Essence of the Exact Reality
or
Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
with English translation and notes by
Dr. B.N. Pandit
Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

ISBN 81-215-0523-0
First published 1991
© 1991, Pandit, Baljita Nath
Published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Post Box 5715,
54 Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055 and printed at Upasna Printers,
Shahdara, Delhi-110032.

Contents
Preface vii
Introduction 1
Couplets Contents Pages
1 Salutation to deity 20
2-3 Introductory statement 20-21
4 Four spheres (aṇḍas) 21
5 The enjoyer 22
6-7 One appearing as many 23
8 Manifestation of consciousness 24
9 Manifestation of Divinity 24
10-11 Paramaśiva the Absolute 25
12-13 Reflectionary manifestation of diversity 26
14 Pure creation 27
15 Impure creation 29
16-17 Creation of Kañcukas 30-31
18 Removal of Kañcukas 32
19-20 Creation of senses and organs 33-34
21-22 Subtle and gross elements 34-35
23-24 Three coverings of consciousness 35
25 View based on ignorance 36
26 One appearing as many 36
27 Diversity an apparent phenomenon 37
28-31 Delusion and its two types 37-39
32 Four coverings of Ātman 39
33 Removal of coverings 40
34 Consciousness as the unhidden reality 40
35 States of animation 41
36 The ever-pure Absolute 41
37 Psychic differences between beings 42
38 God appearing diversely 42
39-40 Dissolution of delusion 42-43
41-42 Dissolution of diversity 43-44
43 Definition of Brahman 44

vi Contents
44 Brahman the base of everything 45
45 Interior creation 45
46 Exterior creation 46
47-50 Self-realization 47-48
51-52 Dissolution of delusion and misery 49
53-54 Karman the cause of rebirth 49-50
55-56 Dissolution and ineffectiveness of
karman 50-51
57-59 No rebirth and misery for the purified 51-52
60 Definition of liberation 53
61 Liberation in mortal life 53
62 Ineffectiveness of karman 53
63 Vāsanā as the cause of rebirth 54
64-66 Liberation on the dissolution of Vāsanā 54
67 Deeds without fructification 55
68 Freedom from conceptual cognition 56
69 No religious discipline 56
70 Non-pollution by sin or piety 57
71-73 Character of the liberated 57-58
74-80 The Pāśupata vow of a jñānin 58-61
81-82 Satisfaction in perfect unity 61-62
83-84 No place as pure or impure 62-63
85-86 Liberated even while living 63
87-88 Freedom from upādhis 63-64
89-91 Situation at the end of life 64-65
92-93 Rebirth and liberation 65-66
94-95 Psycho-physical behaviour of a jñānin 66
96 Quick liberation 67
97 Liberation by stages 68
98-102 Delayed liberation of a Yoga-bhraṣṭa 68-70
103 Merits of the knowledge of reality 70
104-105 Conclusion 70-71
Glossary of Sanskrit Words 73
Index 81

Preface
Kashmir Śaivism is a highly perfect school of Indian philosophy,
but has remained more or less confined to the valley of Kashmir.
Scholars in Indian plains and the South developed interest in it as
late as the present century. The subject is now gaining popularity
at some universities in north India as well as in the West. But the
main difficulty in the spread of the study of its important works is
the non-availability of an easy textbook that could pave the path
to explore its finer and sophisticated principles and doctrines
discussed in some very important works like Śivadṛṣṭi, Īśvara-
pratyabhijñā, Tantrāloka etc.
It appears that Abhinavagupta, the final authority on Kashmir
Śaivism, must have felt such lacuna in the academic development
of the subject. Why should he have otherwise taken so much
interest in recasting and re-editing the Vaiṣṇavite Paramārthasāra
of Patañjali for the purpose of expressing through it most of the
main principles of the theistic and monistic absolutism of Kashmir
Śaivism, by the means of an easy and simple method, not over
burdened by terse logical arguments and discussions? That
Paramārthasāra by Abhinavagupta has been serving students of
Kashmir Śaivism as an easy textbook of a comprehensive character
for centuries in the past. Students of Śaivism in Kashmir have all
along been using such work as a textbook at the initial step of
their study in the subject.
Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta, being available only in
Sanskrit language, could not at present serve the purpose of
common man interested in the study of Kashmir Śaivism. It
required to be brought out in English and Hindi with explanatory
notes for such purpose. The author of the work in hand prepared
such two editions of the text some years back. But both the
manuscripts remained unpublished for all these years for want of
a publisher prepared to invest a good amount for the purpose.
Thank God, the director, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers

viii Preface
Pvt. Ltd. has now taken up the publication of the English edition
of Paramārthasāra under the title Essence of the Exact Reality. It
is hoped that the Hindi edition of the work shall also be published
by the same publisher in the near future.
These two editions of Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta can
serve as useful textbooks at the level of M.A. in Sanskrit and
Philosophy at the universities in India and abroad.
B.N. Pandit
Jammu Tawi
1 January 1991

