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Abhinavagupta as an Aesthetician

Conference Paper September 2016

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Vijay More
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 Abhinavagupta as an Aesthetician
"He whose senses are under control attains the status of a place of pilgrimage"
@ Abhinavagupta

More Vijay Raosaheb

Research Scholar,
SRTM University,
Nanded (Maharashtra)
vrmore107@gmail.com

Introduction:

Abhinavagupta a distinguished philosopher, aesthete and saint was one of the most outstanding
Acharyas of the Monistic Shaivism. His exact date of birth is not known but we learn from
references about him in his works Tantraloka and Paratrimshika Vivarana that he lived in
Kashmir about the end of the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century A.D. The earliest
known ancestor of Abhinavagupta was a famous Brahmin Attrigupta a great Shaiva teacher and
scholar of Kanauj, who had been invited to settle in Kashmir by King Lalitaditya. Abhinavagupta
was born in a family which had a long tradition of scholarship and devoutness for Lord Siva. His
father Narasimhagupta (Cukhulaka) and mother Vimalakala were great influence in his life and it
is believed that they both underwent austerities to be bestowed with an extra ordinary son with
spiritual powers.

Literary Contribution:

Abhinavagupta lived in Kashmir about the end of the tenth and beginning of eleventh centuries
A.D. A versatile genius he injected new meaning into Shaiva Philosophy. As an original thinker
he shattered to pieces the established belief which laid heavy emphasis on caste and gender
restrictions in relation to spiritual practice. He took to task those philosophical systems which
held the prerequisite that spirituality required rigorous disciplinesystems which made the quest
for enlightenment the legitimate right of a chosen few. He abhorred the idea that spiritual
revelation was only possible in a purely monastic surrounding, or that those caught in the
householder way of life had to wait till the last portion of life before they could fully give
themselves to spiritual pursuits. This idea was best expressed by Abhinavagupta in one of his
concluding verses of Patanjalis Paramarthasara:

O my devotees! On this path of supreme Bhairava, whoever has taken a step with
pure desire, no matter if that desire is slow or intense; it does not matter if he is a
Brahmin, if he is a sweeper, if he is an outcast, or if he is anybody; he becomes one
with Para-bhairava. (103)

Abhinavaguptas ideas were radical for his time, but since he spoke from the level of direct
experience no one was capable of refuting him.

Having achieved the eight great siddhi powers he clearly exhibited the six illustrious spiritual
signs: unswerving devotional attachment to Shiva; full attainment of mantra siddhi; control over
the five elements; capacity to accomplish any desired end; complete mastery over the science of
rhetoric and poetry; and the spontaneous dawning of knowledge of all philosophies.

Traditionally believed to have been a Yoginibhu (born of a Yogini), he mastered subjects like
metaphysics, poetry and aesthetics at a very young age He possessed all the eight Yogic powers
explained in Shastras. His biographers observed six great spiritual signs as explained in
Malinivijayotara Shastra, in him. Kashmir Shaivism is classified by Abhinavagupta in four
systems viz.Krama system, Spanda system, Kula system and Pratyabijnya system. Krama
deals with space and time, Spanda, with the movement, Kula with the Science of Totality and
Pratyabijnya with the school of Recognition. (Ref G.T. Deshpandes monogram on Abhinava
Gupta for detailed explanation).

Abhinavagupta @ the Philosopher:

Abhinavagupta has been extolled as "Mahamahesvara" by the subsequent Kashmiri authors, his
disciples and admirers, which precisely means the "great devotee of Siva", or the "Supreme -
Self" in Shaivistic parlance. Kashmiri tradition also is unequivocal in testifying to his versatility.
He wrote on philosophy (Saiva-Darshan, commentary on Bhagvad Gita), commented upon
Anandavardhan's "Dhvanayloka", Bharata's "Natya Shastra", and thus epitomized in himself the
diverse talents of a philosopher, rhetorician, and a critic on dramaturgy.
Aestheticism in Abhinavguptas Works:

