divine powers.
Such manifestation does not involve it into any change or trans-
formation. It takes place in the manner of a reflection. The divine
powers of God become reflected inside the psychic light of His
pure self-consciousness and such reflections of these powers shine
as the creation etc., of the whole phenomenal existence. The
Absolute God appears thus as all the pure and impure beings as
well as the whole mental and material existence. All this happens
on account of the theistic nature of God. Such playful activity
does not imply any want in Him. It is His essential nature to play
like that. God, shorn of such nature, would cease to be God and
would get reduced to the position of pure space or even to that
of absolute nihility and nothing other than such nihility would
have ever come to being in that case. Bondage and liberation are
just two stages of the divine dramatic play of God. Pushing His
divine and pure nature into oblivion, He appears as a bonded
soul, undergoing all misery in the cycles of births and deaths. That
is the first stage of His divine play as an individual being. At its

18 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
second and final stage a being studies divine scriptures and works
on philosophy, comes into contact with a right preceptor, receives
initiation in Śaiva path from him, practises yoga, develops correct
understanding about the real truth of everything and finally realizes
such truth through intuitional self-experience. Thus he realizes his
real nature and recognizes himself as none other than God Him-
self. Such self-realization is the aim of Kashmir Śaivism.
As shown above, the monistic absolutism of Abhinavagupta is
quite different from such principle of Advaita Vedānta because
that philosophy takes theism as based on Māyā, an external ele-
ment that comes into contact with Brahman and consequently
presents it as God, soul and the objective existence. Besides, the
Advaita Vedānta takes Brahman to be pure and tranquil conscious-
ness, devoid of all activity. Kashmir Śaivism finds a divine and
subtle stir within such tranquillity of the Absolute. It is the stir of
divine power shining as the infinite blissfulness and such stir is
the Godhead of the Absolute. Such stir of blissfulness of the pure
consciousness is its kriyā without which it can not become aware
of even itself. Such activity of awareness has been taken in
Śaivism as the essence of all consciousness, but the quest of
Vedāntins does not generally go so deep into the secrets of pure
consciousness. The Buddhist absolutism does not at all touch even
the outer level of such theistic consciousness. Their search stops
at the dreamless state of animation and does not penetrate into
the fourth state, the state of intuitive self revelation called the
Turyā state. The theism of Vaiṣṇava philosophers does not go
beyond the mythological conception of God and cousequently
does not penetrate into the realm of absolutism. The pantheists
in the West see everything as God but do not see Him beyond
every thing. Like the Indian Vaiṣṇavas, they avoid absolutism.
Śaivism teaches to see everything as God and also to see Him as
pure and divinely potent consciousness, shining as transcendental
reality beyond the whole phenomenon. The theism of Nyāya-
Vaiśeṣika sees God as a divine authority dependent on many
things other than Him. He has to work in accordance with the
law of nature and the law of karman and has to depend on atoms
etc. Such divine authorities are simply some supergods in Śaivism
and the Absolute God is perfectly self dependent. Besides, Nyāya-
Vaiśeṣika is a pluralistic and non-absolutist philosophy. Many
schools of Indian philosophy maintain that Śakti, the divine power

Introduction 19
of God, undergoes transformation, while appearing as the pheno-
menon. But Śaivism sees God and His Śakti as simply two
names of one and the same reality seen in its two aspects. There-
fore it does not see any transformation of either God or His
divine power Śakti. The theory of material transformation works,
according to Śaivism, at a lower level of phenomenal evolution,
while the basic creation is something like a kind of transmutation
brought about by the supreme spontaneous unrestrictible, divine
and playful will of the theistic Absolute without any change in its
basic character.

