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

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 ॥

30 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
15. Paramam yat svātantryaṃ
durghaṭa-saṁpādanaṃ maheśasya
Devī māyā- śaktiḥ
svātmāvaraṇaṃ Śivasyaitat.
That supreme self-dependence of Paramaśiva, through which He
brings about even that which is not possible, is known as the deity
named Māyā-śakti. It serves Paramaśiva as a veil to hide Himself.
Māyā, the divine power of the Lord, reflected by Him externally,
appears as Māyā-tattva, the sixth one in the process of phenomenal
evolution. The Lord, covering Himself with it, conceals His nature
of absolute purity and divinity. Making a show of His involve-
ment in it, He sees everything through a viewpoint of diversity
and forgets the divinity of His I-consciousness. Besides, Māyā-
tattva serves as the inanimate objective substance out of which
all other insentient elements evolve. It is thus the substantive
cause of numerous universes floating in it like bubbles in an
ocean. Māyā-tattva is also a creation of the Absolute God. It is
His impure creation. Further creation out of Māyā is conducted
by Lord Anantanātha, one of the agents of God.
मायापरिग्रहवशाद् बोधो मलिनः पुमान् पशुर्भवति ।
कालकलानियतिवशाद् रागाविद्यावशेन सम्बद्धः ॥ १६ ॥
16. Māyā-parigraha-vaśād
bodho malinaḥ pumān paśur bhavati
Kāla-kalā-niyati-vaśād
rāgāvidyā-vaśena saṃbaddhaḥ.
The pure consciousness, having adopted Māyā as a part and
parcel of its self, becomes impure and appears as the finite subject
known as Puruṣa who is bound like a beast with (the chains of
bondage consisting) of kāla, the sense of time, kalā, the limited
capacity to do just a little, niyati, the law of natural causation,
rāga, the limited interest in a particular something and Avidyā,
the limited capacity to know just a little.
Puruṣa is the finite subject who takes a finite individual I-cons-
ciousness, having limited powers to know and to do, as his self.
Having lost his infiniteness, he is known as 'aṇu' a finite being.
He sees everything and everyone as different from him. Such
viewpoint of diversity and such finitude are the main impurities
of such individual I-consciousness which, being fastened by the

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 31
chains of ignorance and finitude, is known as a paśu, a bonded
being.
Carrying further the phenomenal evolution, Lord Anantanātha
shakes up Māyā-tattva and expands it into five kañcukas or
sheaths that cover and hide the divine nature of the ātman and
present it in the form of a bonded being called paśu. Depriving it
of its omnipotence and limiting its powers to do, it appears in it
as kalā, a limited capacity to do just a little. Contracting the
omniscience of the ātman, it appears there as the impure Vidyā, a
finite capacity to know just a little. Limiting further scope of the
kalā and Vidyā of the ātman, Māyā appears as niyati, the law of
phenomenal causation, and restricts the kalā, Vidyā and rāga of
the finite being at each and every step. Contracting the very person
of such a being, Māyā appears as kāla, the sense of time, on
account of which he does neither do nor know anything without
conditioning these activities by the sense of time appearing as
past or present or future. Such sense of time becomes so deeply
impressed on his person that he does not even think of his very
existence except within the terms of past, present or future.
Time, according to Śaivism, is an imagined sense of succession
with regard to events and actions. Such sense of time is based on
the imagination of the finite being living at the plane of Māyā,
Such successions are either regular as those of the apparent move-
ments of sun and moon, change of seasons, blossoming of flowers,
ripening of fruits and grains and so on: or these are irregular as
those of the routine actions of individual beings. We very often
measure all the irregular series of successions with some regular
successions mentioned above and say that such and such person
lived a life of one hundred years; such and such book was read by
me in one month; today you slept for eight hours, and so on.
Time in Śaivism is thus a mere conception and not any substance.
It is a special type of relativity which is itself a substanceless con-
ception based on human imagination. The finite I-consciousness,
shrouded by Māyā and these five tattvas of limitation, is termed
as puruṣa, a bonded finite being known as paśu or aṇu or jīva and
so on.
अधुनैव किञ्चिदेवेदमेव सर्वात्मनैव जानामि ।
मायासहितं कञ्चुकषट्कमणोरन्तरङ्गमिदमुक्तम् ॥ १७ ॥