Abhinavagupta's works on aesthetics were based on an analysis of poetical and theatrical work
(including dance and music), but they also apply to the analysis of works of the plastic arts. They
focus on the concept of aesthetic experience (rasana - taste), which is the experience of a specific
emotion (bhava) called taste (rasa). Aesthetic emotion is not directly expressed (as a non-
objective emotion) in an artistic work, but there is a connection between the various objective
signs (these are sense data) that are necessarily joined with a particular emotional state. An
aesthetic emotion arises in the receiver in the act of aesthetic perception on the basis of the signs
which occur in the work of art which are provided directly in this perception and which
correspond to the emotion. These signs result from [the viewer's] entering into the imagined
emotional situation. Signs are divided into: a) determinative (vibhava), namely the material
stimulants of an experience which are composed into the theme of a work of art and its situation
(the signs are substantial, namely [human] figures, without which the essence of a particular
aesthetic emotion would be unimaginable, or they are "exciting", namely they show time, place
and circumstance: e.g. garments, jewels and decoration; b) consequences (anubhava), namely
conventional means of expression that serve to present a state of emotion, in particular gestures,
perceptions and mimicry; c) concomitant (vyabhicaribhava), namely short-lived emotional
reactions (e.g. unrest, shame, dissociation) and unconscious bodily reactions (sattvikabhava, e.g.
tears, sighs, trembling of the body and voice), which aim at strengthening the spirit that
dominates the work. From the connected perception of all the signs a specific emotional reaction
arises. Abhinavagupta, together with the whole Indian tradition, accepts the indivisibility of the
state of aesthetic emotion and he distinguishes nine types of "taste". He lists particular and
concomitant signs and ascribes them to the particular "tastes". Aesthetic emotion is a state that
belongs neither to the author (the source of the "taste") nor to the actor (the instrument for
"tasting", the "vessel"), but to the receiver (the viewer or listener).

An aesthetic experience is a lasting process and it passes through at least three stages: 1. An
acquaintance with the artistic work evokes in the receiver a state of wakefulness or excitation:
the emotional situation described in the work enlivens in the receiver's consciousness the traces
of his own experiences and his observations of the experiences of others. The impressions that
are enlivened in this way come from the whole ensemble of experiences rather than from one
particular concrete experience. The emotional response in the form a specific positive reference
and a feeling of intimacy is felt as an "agreement with the heart" and as a result there is a
"reorientation" in the receiver, a breaking off from the practical concerns of daily life (these
distract, limit and obscure as avidya), a focus on the aesthetic experience, and a purification of
thought, will and emotion. 2. The further development of the evoked emotional impressions
causes a full dedication to the aesthetic perception and an "identification" with the emotion as an
all-encompassing felling deprived of the elements of daily life. 3. A "tasting of taste"
(rasarasana) appears which is characterized by a feeling of bliss (ananda) and tranquility
(shanta). This brings the aesthetic experience close to the immediate (and liberating) knowledge
of the truth as well as to other mystical experiences.

Abhinavagupta's metaphysical and Tantric conceptions concentrate on the question of the non-
dualist (monistic) nature of God (Shiva), the role of the power of God in the cosmic process, and
the role of the recognition of God in the process of man's liberation from what fetters him. Shiva
is the only reality. Shiva is absolute and individual ("without a second"), the primordial
consciousness, free in his own will, free from all bonds, and by his nature he is complete bliss.
Shiva's non-duality does not imply that the world and people are illusions as certain schools of
advaita propose, but his non-duality guarantees the reality of the world because he is Shiva. This
recognition of the world's reality does not lead to positions of common-sense realism, but it is an
attempt to express a paradoxical mystical experience in which Shiva's omnipresence becomes a
tangible experience. Shiva's non-duality ultimately leads to pluralism in Shiva himself.