Essence of the Exact Reality or
Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
अभिनवगुप्तकृतः परमार्थसारः
परं परस्थं गहनादनादिम् एकं निविष्टं बहुधा गुहासु ।
सर्वालयं सर्वचराचरस्थं त्वामेव शम्भुं शरणं प्रपद्ये ॥ १ ॥

1. Paraṁ parasthaṁ gahanādanādim
   Ekaṁ niviṣṭaṁ bahudhā guhāsu
   Sarvālayaṁ sarvacarācarasthaṁ
   Tvāmeva Śambhuṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye.
   O Lord Śambhu, thou art great God in the highest position
   lying beyond the mysterious sphere of Māyā. Thou art one and
   hast yet penetrated in multifarious ways into the hearts of all
   beings having thee as their abode. Thou art present in all static
   and dynamic phenomena. I take only thee as my shelter.
   Śambhu is the transcendental reality, but at the same time
   He manifests Himself as all phenomena which have Him as their
   only basic source. He has thus a pantheistic character and is yet
   the absolute reality that transcends all phenomena. His position
   lies beyond the pluralistic and impure sphere of Māyā. He is the
   monistic absolute of Śaivism and Godhead is His essential nature.
   The fundamental philosophic principle of Śaivism is thus a theis-
   tic absolutism of monistic character.
   गहन (gahana)=mysterious Māyā. गुहा (guhā)=cavern-like cavity
   of the heart of a living being.
   गर्भाधिवासपूर्वकमरणान्तकदुःखचक्रविभ्रान्तः ।
   आधारं भगवन्तं शिष्यः पप्रच्छ परमार्थम् ॥ २ ॥
2. Garbhādhivāsapūrvaka-
   maraṇāntaka-duḥkha-cakra-vibhrāntaḥ
   Ādhāraṁ bhagavantaṁ
   Śiṣyaḥ papraccha paramārtham.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 21
A disciple, having moved about in the cycles of the miseries
beginning with confinement in a mother's womb and ending in
death, approached Lord Śeṣa and asked him about the real truth
of the whole existence.
आधारः (ādhāra) = Patañjali who is believed to be an incarnation
of Śeṣanāga, the serpent god who, according to Hindu mythology,
supports the earth from beneath, परमार्थ (paramārtha) = the real
truth about every thing.
आधारकारिकाभिस्तं गुरुरभिभाषतेस्म तत्सारम् ।
कथयत्यभिनवगुप्तः शिवशासनदृष्टियोगेन ॥ ३ ॥
3. Ādhāra-kārikābhistam gurur-
abhibhāṣatesma tatsāram
Kathayatyabhinavaguptaḥ
Śivaśāsana-dṛṣṭi-yogena.
The preceptor (Patañjali) discussed the topic with him through
the work named Ādhārakārikā (the Paramārthasāra of Patañjali),
the essence of which is being expressed by Abhinavagupta through
the view point of Śaivism.
The name of the original work of Patañjali was Ādhārakārikā.
Abhinavagupta adopted its style, drew its essence and presented
it as a work on Śaiva monism under the title Paramārthasāra.
Such new name was afterwards given to the original work of
Patañjali as well. That work has a Vaiṣṇavite character.
निजशक्तिवैभवभरादण्डचतुष्टयमिदं विभागेन ।
शक्तिर्माया प्रकृतिः पृथ्वो चेति प्रभावितं प्रभुणा ॥ ४ ॥
4. Nijaśakti-vaibhava-bharād-
aṇḍa-catuṣṭayamidaṃ vibhāgena
Śaktirmāyā prakṛtiḥ pṛthvī ceti
prabhāvitaṃ prabhuṇā
The Almighty Lord brought into existence these four spheres of
Śakti, Māyā, Prakṛti and Pṛthvī by means of the abundance of
luxuriousness of His divine powers.
An aṇḍa is a sphere that contains in it a series of phenomenal
elements and serves as a sheath that covers and hides the divine
nature of the Absolute. Four such sphere are:
(i) Śakti, the divine power of God projecting itself externally
and covering the Absolute with the pure creation. Manifes-
ting diversity within unity, it hides the basic absoluteness