32 Paramārthāsāra of Abhinavagupta
17. Adhunaiva kiñcidevedameva
sarvātmanaiva jānāmi
Māyā-sahitaṃ kañcuka-
ṣaṭkamaṇorantaraṅgamidamuktam.
"I know only now and know just a little and just this much of
it quite completely"; such is the group of six sheaths including
Māyā. These have been taken as the six interior limitations of a
finite being.
The omnipotence of Śiva is reduced to the position of kalā in a
finite being. His omniscience becomes here the impure Vidyā. The
perfectness of Śiva is reduced here to rāga-tattva. His eternity is
brought down to the position of kāla-tattva and niyati-tattva occu-
pies the place of His complete independence.
The five pure elements discussed previously, and these six im-
pure elements raise the number of the tattvas in the process of
phenomenal evolution to eleven and puruṣa is the twelfth such
tattva. The six kañcukas, being the part and parcel of the person
of a finite being, are his interior limitations while the subtle
mental body and the gross material body are his exterior limita-
tions, because he wears them like clothes, changes the gross ones
and sheds them off, but the interior limitations of kañcukas have
become the essential nature of his person. A puruṣa is a puruṣa
because of these kañcukas; otherwise he should have been a pure
being residing in the plane of either pure Vidyā or Śakti.
कम्बुकमिव तण्डुलकणविनिविष्टं भिन्नमप्यभिदा ।
भजते तत्तु विशुद्धिं शिवमागौन्मुख्ययोगेन ॥ १८ ॥
18. Kambukamiva taṇḍulakaṇa-
viniviṣṭaṃ bhinnamapyabhidā
Bhajate tattu viśuddhiṃ
Śiva-mārgaunmukhya-yogena.
Though the group of five kañcukas is, in fact, different from
puruṣa, yet it is set in him in such a way as to appear to be non-
different from him, just like the thin yellowish covering of the
grains of rice. It can however be washed off by means of (a keenly
attentive and self contemplative) practice in Śaiva yoga.
Rice grains have two coverings. One is the outer chaff which
is removed by simple husking. But inside it there is a thin and
yellowish white covering which appears as the part and parcel
of the edible rice itself. It is often rubbed off only with the help

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 33
of a polisher fitted in a husking machine. Rice shines in snow
white colour only after the removal of such inner covering known
in Kashmiri language as komb, Sanskrit kambuka. Likewise, the
six kañcukas appear as part and parcel of the finite subject whose
real nature can shine brilliantly only after washing away such
coverings of kañcukas by means of Śaiva yoga.
सुखदुःखमोहमात्रं निश्चयसङ्कल्पनाभिमानाच्च ।
प्रकृतिरथान्तःकरणं बुद्धिमनोऽहङ्कृति क्रमशः ॥ १६ ॥
19. Sukha-duḥkha-moha-mātram
niścaya-saṅkalpanābhimānācca
Prakṛtirathāntaḥkaraṇam
buddhimano'haṅkṛti kramaśaḥ.
Prakṛti is the even amalgamation of simple pleasure, pain and
delusion (or ignorance) and the three interior instrumental ele-
ments are (i) buddhi, the understanding sense that forms definite
conceptions, (ii) manas, or mind, the organ of such thinking as
gives rise to indefinite ideations (about phenomena) and (iii)
ahaṅkāra, the egoist sense that connects such psychic activities
with the finite subject.
Prakṛti is the initial objective element that becomes the focus of
the activities of the finite subject who feels it afterwards either as
pleasure or pain or simple ignorance. Such three feelings are
known respectively as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, the three guṇas.
Prakṛti is that state of the complete amalgamation of three guṇas
in which these do not at all appear in their separate individual
character. It is their absolute equilibrium. Both Puruṣa and Prakṛti
are the creations of Lord Anantanātha. Lord Īśvara, desended to
the plane of threee guṇas is known as Śrīkaṇṭhanātha. Umāpati-
nātha is another divine form of Śrīkaṇṭhanātha. He is the Śiva of
epics and purāṇas. Śrīkaṇṭhanātha shakes up Prakṛti, disturbs the
equilibirium of the guṇas and creates the instrumental and objec-
tive elements out of it through a process of transformation. The
first result of such transformation is the creation of interior senses
including ego and the last one is that of gross physical elements
known as bhūtas. Sāṁkhya system maintains that Prakṛti under-
goes transformation into instrumental and objective elements by
virtue of its own essential nature, without any help from any
quarters. But Śaivism declares that Lord Śrīkaṇṭhanātha directs it,
disturbs its equilibrium and transforms it into the twenty-three

