Samarasya Studies in Indian Arts, Philosophy, and Interreligious Dialogue — in Honour of Bettina Baumer — ee Qe xr OS whe mw, Loe a Bey edited by Sadananda Das Ernst Fiirlinger D.K.Printworld (P) Ltd. New Delhi(Cataloging in Publication Data — DK (Courtesy: D.K. Agencies (P) Lid. ] studies in Indian arts, philosophy and interreligious Simarasy dialogue : in honour of Bettina Baumer / edited by Sadananda Das, Emst Farlinger. p Ban Bettina Baumer, b. 1940, Austrian scholar of Indology and religious studies and former Director of Alice Boner Institute, Varanasi, India; contributed articles. Includes bibliographical references. Includes index. ISBN 8124603083 1. Ant Indic. 2 Philosophy, Indic, 3, Cultural relations — Religious aspects. 4, Cross-cultural studies — Religious studies. 5, Religions — Relations. 1 Blumer, Bettina, 1940- I. Das, Sadananda, 1969 I Falinger, Est, 1962- Doc 114 21 ISBN 81-246-0338-3 First published in India in 2005 © For Preface with Sadananda Das, Emst Firlinger. Copyright for individual articles, with the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage of retrieval system, without prior written permission of both the copyright owner, indicated above, and the publisher ‘The views expressed in this volume are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the editors or the publisher. Published and Printed by: ux Princwora( . Regd. Office: ‘Sei Kunj’, F-52, Bali Nagar New Delhi-110 015 ‘Phones: (O11) 2545-3975; 2546-6019; Fax: (O11) 2546-5926 Exmail: dkprintworld@vanl.net Website: www. dkprintworld.comA Commentary on the Opening Verses of the Tantrasara of Abhinavagupta Alexis Sanderson Verse 1 vimalakalasrayabhinavasystimahd janant Pharitatanus cq pafcamukhaguptarucir janakah | tadubhayayamalasphuritabhdvavisargamayart hnydayam anuttardmrtakularh mama sarisphuratat \ May my heart shine forth, embodying the bliss of the ultimate, [for it is] {one with the state of absolute potential made manifest in the fusion of these two, the ‘Mother’ grounded in pure representation, radiant in ever new genesis, and the ‘Father,’ all-enfolding [Bhairava], who maintains the light [of consciousness] through his five faces)/ {formed from the emissions produced through the fasion of these tuo, my mother Viral, whose greatest joy wus in my birth, and my father (Nara|sithagupta, [when both were] all-embracing {in their union}. Itis an ancient convention in India that a literary composition should begin with a form of words that promotes its success by dispelling the hindering powers (vighndl) that strive to impede the completion of any pious endeavour.” Most commonly this auspicious beginning is a verse in which the author meditates on the deity of his personal devotion (istadeoatd, either expressing his homage and adoration (namasktrah) or praying for its favour and prospering influence (astroadah). The present verse, which precedes all but 1. For the function of the braces and typefaces in the translation of this verse see the second paragraph ofthe Appendix. 2, Already in the second century ac Pataali declares (Vydtaranamahatbhasya, vol. 1, p. 6, L28p. 7,12} tigate detryo mahatak SAstraughasye mangalartarh sidhasabdareaditok prayurte, mangaladni hi Sst prathantevirapurusakan’ bhavanty ayusmatpurusckani ca “Intent on success, the master (Katyayana] begins with the [auspicious] word sdaha-, in order to secure the success ofthis great mass of instruction, considering that works that begin with [words that promote] success (margalam) become well-known and have authors who triumph and enjoy long life’ The word magula, which { have translated ‘success’ denotes only the accomplishment of a goal whichis sanctioned by the virtuous; see Kaiyata ad loc: agarkittbisasiddhir marigalam. That which causes or promotes this success is termed a maigalan by extension (upactrena).90 Samarasya one of Abhinavagupta’s comprehensive works on the Trika’ exemplifies the second of these forms, being a prayer for enlightenment.