22 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
and the perfect unity of the Absolute God and contains in
it the four pure tattvas from Śakti to pure Vidyā.
(ii) The sphere of Māyā pushes into oblivion the natural purity
and divine potency of the Absolute, covers it with five
sheaths or limiting elements called kañcukas and presents
the Absolute as a finite being called Puruṣa. It contains in
it seven tattvas from Māyā to Puruṣa.
(iii) The sphere of Prakṛti covers Puruṣa with all psychic ele-
ments, senses, organs, subtle objective elements called tan-
mātras, three guṇas and four gross elements upto water. It
contains twenty-three tattvas from Prakṛti to water.
(iv) Pṛthvī as an aṇḍa or sphere covers the Absolute with the
solid gross existence. It contains pṛthvī-tattva alone and
consists of the whole solid existence in the universe.
(v) Śiva-tattva lies beyond all these four aṇḍas.
The above mentioned four spheres contain thirty-five tattvas
and cover the pure and divinely potent absolute consciousness
with fine, subtle, gross and solid creation. The Absolute God
creates them playfully in the process of the manifestation of His
Godhead. He creates them out of His own self in the manner of
reflections and covers His real self with them. Such creation is
something like a kind of transmutation which is different from
transformation. Neither God nor His divine power under goes any
change or transformation while appearing in the form of all these
created tattvas which shine in His psychic light as the reflections
of His own divine powers.
तत्रान्तर्विश्वमिदं विचित्रतनुकरणभुवनसन्तानम् ।
भोक्ता च तत्र देही शिव एव गृहीतपशुभावः ॥ ५ ॥
5. Tatrāntarviśvamidam
vicitra-tanukaraṇa-bhuvana-santānam
Bhoktā ca tatra dehī
Śiva eva gṛhīta-paśu-bhāvaḥ.
Within such four spheres lies the whole phenomenon along
with its wonderfully diverse types of bodies, senses, organs and
series of worlds. The individual finite being is there the experi-
encer of pleasure and pain. In reality he is none other than
Lord Śiva Himself, having taken up such form of the bounded
being.
It is the basic nature of Śiva to appear playfully as the finite

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 23
being and to revolve in the cycles of transmigratory existence.
Paśu is the finite being who is fastened like an animal with the
ropes of karman and the limiting elements called kañcukas.
नानाविधवर्णानां रूपं धत्ते यथामलः स्फटिकः ।
सुरमानुषपशुप्रादपरूपत्वं तद्वदीशोडपि ॥ ६ ॥
6. Nānā-vidha-varṇānāṁ
rūpaṁ dhatte yathāmalaḥ sphaṭikaḥ
Sura-mānuṣa-paśu-pādapa-
rūpatvaṁ tadvadīśo'pi.
Just as a pure and colourless crystal takes up the appearance of
different types of hues reflected in it, so does the Lord also take
up the forms of gods, humanbeings, animals and plants (in the
manner of reflection).
God, appearing as different types of beings, does not at all
undergo any change. The basic creation conducted directly by
God Himself does not at all involve Him or His divine power into
pariṇāma or transformation. He reflects His divine powers out-
wardly and such reflections of His powers appear as all pheno-
mena and their creation etc. Doing so, he does not require any
external substances to cast their reflections into divine prakāśa, the
psychic luminosity of His pure consciousness. The basic cause of
all such phenomenal manifestations is only His playful nature,
by virtue of which such reflectionary creation of all phenomena
happens. Creation is not thus due either to any external entity
like Māyā or Avidyā or to any internal entity like Vāsanā as
propounded by the Vedāntins and Buddhists respectively. It is due
only to the divinely playful nature of the Absolute.
गच्छति गच्छति जल इव हिमकरबिम्बं स्थिते स्थितिं याति ।
तनुकरणभुवनवर्गे तथायमात्मा महेशानः ॥ ७ ॥
7. Gacchati gacchati jala iva
himakara-bimbaṁ sthite sthitiṁ yāti
Tanu-karaṇa-bhuvana-varge
tathāyamātmā maheśānaḥ.
Just as the disk of moon appears to be moving when reflected in
flowing waters and just as it looks to be static in still waters, so
does this great master Ātman appear in multifarious variety in
the different categories of bodies, senses, organs and worlds.
Here the difference between the moon and the Ātman is this