34 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
tattvas from mahattattva (buddhi) to earth, because, being insen-
tient in character, it cannot undergo any change by itself and
requires guidance for such purpose from some sentient person
and such person is Lord Śrīkaṇṭhanātha.
श्रोत्रं त्वगक्षिरसनाघ्राणं बुद्धीन्द्रियाणि शब्दादौ ।
वाक्पाणिपादपायूपस्थं कर्मेन्द्रियाणि पुनः ॥ २० ॥
20. Śrotraṁ tvagakṣi-rasanā-ghrāṇaṁ
buddhīndriyāṇi śabdādau
Vāk-pāṇi-pāda-payūpasthaṁ
karmendriyāṇi punaḥ.
The exterior senses, helpful in grasping objects like sound,
touch etc., are: srotra, the auditory sense, tvac, the sense to feel
some touch, akṣi, the sense to see, rasanā, the sense to taste and
ghrāṇa, the sense to smell. The exterior organs helpful in outward
actions are: vāc, the organ to speak, pāṇi, the organ to grasp,
pāda, the organ to move about, pāyu, the organ to discharge and
upastha, the organ to enjoy sexual bliss.
Each sense has its fixed place in the gross body while an organ
works through more than one limbs. One can catch hold of some-
thing with the help of his mouth also, can discharge through
several outlets in the body, can enjoy sexual bliss through kisses
and embraces as well. All these senses and organs are produced
through a process of the transformation of ego in its different
aspects.
एषां ग्राह्यो विषयः सूक्ष्मः प्रविभागवर्जितो यः स्यात् ।
तन्मात्रपञ्चकं तत् शब्दः स्पर्शो महो रसो गन्धः ॥ २१ ॥
21. Eṣāṁ grāhyo viṣayaḥ sūkṣmaḥ
pravibhāga-varjito yaḥ syāt
Tanmātra-pañcakaṁ tat
śabdaḥ sparśo maho raso gandhaḥ.
The finer undiversified objects to be caught by the five senses
are: sound, touch, light, taste and smell respectively. These are
known as five tanmātras.
Tanmātra means "that much". For instance, śabda tanmātra
means simple sound alone, without any particulars. These are the
finer objects of the senses and are produced out of a particular
aspect of ego through the process of transformation, because all
of them shine as egoistic feelings and ideas and not as any inde-

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 35
pendent entities. It is the ego which takes them up as its parti-
culars and shines itself in these five forms.
एतत्संसर्गवशात् स्थूलो विषयस्तु भूतपञ्चकताम् ।
अभ्येति नभः पवनस्तेजः सलिलं च पृथ्वी च ॥ २२ ॥
22. Etat-saṁsarga-vaśāt
sthūlo viṣayastu bhūta-pañcakatām
Abhyeti nabhaḥ pavanas-tejaḥ
salilaṁ ca pṛthvī ca.
The gross objective existence, evolved through the mixing up
of these five subtle objects, appears as the five gross physical ele-
ments called pañca-bhūtas which are: ether, air, fire, water and
earth.
Five subtle objects of senses, when mixed together and disturbed,
get evolved into five gross elements of physical existence. These
have the subtle objects as their special attributes called viśeṣa-
guṇas. The creation of gross objective elements is something like
the coagulation of the subtle ones.
तुष इव तण्डुलकणिकामावृणुते प्रकृतिपूर्वकः सर्गः ।
पृथ्वीपर्यन्तोऽयं चैतन्यं देहभावेन ॥ २३ ॥
23. Tuṣa iva taṇḍula-kaṇikāmāvṛṇute
prakṛti-pūrvakaḥ sargaḥ
Pṛthvī-paryanto'yaṁ
caitanyaṁ dehabhāvena.
Just as husk covers a grain of rice, so do all these created
elements, right from prakṛti to earth, become the subtle and gross
bodies of the finite I-consciousness and cover and conceal it
completely.
Both subtle and gross bodies of a being are evolved out of an
admixture of elements from prakṛti to earth. Such bodies form the
outer covering of I-consciousness, which takes them as its self.
But kañcukas, constituting the very finitude of the finite conscious-
ness, shine as its essential part and parcel and are therefore its
interior covering.
परमावरणं मल इह सूक्ष्मं मायादि कञ्चुकं स्थूलम् ।
बाह्यं विग्रहरूपं कोशत्रयवेष्टितो ह्यात्मा ॥ २४ ॥
24. Paramāvaraṇaṁ mala iha
sūkṣmaṁ māyādi-kañcukaṁ sthūlam