Introduction

There are two works on Indian philosophy which are known under
the name Paramārthasāra. The earlier one among them is an
ancient work by Ādiśeṣa. Patañjali is generally known by such
name because it is believed that he was an incarnation of Śeṣanāga,
the famous thousand headed serpent god. Such belief can have
risen out of the fact of his having been the master writer who did
multifarious and extensive academic work as if he had one
thousand heads to think and mouths to speak; or it is just possible
that he may have originally belonged to some Nāga-worshippers’
sect and may have consequently been called a Nāga.
Yogarāja the commentator of the later Paramārthasāra of Abhi-
navagupta committed a mistake in taking the Paramārthasāra of
Śeṣa as a work belonging to Sāṁkhya system. Writers have since
then been following that view and not even any research scholars
of the present age have bothered to correct the mistake. There is
no doubt in the fact that some elements of Sāṁkhya philosophy
are present in the work of Śeṣa, but the elements of Vaiṣṇavite
theism shine more brilliantly in it. Besides, some elements of
Sāṁkhya principles can be found in many other schools of Indian
philosophy which are definitely different from the Sāṁkhya school.
In fact the Paramārthasāra of Śeṣa is a work of that ancient age
in which the ancient theistic Sāṁkhya of sage Kapila, the ancient
Vaiṣṇavism of Mahābhārata and the theistic Vedānta philosophy
of Upaniṣads were studied as one and single integrated school of
thought with all such elements supporting one another. Such
elements of philosophy had yet to bifurcate and to evolve as some
distinctly separate schools of thought. But, in spite of their such
integration, the Vaiṣṇavite character of the work is distinctly
predominant. The Vaiṣṇavism of Patañjali, unlike the philosophy
of later Vaiṣṇavas, is of monistic view and has absolutism as its
metaphysical and ontological character. The later Vaiṣṇavism
leans towards Vaiṣṇavite mythology but the Vaiṣṇavism of Patañ-
jali maintains its philosophic character. Vallabha advocates a

2 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
monistic view but even he comes closer to mythology and pushes
to background the absolutist character of the monistic reality.
Therefore his Viśuddhādvaita is different from the advaita of Patañ-
jali which comes closer to the Upaniṣadic Vedānta. Patañjali's
views are highly theistic in character and therefore fall apart from
the Vivartavāda of the philosophers in Śaṅkara's line. Paramārtha-
sāra of Patañjali is thus the most ancient philosophic treatise on
the theistic absolutism of Vaiṣṇavite character.
Abhinavagupta, being attracted very much by the style, the
method and the technique of Ādiśeṣa, adopted it, made sufficient
changes, additions and alterations in the text of the work and
presented it as a very good textbook of Kashmir Śaivism, useful
for beginners. The language of the work of Abhinavagupta is very
simple and its style is sufficiently lucid and clear. It avoids discus-
sions on many controversial topics of philosophy and does not
touch the views of any antagonists, but presents, in stead, the
main principles of Kashmir Śaivism alone. It does not resort to
the method of dry logic, but states the principles and doctrines
in a simple style. Higher philosophic works like Īśvarapratyabhijñā
and Śivadṛṣṭi adopt a method of subtle logic, but Paramārthasāra
avoids logical discussions. It throws light on all the important and
basic principles of the philosophy of Kashmir Śaivism and is thus
the best available textbook to start its study. It is highly helpful
in understanding the works of higher standard like Īśvarapratya-
bhijñā of Utpaladeva.
The basic principles of Kashmir Śaivism, dealt with in Paramār-
thasāra of Abhinavagupta, include those listed below:
Metaphysical reality, ontology of Śaivism, the theory of the basic
causation, the source of the objective creation, the wonderful
nature of the phenomenon, its manifestation in the manner of a
reflection, the process of the evolution of the thirty-six tattvas,
the universe as it runs, bondage and its causes, liberation and its
means, varieties in liberation, practical paths that lead to it, the
position of an imperfect practitioner, his delayed spiritual evolu-
tion and so on. It deals thus quite comprehensively with the sub-
ject and that is its important merit as a textbook.
Kṣemarāja was a disciple of Abhinavagupta. His disciple was
Yogarāja, who wrote a detailed commentary on Paramārthasāra.
That commentary explains fully the couplets of Abhinavagupta
and discusses in detail many subtle principles of Kashmir Śaivism.