24 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
that the former requires some entity other than it to catch its
reflections, but the latter reflects His own powers in His own
psychic light and appears Himself as His reflections. Ātman is
thus divinely independent and appears in multifarious forms
through His own divine powers of Godhead. It is, besides, not a
chance, but the very essential nature of the Ātman to appear
playfully like that.
राहुरादृश्योऽपि यथा शशिबिम्बस्थः प्रकाशते तद्वत् ।
सर्वगतोऽप्ययमात्मा विषयाश्रयणेन धीमुकुरे ॥ ८ ॥
8. Rāhuradṛśyo'pi yathā
śaśi-bimbasthaḥ prakāśate tadvat
Sarva-gato'pyayamātmā
viṣayāśrayaṇena dhīmukure.
Just as Rāhu does shine and appear in the disk of moon, though
it is otherwise invisible, so does this Ātman shine only in the
mirror of psychic apparatus while witnessing objective reflection,
though it is present everywhere.
Rāhu is the shadow of earth. It moves always in the sky, but
becomes visible only when it becomes focussed on the disk of
moon. Ātman, being infinite in nature, is omnipresent, but
appears as "I" only in the psychic organs of living beings while
having mundane mental experiences. There it forms conceptions
like "I have seen such and such object" and, doing so, appears
as "I". It does not appear like that in any inanimate substances.
आदर्शे मलरहिते यद्वद् वदनं विभाति तद्वदयम् ।
शिवशक्तिपातविमले धीतत्त्वे भाति भारूपः ॥ ९ ॥
9. Ādarśe mala-rahite
yadvad vadanam vibhāti tadvadayam
Śiva-śaktipāta-vimale
dhī-tattve bhāti bhārūpaḥ.
Just as one's face appears clearly in a clean mirror, so does this
Ātman shine as pure consciousness in a mind purified by the
bestowal of the divine grace of Lord Śiva.
God's bestowal of His grace is known as Śaktipāta. It is the
primary factor that directs a being towards the study of divine
scriptures, inspires in him a keen desire to know the truth, gives
rise to devotion for the Lord in his heart, creates contact between
him and a right preceptor and makes him active in the practice

of Śaiva yoga. All that purifies his inner soul and illumins in him
the correct and real divine nature of his pure consciousness.
भारूपं परिपूर्णं स्वात्मनि विश्रान्तितो महानन्दम् ।
इच्छासंवित्करणैर्निर्भरितमनन्तशक्तिपरिपूर्णम् ॥ १० ॥
सर्वविकल्पविहीनं शुद्धं शान्तं लयोदयविहीनम् ।
यत् परतत्त्वं तस्मिन् विभाति षट्त्रिंशात्म जगत् ॥ ११ ॥
10. Bhārūpaṃ paripūrṇam
svātmani viśrāntito mahānandam
Icchā-saṃvit-karaṇair
nirbharitamananta-śakti-paripūrṇam.
11. Sarva-vikalpa-vihīnaṃ
śuddhaṃ śāntaṃ layodaya-vihīnam
yat paratattvaṃ tasmin vibhāti
ṣaṭtriṃśadātma jagat.
The whole phenomenon, consisting of thirty-six tattvas, appears
and shines in that transcendental reality which shines as the light
of pure consciousness, is perfect in all respects, is infinite bliss by
virtue of its complete self-dependence and perfect relaxation on
its self, is compact with the functions of willing, knowing and
doing, is full of infinite divine powers, is free from all conceptive
ideation, is pure and tranquil and has neither any dissolution nor
any emergence.
Bhāḥ (भाः) is the psychic luminosity of pure-consciousness and
that is the basic form of the Absolute. Everything that ever
appears, lies internally in the Absolute in the form of pure cons-
ciousness and the Absolute is thus compactly full of all pheno-
mena. It does not require anything other than its divine power
on which to relax or to depend and that is the source of its
infinite blissfulness. The Absolute wills to manifest, illumines the
manifestable and manifests it objectively. These are its three
primary powers through which it conducts all divine activities of
Godhead. The Absolute shines through such a psychic luminosity
which is free from ideation. It is an intuitive revelation through
which the Absolute is realized. The real form of the Absolute is
pure, tranquil, infinite, eternal and divinely potent I-conscious-
ness. It is the transcendental reality having Godhead as its essen-
tial nature, and manifesting such nature through its divine acti-
vities of creation etc. Thus it assumes the form of the whole

