Abhinavagupta

Abhinavagupta (Sanskrit: ) (c. 950 1020

AD[1][2] ) was one of India's greatest philosophers, mystics
and aestheticians.[3] He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and
logician[4][5] a polymathic personality who exercised
strong inuences on Indian culture.[6][7] Abhinavagupta
was strongly inuenced by Buddhist logic.[8]

chestrated the philosophical knowledge into a more coherent form,[20] assessing all the available sources of
his time, not unlike a modern scientic researcher of
Indology.

From Jayaratha, we learn that Abhinavagupta was in possession of all the six qualities required for the recipients
of the tremendous level of aktipta, as described in the
sacred texts (rprvastra):[17] an uninching faith in
God, realisation of mantras, control over objective principles (referring to the 36 tattvas), successful conclusion
of all the activities undertaken, poetic creativity and spontaneous knowledge of all disciplines.[18]

The father, Narasiha Gupta, after his wifes death

favoured an ascetic lifestyle, while raising his three children. He had a cultivated mind and a heart outstandingly adorned with devotion to Mahesvara (Shiva)"[24]
(in Abhinavaguptas own words). He was Abhinavaguptas rst teacher, instructing him in grammar, logic
and literature.[26]

Abhinavaguptas creation is well equilibrated between the

branches of the triad (Trika): will (icch), knowledge
(jna), action (kriy); his works also include devotional
songs, academical/philosophical works[12] and works describing ritual/yogic practices.[19]

2.3 Family

Various contemporary scholars have characterised Abhinavagupta as a brilliant scholar and saint,[21] the pinnacle of the development of Kasmir aivism[21] and in
[9]
He was born in the Valley of Kashmir in a family of possession of yogic realization.[12]
scholars and mystics and studied all the schools of philosophy and art of his time under the guidance of as many as
fteen (or more) teachers and gurus.[10] In his long life he 2 Social background, family and
completed over 35 works, the largest and most famous of
disciples
which is Tantrloka, an encyclopaedic treatise on all the
philosophical and practical aspects of Trika and Kaula
(known today as Kashmir Shaivism). Another one of his 2.1 Magical birth
very important contributions was in the eld of philosophy of aesthetics with his famous Abhinavabhrat com- The term by which Abhinavagupta himself denes his
mentary of Nyastra of Bharata Muni.[11]
origin is yoginbh", 'born of a yogin'.[12][22] In Kashmir Shaivism and especially in Kaula it is considered that
a progeny of parents established in the divine essence of
Bhairava",[23] is endowed with exceptional spiritual and
1 Life
intellectual prowess. Such a child is supposed to be the
depository of knowledge, who even as a child in the
Abhinavagupta was not his real name, rather a title he womb, has the form of Shiva",[15] to enumerate but a few
earned from his master, carrying a meaning of com- of the classical attributes of his kind.
petence and authoritativeness.[12][13] In his analysis, Jayaratha (11501200 AD)[14] who was Abhinavaguptas
most important commentator also reveals three more 2.2 Parents
meanings: being ever vigilant, being present everywhere and protected by praises.[15] Raniero Gnoli, His mother, Vimal (Vimalakal) died when Abhinavthe only Sanskrit scholar who completed a translation of agupta was just two years old;[24][25] as a consequence
Tantrloka in a European language, mentions that Abhi- of losing his mother, of whom he was reportedly very
nava also means new,[16] as a reference to the ever-new attached,[17] he grew more distant from the world and all
creative force of his mystical experience.
the more focused only on the spiritual endeavour.

Abhinavagupta had a brother and a sister. The brother,

Manoratha, was a well versed devotee of Shiva.[27] His
sister, Amb (probable name, according to Navjivan RasAs an author he is considered a systematiser of the philo- torgi), devoted herself to worship after the death of her
sophical thought. He reconstructed, rationalised and or- husband in late life.
1