36 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
Bāhyaṃ vigraha-rūpaṃ
kośa-traya-veṣṭito hyātmā.
Mala, the basic impurity, is the finer covering of pure conscious-
ness. Six cloaks from Māyā to Niyati are its subtle coverings and
the external physical body is its gross covering. The Ātman is
thus covered with these sheaths.
God, hiding His purity, divinity etc., appears as a finite being
who forgets his real nature and becomes ignorant about it. Such
basic ignorance of a being regarding his purity, divinity, omni-
science, omnipotence etc. is his finer covering. It conceals the
very nature of his inner being and appears as his part and parcel.
It is termed in Śaivism as mala or impurity. Māyā, along with its
five evolutes called kañcukas, limiting the scope of the powers of
a being, is his interior and subtle covering. His external gross
covering is his individual body, both mental and physical. The
real nature of the Ātman remains thus hidden under such three
sheaths, the last one among which can be analysed further
into two, the thinner one and the grosser one, that is, the mental
one and the physical one.
अज्ञानतिमिरयोगादेकमपि स्वं स्वभावमात्मानम् ।
ग्राह्यग्राहकनानावैचित्र्येणावबुद्ध्येत ॥ २५ ॥
25. Ajñāna-timira-yogād-ekamapi
svaṃ svabhāvamātmānam
Grāhya-grāhaka-nānā-
vaicitryeṇāvabuddhyeta.
The finite being, suffering from the eye-disease of ignorance,
sees his own self as a multifarious diversity of subjects and objects,
while in reality he is only the monistic consciousness.
The moon is one, but a person suffering from an eyedisease
sees it as two. So does an ignorant being see his monistic divine
nature as a complex diversity with the result he goes on commit-
ting good and bad deeds and reaping the results of them in end-
less cycles of births, deaths, rebirths etc.
रसफाणितशर्करिकागुडखण्डाद्या यथेक्षुरस एव ।
तद्वदवस्थाभेदाः सर्वे परमात्मनः शम्भोः ॥ २६ ॥
26. Rasa-phāṇita-śarkarikā-
guḍa-khaṇḍādyā yathekṣu-rasa eva
Tad-vadavasthā-bhedāḥ sarve
paramātmanaḥ Śambhoḥ.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 37
Just as thin juice, thick juice, still thicker molasses (राब), coarse
sugar and refined sugar etc. are all only the juice of sugarcane
(appearing in different forms), so are all phenomena just some
different states of Lord Śiva in His universal aspect.
God shines in His two aspects, the noumenal one and the pheno-
menal one. In the former one He is infinite and pure I-conscious-
ness and that alone. But within such transcendental consciousness
lies that infinite divine power of Godhead through which all
phenomena shine in Him as reflections in a crystal. He appears
thus as the whole mental and physical existence and that is His
phenomenal aspect.
विज्ञानान्तर्यामिप्राणविराड्देहजातिपिण्डान्ताः ।
व्यवहारमात्रमेतत् परमार्थेन तु न सन्त्येव ॥२७॥
27. Vijñānāntaryāmi-prāṇa-virāḍ-
deha-jāti-piṇḍāntāḥ
Vyavahāra-mātrametat
paramārthena tu na santyeva.
The flow of momentary consciousness, the single self working
in all minds, the power of animation, the universal soul shining
as the whole phenomenon, the gross and subtle forms, the generali-
ties or species and lastly the individual being, all these consist of
mere dialectical conception and do not at all exist in reality.
The Buddhist thinkers maintain that the constant flow of
momentary consciousness is the only reality. The Vedic thinkers
say that the single self, penetrating inside, pervading, directing
and governing all the minds, is the ultimate reality. Some Upani-
ṣadic thinkers take the power of animation as the ultimate truth,
while other such thinkers say that one universal Ātman, shining
as all phenomena, is the only reality. Some other thinkers take
either the psycho-physical organism or the generalities or lastly
the individual as the ultimate truth. But all such theories are
merely some dialectical speculations useful in discussions and
debates. None among such entities has a real existence, as all
these are mere suppositions and imaginary concepts of thinkers.
रज्ज्वां नास्ति भुजङ्गस्त्रासं कुरुते च मृत्युपर्यन्तम् ।
भ्रान्तेर्महती शक्तिर्न विवेक्तुं शक्यते नाम ॥२८॥
28. Rajjvāṁ nāsti bhujaṅgas-trāsaṁ
kurute ca mṛtyu-paryantam

