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THE

TANTRASARA
OF

ABHINAVA GUPTA.

Edited with notes by

MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA
PANDIT MUKUND RAM SHASTR1,
EeseaxcliDepartment,
Offlcer-in-Cliarge
JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE,

SRINAGAR,

Published under the Authority of the Government of

His HighnessLieut.-General Maharaja

Sir PRATAP SINGH SAHIB BAHADUR,
Q. C. S. I.,Q. C. I. E.,

MAHARAJA OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE,

BOMBAY:

PRINTED AT THE 'NIRNAYA-SAQAR' PRESS,

1918.
 PK

313/

ft 51

-..-"

% f
808994
.

(All rights reserved).

Printed by Ramchandra Yesu Shedge, at the 'Nirnaya-sagar' Press,

23, Kolbhat Lane, Bombay.

Published by Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit

Mukund Ram Shastri for the Research Department,

Jammu and Kashmir State, SR1NAQAR.

t i
V
 "

II ^ II
 PREFATORY.

Before introducingthe reader to the most abstruse

and technical contents of this work
philosophical I take

this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the

owners of the manuscripts which have been made the

main bases of this edition of the Tantrasara,appearing

for the first time as volume XVII of the Kashmir Series
of Texts and Studies.

In all there were three manuscript copies used in

preparation of this work for the Press. The first of

these belongingto RajanakaSodarshana of Srinagar con-

sisted

of 72 leaves of Kashmiri paper written in Sharada

characters,and of this a copy was made in this office.

It is a of
transcript another older manuscript and bears

1903 anno Vikrami (1846 A.D.) as the date of its trans-

cription.

As regardsomissions and mistakes it is,how-

ever,

not free from blemishes.

The second manuscript copy with which the above

was collated belongs to the collection of books bearing

on the Shaiva philosophy in general which one Rivat!
Raman of Southern India got copied during his visit to

Kashmir for acquisition of rare manuscripts. On his

death here in Kashmir these books fell into the hands
of his servants,and from one of them I bought this

manuscript copy of the Tantrasara for my personal use.

It is in Devanagiri characters and consists of 48 leaves
of old Kashmiri paper. Three more leaves which this

manuscript seems to have contained are lost. It is

generallyincorrect and full of omissions.

The third and the most useful

manuscript copy of
the Tantrasara was the one presentedto me at Agra in
1912 A. D. A brief historyof its acquisition
would not

be out of place. It is as old as 1527 A. D., correspond-

ing
to the Laukika era 4603, and consists of 79 leaves
II PREFATORY,

of very old Kashmiri paper. It belongs to the

collection of books which one Manmohan Chandra of

Srinagar received as a heritagefrom his ancestors.

During the tenor of the Emperor Shah Jahan the great
Moghul's reign the aforesaid Manmohan Chandra left
Kashmir for Dehli and, rindingfavour at the Emperor's

Court, settled down there. Of the precious books of

Manmohan Chandra's only about one fifth were available
when in 1895 A. D. on my visit to Agra I saw them
in a state of preservationwith the widowed wife of
Kidar Nath, the source of all this information,being

through her husband's side, one of the relatives of

Narayan Chandra, a descendent of Manmohan dra.

Chan-
When I revisited this city in 1912, the widow-
ed
wife of Kidar Nath who had no male issue by
her deceased husband, found the further
preservation
of the few remaining books a burden and willingly
presentedthem to me in the sanguinehope of their
utilityin some way or the other. Of these the
Tantrasara written on very old Kashmiri paper in
Sharada characters is bound in one cover with ten more

books.1 All of them appear to have been copiedby one

and the same scribe,Krishna Swami, as stated by

himself at the end of Mahanaya Prakash, one of the
in two
books of this collection, Shlokas which run thus:"

: II

: II*

1. "
(a) Janma Marana
Vichara; (b)Amaraugha Shasan;
(c)Mahanaya Prakasha; (d) Kama-kala-Vilas;(e) Vatula
Munimata
Natha Sutra Vritti ; (f) Vartikam, (g)Bhavopahara-
stotram Savivaranam, (h) Spanda Vivriti by Ram Kantha,
(i)A jadaPramatri Siddhi, (j)Spanda Vritti by Kallata.
 PREFATORY. Ill

It is generally correct and abounds in marginal

notes. It has been made the principle basis in

ration
prepa-

of this edition.

At the same time it is a great pleasure to me to say

that
among
the Pandits of this Department Rajanaka

Maheshvara who assisted in going through the

me

proofs, has thanks.

my

Last though not least I gratefully acknowledge the

promptitude and efficacy with which the Proprietor,

Nirnaya-Sagar Press, Bombay, carried this work through

the Press.