In the systematic theology of the Tantraloka, Abhinavagupta also discusses the emanation of the
world through 36 principles (tattva), and the mysticism of the Word (vac) which is full of
creative vibration (spanda). The highest form of the Word is the mantra AHAM (I [am]). This
mantra is perfectly united with the absolute reality of transcendent consciousness. His works in
Tantrism directed at disciples of various schools of Shivaism discuss the nature and cause of the
things that fetter man's consciousness, and the causes and course of the veiling of the Absolute.
These works also discuss the new manifestation (unveiling) of the Absolute as these are
understood in the various schools. In turn, in his treatises on the recognition (pratyabhijna) of
absolute reality within empirical reality, Abhinavagupta adresses the disciples of other schools
and critically discusses their doctrines. In particular, he rejected the Buddhist arguments that are
opposed to such concepts as "I", the soul (atman), God, the Lord (Ishvara), power (shakti), and
the created or manifested world. He points to Shiva as the reality of absolute consciousness and
states that man cannot recognize the omnipresence of absolute consciousness mainly on account
of his doubts. One should remove all doubt by the methods of proper reasoning. Some doubts
arise from erroneous doctrines. By methods of proper reasoning, once can accelerate the
recognition of one's internal "I" (consciousness) as Shiva, who is the omnipotent Lord, full of
power and the creator of the visible universe. On account of being fettered, impurity and its
limitations, ordinary human consciousness does not manifest the fact of the twofold nature of the
Absolute's function (as the internal nature of the "I" and as the reality that is the foundation of the
visible world).

Abhinavagupta's later Tantric works concentrate on yogic practice and Tantric ritual, and their
role in the process of liberation for life (jivanmukta) when they are interiorized in the mechanics
of the functioning of consciousness. As opposed to the earlier Tantric tradition, Abhinavagupta
does not speak of internal gods, but interprets them as powers of absolute consciousness that are
present in the internal nature of tantra. His own experience of dedicated practice allows him to
select and interpret particular rituals and to see analogies between aesthetic experience and yogic
(mystical) trance.

His two major works on Poetics, Dhavnyalokalocana and Abhinava Bharati point towards his
quest into the nature of aesthetic experience. In both these works Abhinava Gupta suggests that
Aesthetic experience is something beyond worldly experience and he has used the
word Alaukika to distinguish the former feeling from the mundane latter ones. He subscribed
to the theory of Rasa Dhvani and thus entered the ongoing aesthetic debate on nature of
Aesthetic pleasure.

.Abhinavabharati a commentary on Bharata's Natyasastra talks about these scholars and

comments on their theories. Bhatta Lollata believed art to be an imitation of reality. His views
were contested by Sri Sankuka who stated that art cannot be an imitation simply because it exists
in a different place and time. Further he explained his point of view by giving the analogy of a
pictorial horse (chitaraturaganyaya). He says when one sees a horse painted one doesnt mistake
it for the original horse but one sees it as the representation of the original horse and thus derives
the aesthetic pleasure through this identification. Since art cannot imitate all the qualities of the
original subject hence it is just an inference and not an imitation. BhattaTauta, Abhinavagupta's
teacher, raised a valid question regarding the imitation of the mental state. According to him
there is no way an actor can feel and react in exactly the same way as the original character. The
actor presents his feelings i.e. how he would react if put in the original characters position.
Hence art cannot be inferred but depends on the imagination of the spectator.

Abhinavagupta though agrees to many of the suggestions put forward by Rasa theory also points
at its various limitations. According to him art is not just about evoking certain feelings but a real
work of art in addition to possessing emotive charge needs to have a strong sense of suggestion
and capacity to produce various meanings. This is where he refers to Dhvanivada. He says that
for a work of art it is not enough to be having abhida (literal meaning)
and laksana (metaphorical meaning ) but it should also possess Vyanjana the suggested meaning
which has absolutely nothing to do with the other two levels of meaning. Thus an aesthetic
experience cannot be experienced like any ordinary mundane experience. A true aesthetic object
does not simply stimulate the senses but also stimulates the imagination of the spectator. Once
the imagination is stimulated the spectator aesthete gets transported to a world of his own
creation. This emotion deindividualises an individual by freeing him from those elements which
constitute individuality such as place, time etc. and raises him to the level of universal. Thus art
is otherworldly or Alaukika in its nature.