38 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
Bhrānter mahatī śaktirna vivektuṁ
śakyate nāma.
No serpent exists in a rope, but (even then) it causes dread
even upto that of death. Such immense power of delusion cannot
be explained or discussed fully.
A hanging rope, moving this way and that way in a gentle
breeze, causes immense dread when it is mistaken for a serpent
in its zigzag gait.
तद्वद् धर्माधर्म-स्वर्-निरयोत्पत्ति-मरण-सुख-दुःखम् ।
वर्णाश्रमादि चात्मन्यसदपि विभ्रमबलाद् भवति ॥ २९ ॥
29. Tadvad dharmādharma-svar-
nirayotpatti-maraṇa-sukha-duḥkham
Varṇāśramādi cātmanyasadapi
vibhrama-balād bhavati.
In the same way the matters like piety and sin, heaven and
hell, birth and death, pleasure and pain, social castes and stages
of life, and so on, do never exist in reality, but appear in the self
on account of the effect of delusion.
No diversity is the real truth. Its existence is simply apparent.
It shines in the Ātman as reflections shine in a mirror. All this
appears to a bonded being on account of the delusion caused by
Māyā. Śaivism, taking in this way the phenomenon as a mere
apparent entity, comes very close to the Advaita Vedānta. But Māyā
the basic cause of such reflectional appearance of the pheno-
menon, has been taken in Śaivism as the divine power of the
Ātman, while it is being accepted in the Advaita Vedānta as a
foreign entity coming into contract with the Ātman and manifes-
ting it falsely as God, soul and insentient substances. Śaivism
propounds thus a highly theistic absolutism, while the fundamen-
tal principle of the Advaita Vedānta is sufficiently nihilistic in
character.
एतत् तदन्धकारं यद् भावेषु प्रकाशमानतया ।
आत्मानतिरिक्तष्वपि भवत्यनात्माभिमानोऽयम् ॥ ३० ॥
30. Etat tadandhakāraṁ yad bhāveṣu
prakāśamānatayā
Ātmānatirikteṣvapi bhavatya-
nātmābhimāno'yam.
The darkness of delusion is this that all existent phenomena

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 39
are taken as different from the self, though these are non-different
from it because of their becoming apparent only inside its psychic
light of consciousness.
Only such a thing can appear as an existent entity which shines
within prakāśa, the psychic luminosity of consciousness. In fact
it is such prakāśa itself which, taking up the forms of such entities,
shines like that. How can then any such entity be different from
prakāśa known as Ātman? But still all this is taken as non-self
and that is the darkness of ignorance.
तिमिरादपि तिमिरमिदं गण्डस्योपरि महानयं स्फोटः ।
यदनात्मन्यपि देहप्राणादावात्ममानित्वम् ॥ ३१ ॥
31. Timirādapi timiramidaṃ
gaṇḍasyopari mahānayaṃ sphoṭaḥ
yadanātmanyapi deha-prāṇādā-
vātma-mānitvam.
The egoistic conception of self-hood with regard to non-self
like the physical body, functions of animation etc. is a darkness
over a darkness. It is a big boil on a tumour.
One type of ignorance is the forgetfulness about one's pure and
infinite universal nature. It gives rise to another type of ignorance
on account of which a being develops the conception of self-hood
with respect to limited and insentient objects like the physical
body etc., all of which are, in reality, non-self. Such double
faced delusion is a disease over a disease and a darkness over a
darkness.
देहप्राण-विमर्शन-धीज्ञान-नभःप्रपञ्च-योगेन ।
आत्मानं वेष्टयते चित्रं जालेन जालकर इव ॥ ३२ ॥
32. Deha-prāṇa-vimarśana-dhījñāna-
nabhaḥ-prapañca-yogena
Ātmānaṃ veṣṭayate citraṃ
jālena jāla-kara iva.
How strange ! Just as a silk-worm confines its own self inside
the cacoon woven by it, so does a finite being conceal his real self
under the immense amplifications of—(a) his egoistic feeling with
regard to his physical body and animation, (b) his conceptual
cognitions and (c) the feelings of nihility beyond his mental
organism.
The conception and feeling of I-ness with respect to physical