4 LIFESTYLE

His cousin Kara demonstrated even from his youth that

he grasped the essence of aivism and was detached of
the world. His wife was presumably Abhinavaguptas
older sister Amb,[28] who looked with reverence upon
her illustrious brother. Amb and Kara had a son, Yogevaridatta, who was precociously talented in yoga[29]
(yogevar implies the meaning of lord of yoga).
Abhinavagupta also mentions his disciple Rmadeva as
faithfully devoted to scriptural study and serving his
master.[28] Another cousin was Kema, possibly the same
as Abhinavaguptas illustrious disciple Kemarja. Mandra, a childhood friend of Kara, was their host in a suburban residence; he was not only rich and in possession
of a pleasing personality, but also equally learned.[30] And
last but not least, Vatasik, Mandra's aunt, got a special
mention from Abhinavagupta for caring for him with exceptional dedication and concern; to express his gratitude, Abhinavagupta declared that Vatasik deserved the
credit for the successful completion of his work.[31]
The emerging picture here is that Abhinavagupta lived
in a nurturing and protected environment, where his creative energies got all the support they required. Everyone
around him was lled with spiritual fervor and had taken
Abhinavagupta as their spiritual master. Such a supporting group of family and friends was equally necessary as
his personal qualities of genius, to complete a work of the
magnitude of Tantrloka.

2.4

Ancestors

By Abhinavaguptas own account, his most remote known

ancestor was called Atrigupta, born in Madhyadea
{Manusmirti (circa 1500 BC, 2/21) denes Madhyadesh
region as vast plains between Himalaya and Vindhya
mountains and to the east of the river Vinasana (invisible Saraswati) and to the west of Praya}, in India
and travelled to Kashmir at the request of the king
Lalitditya,[32][33] around year 740 CE .[34]

Masters

Abhinavagupta is famous for his voracious thirst of

knowledge. To study he took many teachers (as many
as 15, or even more!),[35] both mystical philosophers
and scholars. He approached Vaiavas, Buddhists,
iddhnta aivists and the Trika scholars.
Amongst the most prominent of his teachers he enumerates four. Vmantha instructed him in dualistic aivism,[36] Bhtirja in the dualist-cum-nondualistic
school. Besides being the teacher of the famous Abhinavagupta, Bhtirja was also the father of two eminent
scholars.[37]

hinavagupta and taught him all the schools of monistic thought : Krama, Trika and Pratyabhija (except
Kula).[36]
ambhuntha taught him the fourth school (Ardhatrayambaka). This school is in fact Kaula, and it was emanated from Trayambaka's daughter.
For Abhinavagupta, ambhuntha was the most admired
guru. Describing the greatness of his master, he compared ambhuntha with the Sun, in his power to dispel
ignorance from the heart, and, in another place, with the
Moon shining over the ocean of Trika knowledge.[38]
Abhinavagupta received Kaula initiation through ambhuntha's wife (acting as a dt or conduit). The energy
of this initiation is transmitted and sublimated into the
heart and nally into consciousness. Such a method is
dicult but very rapid and is reserved for those who shed
their mental limitations and are pure.
It was ambhuntha who requested of him to write
Tantrloka. As guru, he had a profound inuence in the
structure of Tantrloka[39] and in the life of its creator,
Abhinavagupta.[40]
As many as twelve more of his principal teachers are enumerated by name but without details.[41] It is believed
that Abhinavagupta had more secondary teachers. Even
more, during his life he had accumulated a large number
of texts from which he quoted in his magnum opus, in his
desire to create a synthetic, all inclusive system, where
the dierences of dierent scriptures be resolved by integration into a superior perspective.

4 Lifestyle
Abhinavagupta remained unmarried all his life,[42] we do
however know him to be an adept of Kaula and as such,
used his energy (ojas) as a vital force, a constant source
of shakti to power the spiritual nervous system he outlined in his works. This system involves ritual union between Purusha as (Shiva) and shakti, yet this union is essentially non-physical and universal, and thus for a master such as Abhinavagupta, he was always in communion
with Shiva-Shakti. We can only speculate about whether
he was physically chaste, and either answer to this question is not very meaningful in the context of his life and
teachings. Abhinavagupta parallels Shiva as both ascetic
and enjoyer.
He studied assiduously at least until the age of 30 or
35,[34] and to do that he travelled, but mostly inside
Kashmir.[43]
By his own testimony, he had attained spiritual liberation through his Kaula practice, under the guidance of
his most admired master, ambhuntha.[40]

Lakmasagupta, a direct disciple of Somnanda, in the He lived in his home (functioning as an ashram) with his
lineage of Trayambaka, was highly respected by Ab- family members and disciples[44] and he did not become

5.2

Devotional hymns

a wandering monk, nor did he take on the regular duties His most important work was Tantrlok, Lok or Look,
of the brahmin caste.
here, transliterates into To throw) Light on Tantr, a
[12]
Its only complete
Thus, Abhinavagupta lived out his life as a writer and a synthesis of all the Trika system.
translation
in
a
European
language