Abhinavagupta turned his attention away from the linguistic and related abstractions which had
preoccupied even Anandavardhana, focussing his attention instead on the human mind,
specifically the mind of the reader or viewer of a literary work. The first step in Abhinavagupta's
project involved the recognition that the theory of rasadhvani, could not be understood as a
theory of abstract linguistic structure. Rather, it only made sense as a theory of the way people
respond to literature. In other words, rasadhvani had to be conceived in psychological terms.
According to this system the reader becomes the central focus of literary criticism. The aim of
kavya is to give pleasure , but this pleasure must not bind the soul to the body.

Thus he attributed the state of divinity to arts and considered Shanta Rasa as the ultimate Rasa.
According to him the pleasure one derives out of a real work of art is no less than divine
pleasure. As one has to constantly struggle and detach oneself to reach the Almighty similarly a
true connoisseur of arts has to learn to detach the work from its surroundings and happenings and
view it independently, e.g. the feeling that might bring pain in real life is capable of causing
pleasure in an art form. The great success of Greek tragedies can be attributed to the pleasure it
aroused in the spectators and brought about the emotional Catharsis (purging out).

In his Dhvanyaloka Anandavardhana observes: In the province of poetry (creative literature)

obviously standards of truth and falsity have no relevance. Any attempt to find out or discover
whether a poem (or any literary composition) is true or false by employing means of valid
cognition leads to ridicule alone Abhinavagupta comments on it: Such a person will be
ridiculed as follows: He is not able or competent to appreciate aesthetic experience or his mind
has become (truly) hard by indulging in dry logic.

Thus he asserts that the willful suspension of disbelief is a prerequisite for enjoying any art
form. The moment one starts questioning it or doubting it and looking at it objectively it loses its
charm and status and becomes equivalent to any mundane object. One enjoys a play only when
one can identify the character as the character from the drama and not as ones friend or associate.
For the time that the drama goes on the character should take over the actor in a spectators mind
i.e. the spectator should rise above the worldly connections and try to experience the supernatural
aspect of art which has nothing to do with the worldly concerns.

Conclusion:

Abhinavagupta was more than an accomplished scholar; he was a mahasiddhaa yogi of the
first magnitude. At the close of his life he disappeared into a cave near Srinagar to perform
intense yogic disciplines. According to legend, twelve hundred of his students entered the cave
with him to devote the rest of their lives to uninterrupted meditation in the presence of this great
master. The clarity of his vision and his remarkable willingness and ability to explain the highest
states of consciousnessand how to actually attain themdistinguish Abhinavagupta as one of
the most brilliant and generous spiritual teachers in the history of yoga.

References:
 1. David Peter Lawrence: The Disclosure of akti in Aesthetics: Remarks on the Relation of
Abhinavaguptas Poetics and Nondual Kashmiri aivism
(SERAS) Southeast Review of Asian Studies Volume 35 (2013): 90-102
2. Dr. K. Krishnamoorthy : Abhinavaguptas Integral View of Aesthetic concepts
http://www.svabhinava.org/abhinava/krishnamoorthyk/krishnamoorthyaesthetics.pdf
3. Dr. N. C. Panda: Abhinavagupta's Unique Contribution to Indian Tradition
http://www.academia.edu/7985871/Abhinavaguptas_Unique_Contribution_to_Indian_Tr
adition
4. Geetika Kaw Kher: A glimpse into Abhinavaguptas ideas on aesthetics

http://ikashmir.net/abhinavagupta/article4.html
5. Ruth Katz and Arvind Sharma: The Aesthetics of Abhinavgupta
http://bjaesthetics.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/3/259.extract

6. Sunthar Visuvalingam: Abhinavagupta and the Synthesis of Indian Culture

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/i_pr/i_pr_abhinavagupta.htm

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