But it is the Kashmir Durbar to whose liberal

policy in matters of research into ancient Sanskrit

Literature credit is due in bringing out the

every

literary books of this Department.

SEINAGAR, i -MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA,

Dated Wth Nov. 1918. } PANDIT MUKUND BAM SHASTRI.

Officer I/O Research Department,

Jammu and Kashmir State.

 ABSTRACT.

The individual self is the Supreme Self or God self,

Him-
but with the only difference of
being enwrapped
with the veil of from Mala or im-
ignoranceresulting purity

under three heads,viz. Anava

(classified or ness
little-

or limitation as regardsself-knowledge; Maylya or

that caused by illusion; and Karma being the outcome
of our deeds,good or ill).

That the individual self should realise himself as the

Supreme Self,the All-powerfulLord ( Parama Shiva ),
who is beyond time and space, dwelling in all beings
but unaffected withal, like a crystalreflecting
various

hues, sets forth in Agama Shastras or revelations of

divine authorshipwhat is called Jnana or knowledge
of oneself as the Supreme Self. With the obtainment
of Jfiana the trammels of Mala as alluded to above
are cut asunder by dawning of the divine lighton the
individual self.

Shaivagama coming under the category of Agama

Shastras forms a short cut towards the approach of
Advaita Jnana or knowledge of the Supreme Self
( Parama Shiva ) as identical with that of the individual
self.

Just as the renaissance of the Vedanta system of

Philosophywas brought about by the great expounder
of the system, Shankara, generally known as Shankara -

charya,in exactlythe same manner the exposition of the

Advaita Shaivagama owes all its credit to the great pre -

ceptor, Abhinava Gupta, who followingin every minute

detail the principlesas laid down in the Malinivijaya

Tantra, a leadingwork of Shaivagama, composed the

voluminous work of Tantraloka which, as the name plies,
im-

is a of Shaivagama. Consideringthe
cyclopaedia
 ABSTRACT. v

volume of the Tantraloka as onerous to less assiduous

of later generationsthe aforesaid Abhinava
people
the thereof in what is called
Gupta epitomised contents
discourse. In
the Tantrasfira,the subjectof our a

the author points out the

preludeto the Tantrasara
of the work in a
necessity verse which runs thus: "

u'

In the
stating aims of the book the author adds:"

3^f^r:
"Tc[fisRJ

It will beinteresting
for the reader to know that
the present work laysdown two ways by which the
individual self can realise how he is identical with the
Supreme Self. One way leads to this end irrespective

1 "My Tantraloka is much voluminous and as such its

thorough study will be trying to people of less assiduous
habits. The Tantrasara which is an epitome of the Tantraloka
will on a small scale be as useful to the reader as the
latter work."

2
"Ignorance is said to be verily the cause of all

worldlytrammels. It has been termed as Mala or impurity

in the Shastras. With the knowledge of oneself as the

Supreme Self such Mala is reduced to nothing, and the

stage thus arrived at is called Moksha or freedom from

miseries caused by Mala. I expose the means for obtaining
such Moksha in this Shastra. Herein the reader will find a

brief explanationof the Tattvas or the knowledge

principles,
whereof is for Self-realisation."
indispensable
VI ABSTRACT.

of the performance of religious rites and ceremonies,

while the other constitutes the three Upayas or means

( Shambhava, Shakta and Anava ) based respectively on

Ichchha, Jnana and Kriya Shaktis of the Supreme

Lord. In this connection the author adds :
"

This book is divided into 22 ahnikas (ahnika,

signifying the work
literally done in a day ) and for the
reader's facility
the author finishes each ahnika or

chapterby one shloka,givingtherein a gistof his detail-

ed
discourse. For the reader's information a very brief
summary of the 22 ahnikas is givenbelow : "

The firsttreats of the various kinds of Vijnana or

the highestknowledge.
The second shows how of meditation
by stability
on the of
significance the word, Aham,
all-important
the individual self can realise his oneness with the

Supreme Self.

The thirdemphasisesthe Shambhavupaya as the

means for attainment of the highestBliss.

The fourth dwells upon the Shakhtupaya as the

way leadingto the same goal.

1 "The All-knowingLord, Who suffers

is All-complete,

Himself, as it were, to be enveloped by Maya (illusory

power ) and appear in the form of the Jiva or individual
self and to enable this Jiva to with
recognisehis identity
the Supreme Self brings to lightthe path of Jiiana in the

three ways named above."