Italian
is credited
[38]
teacher. His personality was a living realisation of his
[46]
to
Raniero
Gnoli,
now
at
its
second
edition.
The es[4]
vision.
oteric chapter 29 on the Kaula ritual was translated in
In an epoch pen-painting he is depicted seated in Vi- English together with Jayaratha's commentary by John
rasana, surrounded by devoted disciples and family, per- R. Dupuche, Rev. Dr.[15] A complex study on the conforming a kind of trance inducing music at veena while text, authors, contents and references of Tantrloka was
dictating verses of Tantrloka to one of his attendees published by Navjivan Rastogi, Prof. of the Lucknow
behind him two dt (women yogi) waiting on him.
University.[47]
A legend about the moment of his death (placed somewhere between 1015 and 1025 depending on the source),
says that he took with him 1200 disciples and marched
o to a cave (the Bhairava Cave, an actual place known
to this day), reciting his poem Bhairava-stava, a devotional work. They were never to be seen again, supposedly translating together in the spiritual world.[45]

Another important text was the commentary on

Partrik, Partrikvivaraa, detailing the signication of the phonematic energies and their two sequential
ordering systems, Mtk and Mlin, was the last great
translation project of Jaideva Singh.[48]

Main article: Tantrasara

Works

5.1.2 Tantrasara

Tantrasra (Essence of Tantra) is a summarised version, in prose, of Tantrloka, which was once more summarised in Tantroccaya, and nally presented in a very
short summary form under the name of Tantravaadhnik the Seed of Tantra.
Prvapacik was a commentary of Prvatantra, alias
Mlinvijaya Tantra, lost to this day. Mlinvijayvarttika (Commentary on Mlinvijaya) is a versied
commentary on Mlinvijaya Tantra's rst verse. Kramakeli, Kramas Play was a commentary of Kramastotra, now lost. Bhagavadgtrtha-sagraha which translates Commentary on Bhagavad Gita" has now an English translation by Boris Marjanovic.[49]
Other religious works are: Partrik-laghuvtti, A
Short Commentary on Partrik", Paryantapack
(Fifty Verses on the Ultimate Reality), Rahasyapacadaik (Fifteen Verses on the Mystical Doctrine), Laghv prakriy (Short Ceremony), Devstotravivaraa (Commentary on the Hymn to Devi) and
The trident (trilbija maalam), symbol and yantra of
Paramrthasra
(Essence of the Supreme Reality).
Parama Shiva, representing the triadic energies of par, parapar and apar akti

5.2 Devotional hymns

Abhinavaguptas works fall into multiple sections: manuals of religious ritual, devotional songs, philosophical Abhinavagupta has composed a number of devotional poworks and philosophy of aesthetics. Here are enumerated ems, most of which have been translated into French by
most of his works.[11] Bold type faced titles represent the Lilian Silburn:[50]
most important ones.
Bodhapacadaik Fifteen Verses on Consciousness";

5.1

5.1.1

Religious works
Tantraloka

Main article: Tantraloka

Paramrthacarc Discussion on the Supreme Reality";

Anubhavanivedana Tribute of the Inner Experience";

6
Anuttarik Eight Verses on Anuttara";

REFERENCES

6 References

Krama-stotra an hymn, dierent from the fundamental text of the Krama school;

[1] Triadic Heart of Shiva, Paul E. Muller-Ortega, page 12

Bhairava-stava Hymn to Bhairava";

[3] Abhinavagupta the Philosopher.

Dehasthadevatcakra-stotra Hymn to the Wheel

of Divinities that Live in the Body";

[4] Re-accessing Abhinavagupta, Navjivan Rastogi, page 4

Paramrthadvdaik Twelve Verses on the

Supreme Reality and

[6] The Pratyabhij Philosophy, Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare,

page 12

Mahopadea-viatik Twenty Verses on the

Great Teaching.
Another poem ivaaktyavinbhva-stotra Hymn
on the Inseparability of Shiva and Shakti" was lost.