Introduction 3
It enhances thus the academic value of the original work as
revised and reconstructed by Abhinavagupta. Such revised, impro-
ved and explained Paramārthasāra of the Śaiva author became so
much popular with later academicians that most of them forgot
the more ancient Paramārthasāra of Ādiśeṣa. Some grammarians
like Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa do quote the work of Patañjali, but most of
the later writers on philosophy know only the Paramārthasāra of
Abhinavagupta Maheśvarananda, the author of Mahārtha-mañjarī-
parimala, refers to it as Paramārthasāra-saṃgraha. The same has
been done by Amṛtānanda in his Yoginīhṛdayadīpikā.
An English translation of Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta by
L.D. Barnett appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
in 1910. It was a mere translation without any explanatory notes.
It did not appear separately as a book and did never become avail-
able like that.
The Sanskrit text of Paramārthasāra, along with the detailed
commentary by Yogarāja, was published for the first time in AD
1916 at Srinagar under the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies.
Its second edition, along with an additional commentary by Shri
D.N. Shastri, was published by Ranvira Kendriya Sanskrit
Vidyapeetha, Jammu in 1981. Shri Prabhādevī, a disciple of
Swami Lakṣmaṇa Joo of Īśvara-āshrama, Srinagar, published
another edition of the text along with a Hindi commentary on the
Gita Press style in 1977.
Another Hindi edition with detailed explanatory notes, useful
for M.A. level Indian students, was prepared by the writer of the
present English translation a few years back. It also will be pub-
lished as early as possible.
The present edition with English translation and notes is in
your hands. The translation is meant to express the sense and the
purport of the couplets and therefore it is not everywhere a
strict literal translation.
Both these Hindi and English editions of Paramārthasāra of
Abhinavagupta are meant for scholars who want an entrance into
the philosophy of Kashmir Śaivism and also into the texts of
higher standard like Īśvarapratyabhijñā and Śivadṛṣṭi. Both these
editions can serve as good textbooks at the M.A. Sanskrit and
M.A. Philosophy levels at Indian universities because Paramārtha-
sāra is the best textbook on Kashmir Śaivism for beginners. It can
advantageously replace Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya of Kṣemarāja which

4 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
has been occupying such position simply because of its being
available with Hindi and English commentaries and also because
of the non-availability of any good and suitable textbook with
translation and notes in any of these two languages.
Patañjali, mentioning himself as Gonardīya, belonged to the
Gonda district in U.P. Since he and his associates were a group
of touring scholars, as is evident from Caraka-saṃhitā, they were
called Carakas or ever travelling scholars. They travelled far
and wide from place to place with their leader Punarvasu Ātreya
from institute to institute and belonged thus to the whole of India.
Atrigupta, the ancient ancestor of Abhinavagupta, was an
inhabitant of the land between Gaṅgā and Yamunā. He was
invited to Kashmir by king Lalitāditya who provided a land grant
and a suitable residential house to him at Pravarasenapura, the
modern city of Srinagar, near the Śitāṃśumauli temple on the
bank of Vitastā (Jehlum). The location of that temple is yet to be
ascertained. It may become possible to ascertain it if and when
certain Persian works, dealing with the history of Kashmir during
the period of its quick Muslimization under the rule of Sikandar
Butshikan in the fifteenth century, comes to light.
Some old Pandits of Srinagar, who were alive upto the past
decade, believed that Abhinavagupta lived at his ancestral home
at Gotapora (Guptapura) in the northern outskirts of the old city
near the new colony named Lal Bazar. Places like Guptagaṅgā
and Gopītīrtha (Guptatīrtha) on the eastern bank of the Dal lake
can have had some close connection with Abhinavagupta. Amṛta-
vāgbhava, a great modern scholar, a successful practitioner of
the Śāmbhava-yoga of the Trika system and the originator of a
kind of Neo Śaivism in this age, came across a Kashmiri Brah-
min under the surname ‘Gopya’ at Srinagar in the late twenties
of this century. Besides, he felt the existence of some yogins
belonging to the line of Abhinavagupta, living at present in divine
forms and moving about on the tracts of land near Bahrār on the
north western side of Nagin lake towards the north of Hārī-
parbat hill.
Atriguptā settled at Srinagar in the eighth century AD and
Abhinavagupta lived in his human form in the later part of the
tenth and the earlier part of the eleventh century. He has recorded
the time of composition in three of his works, namely—Kramas-
totra, Bhairavastotra and Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśinī and the