 ABSTRACT. VII

In the fifth the author deals with the Anavupaya

givinga detailed account of the functions of the Prana

and the Apana, the two vital of

spirits the body, in the
formof recitation of prayers, posturesof the body and

contemplation of mind.

The sixth contains description

an of the
elaborate
Kaladhva of Kala or time, beginning
or the significance

from the second, the minute, the hour, the night,the

day, the tithi (time from one moon-rise to another
moon-rise ), the month, the year, in short up to the
Maha Pralaya (dissolution of the whole universe ) as

based on the working of the Prana,and shows thereby

the way of recognition.
The seventh by stability
shows of meditation
how

on the significanceof the Tattvas, ( viz. from Prithvl

Tattva to Shakti Tattva ), enwrapped as they are with

aspectsof Parama Shiva's power and glory

the five-fold "

Pratishtha,Vidya, Shanta and Shantyatlta"

Nivritti,
and on the relation existingbetween them and the

Kalagni-Rudraand other of
representatives the Lord's
supremacy as also on the extent etc.,of all the Bhuvanas,
the individual self can realise oneself as the Supreme
Self. This is known as kaladhva.

The eighthdeals with the way of contemplationon

the above-mentioned Tattvas and shows how by attain-
of knowledge therein,the vision of
ingperfection the
HighestRealitydawns on the mind of the individual self.

In the ninth the forms of all the Tattvas,taken

one by one, are described and it is distinctly
stated that
of meditation
stability thereon is the way to recognition
of oneself as Parama Shiva.

The tenth describes the

Padadhva, three ways "

Mantradhva and Varanadhva as penetrablein Kala-

dhva"

referred to above, and laying specialstress on

their relation with the Lord's five-fold power and glory,
pointsout the means for Self-knowledge.
VIII ABSTRACT.

In the eleventh it has been decidedlyshown that

the benevolence of Parama Shiva is necessary for one to
become worthy of initiation which is another way for
attainment of Moksha by means of knowledge of the
HighestReality.
The twelfth deals with the ordinances of
bathing,
so to speak,in divine waters, as preliminary
requisites
of initiation.

The thirteenth ascertains means as to test of effici-

ency
of a certain termed "Samayi",
disciple, for initia-
tion
as also of "Dlksha Yajna" or rites connected
therewith.

The fourteenth likewise subjects

to examination
another disciple
by name "Putrak" and prescribes
the
various courses of initiation which he must go through
as a preliminary
measure.

The fifteenthcontains the"Samut Kramana Diksha",

or by his descendants,
initiation, for one about to die
but desirous of beinginitiatedby grace of the Lord.

The sixteenth shows the way of initiation for him

who is dead or missingin another country. Such ini-
tiation
can alone be made by the specialgrace of his

guru or preceptor.
The seventeenth how
enjoins a man of another ligious
re-

denomination can, if he so desire,be initiatedin

Shaivaism after beingfreed from his former belief.

The
eighteenth formulates the way in which an

initiatecan obtain the position of a guru.

The nineteenth ordains re-initiationfor one already

initiated but having apostatised under circumstances
beyond his control,
as also initiation,on his death, for
the other who may be desirous of obtaining this end but

may die before of

accomplishment his heartfeltdesire.
 ABSTRACT. IX

The twentieth lays down the various religious

ordinances for an initiate, such as recitation of the

Mantras, study of the Scriptures, redemptions for

regulation of his conduct, adoration of his guru etc., etc.

The twenty-first proves how among the Shastras

the Shaivagama is to be looked upon as an authority.

The twenty-second enunciates the internal and

external forms of "Kula Yajfia" or the specialmodes of

worship towards the Highest Reality.

Mahamaheshvara Abhinava Gupta, the author of

this work, is silent as to the date of its composition.
But as, in his great work Tantraloka, he often quotes
from Tshvara Pratyabhijna Vimarshin!, which, he

himself says, was written by him in the year 4115

of the Kali age, corresponding to 1014 A. D., it follows
that the former was composed after the year 1014
A. D. Now the date of composition of the Tantrasara

which is an epitome of the Tantraloka must necessarily

be some time later than 1014 A. D.

As to the lineage of Abhinava Gupta and a brief

history of his age as well as of his literaryactivity, as

recorded by himself in his Tantraloka and other books,
the reader's attention is invited to introduction on
my
Para-Trimshika, forming volume XVIII of this Series.

SRINAGAR, ^ Mahamahopadhyaya,
KASHMIR, i PANDIT MUKUND RAM SHASTR!.
The 20th Nov. 1918. ) Officer I/O Research Department,
Jammu and Kashmir State.
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A52T4. Abhinava Gupta