40 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
body and pure animation is the gross covering that hides the real
nature of the self. The subtle covering is the multitude of multi-
farious conceptual cognitions being always formed by his under-
standing capacity. The finer covering is his feeling of I-ness with
regard to pure but finite individual consciousness, freed from all
subjective and objective ideas. It can be compared to the nihility
of the void. These are the amplifications with which the natural
infinity, purity, eternity, divinity etc. of the potent and pure cons-
ciousness of a being become concealed and remain hidden. Since
God appears as all beings, it is He who conceals wonderfully His
real nature in this way.
स्व-ज्ञान-विभव-भासन-योगेनोद्वेष्टयेन्निजात्मानम् ।
इति बन्ध-मोक्ष-चित्रां क्रीडां प्रतनोति परमशिवः ॥ ३३॥
33. Sva-jñāna-vibhava-bhāsana-
yogenodveṣṭayennijātmānam,
Iti bandha-mokṣa-citrāṃ
krīḍāṃ pratanoti Paramaśivaḥ.
Sometimes the Lord may Himself unbound and reveal His real
nature by means of yoga that illumins the infinite luxury of one's
self-knowledge. Paramaśiva, the Absolute God, plays thus His
wonderful game of bondage and liberation.
Bondage is not basically due to any foriegn element like Avidyā,
but is due to the very divine nature of the absolute reality itself.
God, shorn of such playful nature, would be reduced to the posi-
tion of insentient pure space. It is such playfulness which is His
natural Godhead. Neither bondage nor liberation can basically be
due to anything other than such divine nature of God.
सृष्टि-स्थिति-संहारा जाग्रत्स्वप्नौ सुषुप्तमिति तस्मिन् ।
भान्ति तुरीये धामनि तथापि तैर्नावृतं भाति ॥ ३४॥
34. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-saṃhārā
jāgrat-svapnau suṣuptamiti tasmin
Bhānti turīye dhāmani tathāpi
tair nāvṛtaṃ bhāti.
All creation, preservation and absorption, as well as the states
of waking, dreaming and sleeping shine inside the (divine) light of
the fourth state of animation which does not even then appear
to be hidden by such phenomena.
Turyā, the fourth state of animation, is the state of such intui-

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 41
tive revelation as illumines the pure and divinely potent nature of
the self. It is the pure consciousness which keeps on shining in all
the states of animation as the witnessing reality. It can neither be
hidden by the waking state, nor by the dreaming one, nor by the
sleeping one, all of which depend on it, because it is the basic
light of consciousness pervading every function of a being. It alone
illumines all the functions of animation in all these states.
जाग्रद्विश्वं भेदात् स्वप्नस्तेजः प्रकाशमाहात्म्यात् ।
प्राज्ञः सुप्तावस्था ज्ञानघनत्वात् ततः परं तुर्यम् ॥ ३५ ॥
35. Jāgrad viśvaṃ bhedāt
svapnas tejaḥ prakāśa-māhātmyāt
Prājñaḥ suptāvasthā jñāna-ghanatvāt
tataḥ paraṃ turyam.
The waking state, being full of diversity, is known as viśva, the
phenomenon. The dreaming state is called tejas (light) because
of its power to manifest. The sleeping state, (being aware of only
the self,) is named prājña, the possessor of knowledge of the finite
self. The state of Turyā is the compact self-knowledge lying above
and beyond it.
Generally the beings in such states are given such four names,
but such states and the beings in them have together been men-
tioned here through such four terms.
जलधर-धूम-रजोभिर्मलिनीक्रियते यथा न गगनतलम् ।
तद्वन्मायाविकृतिभिरपरामृष्टः परः पुरुषः ॥ ३६ ॥
36. Jaladhara-dhūma-rajobhir malinī-
kriyate yathā na gagana-talam
Tadvan-māyā-vikṛtibhiraparā-
mṛṣṭaḥ paraḥ puruṣaḥ.
Just as clouds, smoke and dust do not at all pollute the sky, so
remains the transcendental self unaffected by the evolutes of Māyā.
Five kañcukas are the direct evolutes of Māyā. They narrow
down to the utmost the scope of the powers of a finite being. But
since these five elements, along with Māyā itself, appear only
like reflections inside the psychic luminosity of the supreme self,
and do so only by virtue of the playful and divine power of the
self, these cannot affect it at all. That is to say that the Lord does
not undergo any change in His basic character and continues to
be pure, infinite and divine consciousness even while appearing as

42 Paramarthasāra of Abhinavagupta
all phenomena. That is the strange pantheism of the Śaiva philo-
sophy of Kashmir. It is pantheism combined with absolutism.
एकस्मिन् घटगगने रजसा व्याप्ते भवन्ति नान्यानि ।
मलिनानि तद्वदेते जीवाः सुखदुःखभेदजुषः ॥ ३७ ॥
37. Ekasmin ghaṭa-gagane rajasā
vyāpte bhavanti nānyāni
Malināni tadvadete jīvāḥ
sukha-duḥkha-bheda-juṣaḥ.
When the space inside one pitcher becomes completely dusty,
it does not happen like that with respect to the space in other
pitchers. In the same way are these finite beings mutually different
in the matters of pleasure, pain etc.
शान्ते शान्त इवायं हृष्टे हृष्टो विमोहवति मूढः ।
तत्त्वगणे सति भगवान् न पुनः परमार्थतः स तथा ॥ ३८ ॥
38. Śānte śānta ivāyam hṛṣṭe
hṛṣṭo vimoha-vati mūḍhaḥ
Tattva-gaṇe sati bhagavān na punaḥ
paramārthataḥ sa tathā.
God, while pervading tranquil, happy and deluded complexes
of psychic elements, appears as if He also were like that; but in
reality he is not like that.
God is changeless. Tranquillity, delusion etc. are different psychic
states involving change in the character of the entities to which
these belong and are caused by three guṇas. God, being the abso-
lute reality that transcends guṇas, does not at all undergo any
change in His character. But, while acting as a finite being, He
looks as if He were undergoing such changes and having pleasure,
pain, delusion etc. as his character.
यदनात्मन्यपि तद्रूपावभासनं तत् पुरा निराकृत्य ।
आत्मन्यनात्मरूपां भ्रान्तिं विदलयति परमात्मा ॥ ३६ ॥
39. Yadanātmanyapi tadrūpāvabhāsanaṃ
tat purā nirākṛtya
Ātmanyanātma-rūpāṃ bhrāntiṃ
vidalayati paramātmā.
The great God, having first eradicated the delusion of taking
the non-self and insentient substances as self, shatters afterwards