Introduction 5
years concerned correspond with AD 990, 992 and 1014 respecti-
vely.
Abhinavagupta was not a ‘Baniya’ (Vaiśya), as the surname
Gupta would suggest in accordance with the present-day usage.
His ancestor, Atrigupta was a prāgryajanmā, that is, a Brahmin
of a very high rank. Probably some ancestor of Atrigupta took up
the job of an administrator of one hundred villages and was on
that account designated as a goptā (from √goptṛ) meaning a pro-
tector. Such was the usage in ancient ages—गोप्ता ग्रामशताध्यक्षः।
(goptā grāmaśatādhyakṣaḥ). He must have worked on the post
so nicely that his family was called by people as Goptā. The
word in its corrupted form changed afterwards into the word
Gupta. The great Cāṇakya, known also as Viṣṇugupta and the
great mathematician Brahmagupta also were such Brahmin
Goptas whose such name came later to be pronounced as Gupta.
Vasugupta and Lakṣmaṇagupta can have risen in the family of
Atrigupta.
As described by the Kerala saint Madhurāja in his Gurunātha-
parāmarśa, Abhinavagupta lived like a prince and not like a beg-
ging monk. As said by Abhinavaguptā himself, he did not have
any wife or children—प्राजन्म दारसुतबन्धु कथा-मनाप्तः । (ājanma dāra-suta-
bandhu-kathāmanāptaḥ). But even then he appears to have lived
in his ancestral house with his kith and kin. His five cousins were
his disciples. His younger brother; Manorathagupta, was one of
his pet disciples. Tantrāloka was written by him in the house of
another pet disciple named Mandra whose name has been men-
tioned by him along with another such disciple Karṇa in more
than one works. All of them were his close relatives with whom
he lived and worked.
In fact Abhinavagupta and such prominent authors of Śaivism
who preceded him did not prescribe the path of wandering monks
as did the Buddhists, Jains, Pāśupatas and Vedāntins. Most of
them lived the lives of pious house holders, followed the Brahma-
nic ways of life as laid down in dharma-śāstras and as come down
to them through tradition. They performed all Brahmanic rites but
did not advocate any sort of puritanism. Unlike the Buddhists and
Jains, they did neither disown nor disturb the traditional Brahmanic
religion. They recommended it and in addition prescribed some
Tantric methods of sādhanā for the sake of quick attainment of
the liberation of the highest type from all bondages. The liberation

6 Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta
attainable through other paths like those of Buddhists, Jains, Vaiṣ-
ṇavas and Vedāntins was taken by them as a thinner bondage of
various types. Most of such states of animation were recognized
by them as different sub-states of life in its sleeping state called
suṣupti. The path of such Śaiva teachers is the path of Siddhas or
perfect saints. The methods of sādhanā advocated by them are
Tāntric in character. Such methods are very often quick and
unfailing in results and yield absolute unity, tasteful through the
blissfulness of the absolute, infinite and ever playful divine poten-
cy realized as one's own basic nature. The goal of the life prescri-
bed by these Śaivas is the recognition and direct realization of
absolute Godhead as one's own basic nature. It is called Pratya-
bhijñā and can be attained even while one is yet living in a mortal
form. These Śaiva philosophers did not prescribe any hard austeri-
ties for the purification of the self, nor did they advocate any
torturing practices in Haṭhayoga. The suppression of emotions
and instincts, forcible control of mind and starvation of senses and
organs have been taken by them as harmful. They advocate some
such easy and spontaneous practices in Tantric yoga through which
a practitioner realizes intuitively his pure and divine nature and
recognizes finally himself as none other than the Almighty God
having playfully taken up the role of a bonded soul. Besides, they
taught a monistic philosophy establishing theistic absolutism.
Their view has always been pantheistic in character but they
advocate absolutism as well and thus their philosophy is different
from the pantheism of the West which does not see God as an
absolute reality, lying beyond all phenomena. Their practical path
of theology brought about a compromise between the household
religion and spiritual sādhanā, so that both went on harmoniously.
Their sādhanā was a beautiful combination of jñāna (knowledge)
yoga and bhakti. Unlike Vaiṣṇavas, their bhakti did not aim only
at a union between God and soul, but also such a perfect unity
where God is felt as one's real self by a devotee and where He is
seen by him as all phenomena. That is the difference between
union and unity. Union is a lower state of spiritual progress and
perfect unity is its final state.
The Śaivas of Kashmir did not form any special religious sect,
as did the Vīraśaivas of Karnāṭaka. They did not at all disturb
the traditional religion taught By Smṛtis. They advised to follow
one's religion and to practise Śaivayoga, side by side. They did

