तन्त्रसार (महामाहेश्वर अभिनवगुप्त - तन्त्रालोक का प्रामाणिक सार-संग्रह सटीक)

FOREWARD
I have great pleasure in introducing to the world of
scholars the Tantrasāra of Abhinavaguputa translated for the
first time into Hindi by Pndit Hemendra Nath Chakravarty,
B, A, B, Ed Nyaya-Tarka-Tirtha.
The beautiful valley of Kāśmīr has produced a galaxy of
Śaivācāryas among whom Abhinavagupta was the most erudite
and lucid exponent of the Advaita Śaiva Philosophy, popu-
larly called Kāśmīra Śaivism. He was a prolific writer who is
believed to have amalgamated diverse currents of Tāntricism,
then prevalent in Kāśmīra. As many as forty-four works on
Kaśmīra Śaivism in the form of commentaries on various
works, including Śaiva Tantras, original works, devotional
poems are ascribed to him. His magnum opus the Tantrāloka
aims at throwing light on the philosophy of spiritual discip-
line as advocated in the Śaiva Tantras in the backdrop of
Śaiva metaphysical theory. As this work runs in 12 volumes.
Abhinavagupta himself has condensed its entire contents in
his prose work Tantrasāra which is a veritable digest of his
encyclopaedic work Tantrāloka. Later he wrote the Tantra-
vaṭadhānikā, small work in verse, which purports to give
the teachings of Śaiva Tantras in a nutshell.
The present work containing twenty-two āhnikas deals
with a variety of topics which have bearing on spiritual dis-
cipline. Like any other Tantra work, it gives prominence
to the various modes of spiritual discipline prescribed for
different classes of spritual aspirants and other ancilliary
topics such as the concept of Divine Grace, different kinds
of initiatory rites, modes of Śaiva worship etc. Besides