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 43
the other delusive conception of taking the (all inclusive) self as
non-self.
The self of a person is, in fact, divinely potent, pure and trans-
cendental consciousness alone; but a person in delusion takes some
insentient substances like the physical body, animation, mental
apparatus etc. as his self. That is one type of his delusion. The
whole phenomenon, being the manifestation of the divine powers
of the real self, is in fact nothing other than one's self, but is taken
as non-self. That is another type of delusion. The great God,
playing the gracious game of self-revelation, makes a person
realize his real nature and to recognize himself as none other
than God. Such recognitive self-realization liquidates both the
above mentioned types of delusion, one after another. Such a
man of realization feels firstly that he is pure, infinite, eternal,
independent and perfect consciousness having infinite divine
potency as his nature. Afterwards he sees the whole phenomenon
as his own self.
इत्थं विभ्रमयुगलक-समूलविच्छेदने कृतार्थस्य ।
कर्तव्यान्तरकलना न जातु परयोगिनो भवति ॥ ४० ॥
40. Itthaṁ vibhrama-yugalaka-smūla-
vicchedane kṛtārthasya
Kartavyāntara-kalanā na jātu
parayogino bhavati.
A superior yogin, having become thus fully satisfied by rooting
out and exterminating the delusion of both the types, does never
see any thing else to be accomplished by him.
पृथ्वी प्रकृतिर्माया त्रितयमिदं वेद्यरूपतापतितम् ।
अद्वैतभावनवलाद् भवति हि सन्मात्रपरिशेषम् ॥ ४१ ॥
41. Pṛthvī prakṛtir māyā tritayamidaṁ
vedya-rūpatā-patitam
Advaita-bhāvana-balād bhavati hi
sanmātra-pariśeṣam.
The trinity of the objective existence, consisting of (the spheres
of) earth, cosmic substance, and Māyā, is reduced to the position
of the simple and pure basic existence by means of practice in the
contemplation of non-duality.
Bhāvanā is a contemplative practice in thinking constantly
about the exactly pure and real nature of an entity, self or non-

44 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
self. Such contemplative practice in thinking constantly about the
monistic, pure and divine character of everything raises the whole
phenomenal existence to the position of the basic existence which
is pure consciousness endowed with divine potency.
रशनाकुण्डलकाटकं भेदत्यागेन दृश्यते यथा हेम ।
तद्वद् भेदत्यागे सन्मात्रं सर्वमाभाति ॥४२॥
42. Raśanā-kuṇḍala-kaṭakaṁ bheda-
tyāgena dṛśyate yathā hema
Tadvad bheda-tyāge sanmātraṁ
sarvamābhāti.
Just as gold ornaments like girdle, earring, bangle etc., shedding
off their differential character, appear as simple gold, so do all
phenomena, shedding off their mutually different character, shine
as simple basic existence.
तद् ब्रह्म परं शुद्धं शान्तमभेदात्मकं समं सकलम् ।
अमृतं सत्यं शक्तौ विश्राम्यति भास्वरूपायाम् ॥४३॥
43. Tad brahma paraṁ śuddhaṁ
śāntamabhedātmakaṁ samaṁ sakalam
Amṛtaṁ satyaṁ śaktau
viśrāmyati bhāsvarūpāyām.
That Brahman, the transcendental, pure and tranquil reality,
being of monistic nature, is evenly everything. Being immortal
and real, it relaxes on its (own) Śakti which has consciousness as
its form.
Brahman is never involved in the disturbance of anything like
Māyā, karman etc. and that amounts to its tranquillity. Since Brah-
man alone is everything, everything is as much Brahman as Brahman
itself. It is immortal and true and, being self dependent, it relaxes
on its own divine power of Godhead which has infinitely potent
consciousness, or rather awareness, as its essential form. It has
not to relax or to rely on anything other than its divine power.
It does not therefore require the assistance of either Avidyā or
vāsanā in its universal play which is played by it through its own
divine power which is playful in its essential nature and that is
the absolute Godhead of Brahman as maintained in Kashmir
Śaivism.

Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta 45
इष्यत इति वेद्यत इति सम्पाद्यत इति च भास्वरूपेण ।
अपरामृष्टं यदपि तु नभःप्रसूनत्वमभ्येति ॥ ४४ ॥
44. Iṣyata iti vedyata iti sampādyata
iti ca bhāsvarūpeṇa
Aparāmṛṣṭaṁ yadapi tu
nabhaḥ-prasūnatvamabhyeti.
All that is ever willed or cognized or created gets reduced to
the position of a sky-flower if it is not illumined by consciousness.
It is only consciousness which illumines an entity. Only that
thing is accepted as an existent or non-existent entity which shines
like that within the psychic light of the consciousness of a being.
A thing which does never shine there is reduced to total nothing-
ness. Therefore it is in fact the divine consciousness alone which
shines itself as any phenomenon that is ever willed or observed
or created. That proves the supreme theistic monism worked out
in Paramārthasāra.
शक्तित्रिशूलपरिगमयोगेन समस्तमपि परमेशे ।
शिवनामनि परमार्थे विसृज्यते देवदेवेन ॥ ४५ ॥
45. Śakti-triśūla-parigama-yogena
samastamapi parameśe
Śivanāmani paramārthe
visṛjyate devadevena.
Initially the Lord of the lords creates the whole phenomenon
within His own divine, potent and eternally existent aspect named
Śiva, by handling the trident of His divine powers.
The conative, cognitive and creative powers of God are His
three primary powers known as icchā-śakti, jñāna-śakti and kriyā-
śakti. The symbolic trident of Śiva is suggestive of these three
divine powers which constitute His essential nature. Śiva, coming
face to face to such powers through His awareness, that is, be-
coming fully aware of His natural divine powers, becomes prone
or inclined towards creation. Such a situation is described as hold-
ing in His hand the trident of three divine powers. His conative
power is His icchā-śakti, which is depicted in Upaniṣadic passages
like “Tadaikṣata, bahu syām, prajāyeya iti”. (तदैक्षत, बहु स्याम्, प्रजायेयेति)
(ch. 6-2-3). The basic reality visualizes, “Let me become many,
let me be born (in many forms)” and so on. Before creating the
phenomenon externally as an objective existence, God creates it

46 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
within His own self known as Śiva. His will to create a particular
type of phenomenon presupposes its existence inside His aware-
ness, because nothing particular could have otherwise become the
object of His conation, or creation. The phenomenon appears
initially in Him and that is due to His cognitive power. It shines
clearly in Him as the object to be created and is thus created
there actually through His creative power. Its outward creation is
due to the phenomenal growth of His kriyā-śakti.
A worldly creator also follows such process. He creates only
that thing outwardly which is initially created by him in his own
self. A painter creates initially a wonderful form in his own will
and then he illuminates it thoroughly while forming a clear idea
about it in his mind and afterwards he starts to paint it actually
on a board. So does the Lord create the phenomenon in His own
subjective self before manifesting it outwardly and objectively.
That is the interior creation which the couplet in hand is meant
to express.
पुनरपि च पञ्चशक्तिप्रसरणक्रमेण बहिरपि तत् ।
अण्डत्रयं विचित्रं सृष्टं बहिरात्मलाभेन ॥ ४६ ॥
46. Punarapi ca pañca-śakti-prasaraṇa-
krameṇa bahirapi tat
Aṇḍa-trayaṁ vicitraṁ sṛṣṭaṁ
bahirātma-lābhena.
At the next step the Lord created outwardly the complexly
wonderful three spheres (of Māyā, Prakṛti and Pṛthvī) by manifes-
ting and finding Himself outwardly as well through the process of
outward manifestation of His five divine powers.
The five divine powers of the Lord are: cit or pure consciousness,
ānanda or blissfulness, icchā or conative power, jñāna or cognitive
power and kriyā or creative porwer. These powers shine in Him as
His own self. Their outward manifestation reflects them as the
creation of the objective existence consisting of three spheres of
Māyā, the causal creation, Prakṛti, the subtle creation and Pṛthvī,
the gross creation. The whole of such creation is complexly
wonderful. It is the outward or objective manifestation of the
essential nature of God. Here He finds out His own self in an
objective aspect and that is His 'bahirātma-lābha'.