Introduction 7
not impose any restrictions based on caste, creed, sex etc. Any
one having devotion for Lord Śiva could be initiated in Śaivism.
Therefore it can be adopted by any one who likes it. His adoption
of Śaiva practice shall not disturb his traditional religious prac-
tices. Importance of devotion makes it very sweet and interesting.
It teaches an integral path of a spiritual training of both head
and heart through logical knowledge and devotionol theology.
Besides, it does not ignore or curb the Vāsanās for objective
enjoyments. A disciple, having such Vāsanās, is imparted a special
initiation called yojanikā which carries him after death to some
superior existence where he can taste superior objective enjoy-
ments. From there he is lead to quick or gradual spiritual eleva-
tion in accordance with his psychic situation. Kashmir Śaivism
does not thus ignore human psychology. Its method is both
logical and phsychological. Such philosophy of Śaivism of
Kashmir was carried to its climax on both of its sides of theory
and practice by Abhinavagupta, the author of the Śaiva Para-
mārthasāra.
Yogarāja, the commentator of Paramārthasāra was an inhabi-
tant of a village named Vitastāpurī, the modern Vethavottur or
Vitastāvatāra. It is a hamlet situated in the foot of Banihal moun-
tain below Lower Munda. Vitastā or Jehlum, rising from the
spring of Verinag, used to flow by the side of that village and
proceed to the downward plane on the back of modern Qazi-
gund. That course of the stream was the downward course of
Vitastā and was consequently called Vitastāvatāra. The hamlet
by its side, where Vitastā was worshipped, got also such name.
The waters of the Verinag spring have now been diverted since
long to the right side slope but the name Vethavottur is still borne
by the stream flowing beneath Qazigund.
Yogarāja was a disciple of Kṣemarāja who lived or only wrote
at Bejbehara (Vijayeśvara). Kṣemarāja was a disclple of Abhinava-
gupta and lived in the earlier part of the eleventh century. Yoga-
rāja belonged to the later part of the same century. Kṣemarāja is
the only disciple of the great master preceptor who took interest
in academic activities. He wrote several commentaries on ancient
works and a few independent works on Śaivism. But it is a wonder
that he did not take up any important work of Abhinavagupta for
writing a good commentary. Mālinīvijaya-vārtika is still without
a commentary and so is Tantrasāra. The duty of writing a detailed

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

Introduction 9
Siddhā, Mālinī and Vāmaka (Nāmaka) Tantras which constitute the
trinity of the main Trika scriptures. This Trinity of scriptures gave
the name Trika to the mostly popular practical system of Kashmir
Śaivism of the school of Tryambaka. The other important scrip-
tures of the school are Svacchanda, Netra and the well known
Rudrayāmala Tantras, Śivasūtra, a special type of scriptural work,
was revealed to Vasugupta sometime in the beginning of the 9th
century AD. His chief disciple, Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa flourished during
the reign of king Avantivarman in the later part of the ninth cen-
tury. He is the only author of Śaivism who has been praised by
Kalhaṇa in his Rājataraṅgiṇī as a siddha descended to earth for
the spiritual uplift of people. (See RT, V-66). The other Śaiva
author who has been mentioned by him by name is Somānanda.
He had built a Śiva temple named Someśvara where king Harṣa-
deva took refuge for a day before his death when he was chased
by his enemies. Somānanda's name has been mentioned in connec-
tion with such event in political history. But it appears that spiri-
tual attainments of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa had made him so famous and
popular as to attract the attention and interest of the writer of that
political history of Kashmir. His religio philosophical and acade-
mic activities made the school of Tryamkala sufficiently popular
in the valley. He wrote several works, most of which are known
now only through references and quotations. His Spandakārikā
and Spandavṛtti, both known together as Spandasarvasva, are still
available. In Tantrāloka there is such a quotation from one of his
works which describes the importance of "dūtī" and proves thus
his mastery over the Kula system of Tantrism as well. Some of his
works like Svasvabhāva-sambodhana and Tattvavicāra are known
from quotations alone. One of his highly important works was
Tattvārthacintāmaṇi which has been referred to and quoted by
several authors. He wrote a commentary named Madhuvāhinī on
Śivasūtra, but that work has also been lost. His works must have
been highly mystic in style and character and may have remained
out of the scope of ordinary readers and therefore may not have
earned the interest of copyists and got consequently lost in obli-
vion. Influence of Kṣemarāja, who was prejudiced against him,
may also have been a cause of disregard for them in the institu-
tion in later centuries.
Spandakārikā was wrongly ascribed by Kṣemarāja to Vasugupta
and most of the scholars of the present age have been wrongly

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