26 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
universe in the manner of a reflection. Godhead is thus the essen-
tial nature of the Absolute. Such theistic absolutism of Kashmir
Śaivism does not require the concept of any element other than
the Absolute. Avidyā of the post Śaṅkara Advaita Vedānta or
vāsanā of the Buddhist philosophy is not needed here for the
sake of the explanation of the phenomenal manifestation. Even
Gauḍapāda and Śaṅkara have admitted such theistic nature of
the Brahman in their Tāntric works and religio-philosophic lyrics.
But such works of these teachers are being very often ignored by
the Vedāntins. The powers named icchā, jñāna and kriyā are
meant by the compound word icchā-saṃvit-karaṇaiḥ. Vikalpa is
mental ideation.
दर्पणबिम्बे यद्वन् नगरग्रामादि चित्रमविभागि ।
भाति विभागेनैव च परस्परं दर्पणादपि च ॥ १२॥
विमलतमपरमभैरवबोधात्तद्वद्विभागशून्यमपि ।
अन्योन्यं च ततोऽपि च विभक्तमाभाति जगदेतत् ॥ १३ ॥
12. Darpaṇa-biṃbe yadvan
nagara-grāmādi citramavibhāgi
Bhāti vibhāgenaiva ca
parasparaṃ darpaṇādapi ca.
13. Vimalatama-parama-bhairava-
bodhāt tadvad vibhāga-śūnyamapi
Anyonyaṃ ca tato'pi ca
vibhaktamābhāti jagadetat.
Just as the reflections of some multifarious types of objects like
a town, a village, a forest and so on, shining inside a mirror, are not
separate from it, but even then appear as different and separate
from it and also from one another, so do all phenomena appear as
mutually different and also as different from the absolutely pure
and divinely perfect infinite consciousness known as the supreme
Bhairava, the Almighty God, though in fact these are not at all
different from Him.
Reflections shining in a mirror are not in fact any phenomena
that exist outside it, because these shine inside it. But even then
these do not appear as one with it, but as entities other than it.
Likewise, all phenomena, shining inside the psychic luminosity of
I-consciousness, are in fact one with it. It is the I-consciousness
which shines itself as such phenomena. But even then these appear

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 27
as different from the subjective I-consciousness. The whole pheno-
menon, along with all its functions, appears thus within the lumi-
nosity of consciousness in the manner of a reflection shining in a
mirror. The main differences between consciousness and mirror
are only two. Firstly, a mirror, being a dependent entity, requires
outward articles to cast their reflections into it, but the pure cons-
ciousness, being divinely potent, perfect, and self dependent,
manifests the reflections of its own divine powers of Godhead
inside its own psychic lustre of consciousness and does not require
any external element, what so ever, for such purpose. It requires
neither the avidyā of Vedānta nor the vāsanā of Buddhism for the
purpose. Such self-dependence is the cream of its Godhead. An-
other great difference between the two is this that a mirror is
never aware of either itself or of the reflections shining in it,
while I-consciousness is aware of both. Such is the theory of
reflectional manifestation of the phenomenon propounded in
Śaivism of Kashmir. It saves that philosophy from a hypothetical
supposition, like that of Avidyā, reacting on the Absolute. Besides,
it keeps away the apprehension of transformation (pariṇāma) with
regard to Brahman. The phenomenal manifestation in Śaivism is
thus something like a wonderful type of transmutation. Theis-
tic absolutism is thus the fundamental and the basic principle of
that philosophy.
शिवशक्तिसदाशिवतामेश्वरविद्यामयीं च तत्त्वदशाम् ।
शक्तीनां पञ्चानां विभक्तभावेन भासयति ॥ १४ ॥
14. Śiva-śakti-sadāśivatāṃ
Iśvara-vidyā-mayīṃ ca tattva-daśām
Śaktīnāṃ pañcānāṃ
vibhakta-bhāvena bhāsayati.
The Absolute God manifests the states of five pure tattvas
named—Śiva, Śakti, Sadāśiva, Īśvara and pure Vidyā by projecting
outwordly His five primary divine powers (named—Cit, Ānanda,
Icchā, Jñāna, and Kriyā).
The five primary powers of God are (i) consciousness, (ii) bliss-
fulness, (iii) divine and unrestrictible will, (iv) power to illumine
phenomena, and (v) power to manifest them as entities different
from Him. All such powers of God are interdependently mixed
together through mutual cooperation and integration and yet each