[2] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 27

[5] Key to the Vedas, Nathalia Mikhailova, page 169

[7] Companion to Tantra, S.C. Banerji, page 89

[8] Andre Padoux. Vac: The Concept of the Word In Selected
Hindu Tantras. SUNY Press, 1990. page 180 One knows
that the thought of such authors as Abhinavagupta was
strongly inuenced by Buddhist logic.
[9] Doctrine of Divine Recognition, K. C. Pandey, page V

5.3

Philosophical works

One of the most important works of Anhinavagupta

is varapratyabhij-vimarini (Commentary to
the Verses on the Recognition of the Lord) and
varapratyabhij-vivti-vimarini (Commentary on
the explanation of varapratyabhij"). This treatise
is fundamental in the transmission of the Pratyabhija
school (the branch of Kashmir Shaivism based on direct
recognition of the Lord) to our days. Another commentary on a Pratyabhija work ivadty-locana (Light
on ivadi) is now lost. Another lost commentary
is Padrthapravea-niraya-k and Prakrkavivaraa
(Comment on the Notebook) referring to the third
chapter of Vkyapadya of Bhartrihari. Two more
philosophical texts of Abhinavagupta are Kathmukhatilaka(Ornament of the Face of Discourses) and
Bhedavda-vidraa (Confrontation of the Dualist
Thesis).

[10] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 35

[11] Luce dei Tantra, Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta, Raniero
Gnoli, page LXXVII
[12] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 20
[13] The Krama Tantricism of Kashmir; Navjivan Rastogi,
page 157
[14] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 92
[15] The Kula Ritual, As Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the
Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta; John R. Dupuche, page 4
[16] Luce dei Tantra, Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta, Raniero
Gnoli, 1999, page 3
[17] Abhinavagupta, Ganesh Tryambak Deshpande, page 19
[18] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 21
[19] Re-accessing Abhinavagupta, Navjivan Rastogi, page 8
[20] Re-accessing Abhinavagupta, Navjivan Rastogi, page 10

5.4

Poetical and dramatic works

Main article: Abhinavabharati

Abhinavagupta's most important work on the philosophy
of art is Abhinavabhrat a long and complex commentary on Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni. This work has
been one of the most important factors contributing to
Abhinavaguptas fame up until present day. His most important contribution was that to the theory of rasa (aesthetic savour).
Other poetical works include: Ghaa-karpara-kulakavivti, a commentary on Ghaakarpara of Kalidasa;
Kvyakauukavivaraa, a Commentary to the Wonder of Poetry (a work of Bhaa Tauta), now lost;
and Dhvanylokalocana, Illustration of Dhvanyloka,
which is a famous work of Anandavardhana.

[21] vara Pratyabhij Krik of Utpaladeva, Verses on the

Recognition of the Lord; B. N. Pandit, page XXXIII
[22] Luce dei Tantra, Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta, Raniero
Gnoli, page 3
[23] Re-accessing Abhinavagupta, Navjivan Rastogi, page 2
[24] Luce dei Tantra, Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta, Raniero
Gnoli, page 4
[25] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 31
[26] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 30
[27] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 22
[28] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 24
[29] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 23
[30] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 25

[31] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 26

[32] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 28
[33] The Kula Ritual, As Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the
Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta; John R. Dupuche, page 3
[34] Triadic Mysticism, Paul E. Murphy, page 12
[35] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 33
[36] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 54
[37] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 34
[38] The Kula Ritual, As Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the
Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta; John R. Dupuche, page 7
[39] The Triadic Heart of iva, Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir; Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega, page 1
[40] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page
44-54
[41] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page
35,54
[42] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi, page 32
[43] The Kula Ritual, As Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the
Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta; John R. Dupuche, page 6
[44] vara Pratyabhij Krik of Utpaladeva, Verses on the
Recognition of the Lord; B. N. Pandit, page XXXIV
[45] Triadic Mysticism, Paul E. Murphy, page 13
[46] Luce dei Tantra, Tantrloka, Abhinavagupta, Raniero
Gnoli, 1999
[47] Introduction to the Tantrloka, Navjivan Rastogi
[48] Para-trisika-Vivarana, Jaideva Singh
[49] Abhinavaguptas Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita,
Boris Marjanovic
[50] Hymnes de Abhinavagupta: Traduits et comments, Lilian Silburn

External links
Muktabodha Online Library containing many
of Abhinavaguptas works in Sanskrit including
Tantrloka
GRETIL: a collection of Abhinavaguptas works in
original, also containing other Kashmir Shaivism
texts
Four biographical articles on Abhinavagupta by
Swami Lakshman Joo, Prof. K. N. Dhar, R. K.
Jalali and Geetika Kaw Kher
Another Bibliography of Abhinavagupta by The
New Yoga
Aspects of Abhinavaguptas Theory of Scripture by
David Peter Lawrence

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

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