28 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagapta
of them predominates only one of the tattvas mentioned above.
Cit, the pure consciousness shines predominantly in Paramaśiva,
the Absolute, but projects out itself as Śiva-tattva in which the
power of blissfulness attains predominance. Blissfulness projects
itself out and shines as Śakti-tattva with the predominance of the
power of will. The divine will of the Absolute emerges out as
Sadāśiva-tattva with the predominance of jñāna-śakti, the power to
illumine. That power gives rise to Īśvara-tattva in which the active
power or kriyā-śakti of the Lord predominates. Kriyā emerges
out as the pure Vidyā and the power of Vidyā, the correct know-
ledge, attains prominence in it.
Each of these five primary powers of the Absolute is thus closely
related to two tattvas, one being the immediate source of its eman-
ation and the other being its field of predominance. In the basic
works on Śaiva philosophy these five tattvas are correlated with
these five primary divine powers in accordance with the principle
of their predominance. Thus Śivadṛṣṭi and Īśvarapratyabhijñā
correlate them with tattvas from Paramaśiva to Īśvara. But a
different view is taken in the works on theology. Thus in Tantrā-
loka and Tantrasāra the five primary powers have been correlated
with the five tattvas from Śiva to pure Vidyā, the tattvas emanated
as the outward manifestations of these five primary powers. That
has been done for the purpose of the upward spiritual progress of
a practitioner who, while contemplating on a particular tattva,
has to see in it the higher power which is the immediate source
of its emanation. Yogarāja follows that very latter view while ex-
plaining the above two couplets of the work.
Paramaśiva, the Absolute is the infinite pure consciousness
endowed with all divine potency. Śiva-tattva is the name given to
the same pure consciousness when thought over with the predomi-
nance of its noumenal aspect. Śakti-tattva also is the same infinite
and pure consciousness but such name is used for it when it is medi-
tated upon in the predominance of its phenomenal aspect. The
Absolute reality is thought over as God and as His Godhead with
the help of these two terms, Śiva and Śakti. Śiva is the original
source of all emanation and Śakti is the urge of the Absolute to-
wards such emanation of the phenomenon. Śiva is the name given
to the inward aspect of the divine and blissful spiritual stir of the
pure consciousness and its outward stir is represented by Śakti.
The objective existence does not at all appear in its objective

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 29
aspect in these two tattvas where consciousness shines as the in-
finite and perfect "I" and that alone, without even the faintest
manifestation of this-ness. That is the state of absolute unity
thought over in its two aspects imagined by philosophers for the
sake of perfect and complete understanding. The Lord is suppos-
ed to govern these two tattvas as Śiva and Śakti respectively.
Beings who attain the position of such unity are termed as
Akala beings. They enjoy constantly the blissful existence of
their infinite and pure I-consciousness endowed with infinite
divine potency.
Sadāśiva and Īśvara-tattvas belong to the plane of unity in diver-
sity and are governed by Lord Sadāśiva and Lord Īśvara respecti-
vely. The Absolute God, descended to such plane of unity-cum-
diversity, is known by these two names. Beings residing at the
planes of these two tattvas are respectively called Mantra-mahe-
śvaras and Mantreśvaras. They enjoy the awareness of their blissful
unity with the undiversified objective existence appearing as
simple "this" and feel respectively as "I am this" and "This is
myself." The awareness of the element of I-ness predominates
in the former type of these beings and the element of this-ness
does so in the latter. The viewpoint of unity-cum-diversity, be-
longing to both of these types of beings, serves them as their
instrumental tattva and is termed as Śuddhavidyā or Sadvidyā, the
pure and correct knowledge. Sadvidyā at its lower type is termed
as Mahāmāyā. Beings residing in its plane are known either as
Mantras or as Vidyeśvaras. They see themselves as divinely potent,
pure and infinite consciousness and enjoy its blissfulness but, at the
same time, they take the objective existence as different from them.
Lord Īśvara, descended to that level is known as Lord Anantanātha
who rules over Mantra beings and conducts further creation by
means of the divine powers delegated to him by the Lord. Crea-
tion up to the level of Mahāmāyā is conducted directly by the
Almighty Absolute God Himself, without entrusting it to any of
His Avatāras who conduct creation at lower levels. Such creation
is known as the pure creation. It is termed as Śuddha-adhvan, the
pure path of objective meditation, as taught in the Trika system
of practical Śaivism.
परमं यत् स्वातन्त्र्यं दुर्घटसम्पादनं महेशस्य ।
देवी मायाशक्तिः स्वात्मावरणं शिवस्यैतत् ॥ १५ ॥