* In accomplishing this preparative function it also encapsulates the teaching that is to follow. For the fusion of the deities that it invokes is the Trika’s ultimate reality; and it characterizes this fusion in terms that provide a brief but potent definition of that ultimate, namely, that it is, as we shall see, the undifferentiated essence of consciousness containing all reality, both inner and outer, in a state of absolute potential’ Indeed, it is precisely because the fusion of the deities is this ultimate that the verse could be believed to have the desired effect. For it expresses our author's immersing himself in his true identity and thereby achieving for a moment the state of enlightenment which alone can inspire and sustain a work that will expound the nature of that state and the means by which it may be realized. For the more sublime the goal of a pious endeavour the greater the resistance of the hindering powers; and when that goal is to bestow enlightenment through the recognition of ultimate reality, nothing less than the impression left by the direct experience of that reality can protect against distraction by the contrary impulses that will obscure it in the course of the conceptualization into which the author must descend for the benefit of his readers. Abhinavagupta explains this doctrine of preparatory immersion (samavesah) in the course of his comments on the verse with which Utpaladeva, his teacher's teacher, opens his [Soarapratyabhijnaviorti:* fe ca praksinamohasyapi mayasariskaravinioyttaSartrapranaprabhytigatapra- matpbhavasya pratyagatmanah prabhaveyur aptcchdvighdtaya, visesatal samastalokam abhyuddharturit parigrhitodyamasya .. . yathoktarit “vighndyuta- sahasrari tu parotsdhasamanvitam | praharanty aniSari jantoh sadvastoa- Dhimukhasya ca. visesato bhavambhodhisamuttaranakarinah” ityadi .. . iti pratyagatmani Sartradau tadrapatatiraskarendoanatirapena prathamasamaye parameSvarasvarapotkarsapardmarsatma samduesah . . . svikdryah. tatra hi sati 3. Malintjyeoartita, Partrisikaeicarane, Tantralota, Tantrastra, and Tantoccaya. Only the Tantravaadhonta tacks it 4. For these two forms of the verse for success (matgalam), the expression of homage and adoration (namasiarah) and the benediction (aSireddak) see Dandin, Kavyadaréa 1.14ed and Bhoja, Sorasoattanthabharana,p. 123, The commentators, citing Dandin, recognize a third category of verse for success, namely, that which is an indication of the subject-matter [to follow] (oastunndfah); but this is uncommon in religious works except as an incidental aspect of the other two. Whee it does ‘occur in a Siva text, itis argued thatthe sublimity ofthe subject is so great thatthe mere mention of itis suicient to dispel all would-be hinderers; see Bhatta Ramakantha on Noresaraparitd 11 5. TAV vol. 1 (1), p3, ll. 79, introducing this same verse in its occurrence atthe head of the Tanto: ta alu sastradge alaukikasiroadamubhena vaksyamanusadardhasAstrarthagarbhikarena samucitestedeoetan ‘asiakirahpardmpéati ‘Here, atthe beginning of the treatise, the author dzects his awareness to his appropriate chosen deity through an esoteric benediction that incorporates the teaching ofthe Trka that he will expound [in the course of the work) 6 IPVV vol.1, p.18,1L35,...9-12,... 1416... 182.A Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 1 vigvam api sodtmabhitam abhinnasvatantrasartvinmatraparamdrthari bhavati. iti kak kasya kutra vighnah. anantararh tu granthakaranakale yadyapi pratyagatmapradhanyam evdnusaridheyam anyatha vaikharfparyantaprapti- niroahyasastraviracandnupapattes tathdpi tatsamtvesasariskaramahaujojajoalya- minanijaujahsamujjihdsitabhedagrahataya na prabhavanti vighna. 7 soarapotkarsa em. : svarapotkarsana Keo 12 samuijihasita em. : samujjhasita Keo [The hindering powers (vighnah)] are able to impede a person’s will even if he is free of delusion. For {while he remains in the world] the latent impressions of differentiated reality continue to influence him, with the result that he still projects the sense of self on to his body, vital energy, and [mind] [And he is] all the more [vulnerable to these powers] if, {as in Utpaladeva’s case, the reason for his remaining in the world is that] he has decided to strive to rescue mankind [from ignorance]. . . This is supported by the passage [of scripture] that begins “If a person undertakes a pious task, countless hinderers assail him day and night, and with great determination, especially if he is acting to rescue others from the ocean of incarnation. . . .” So initially, (before composing the treatise,] one should suppress identification with the body and the other levels of the individual self — this is the ‘bowing down’ [that characterizes homage] — and so enter the state of immersion (samavesah) in which one realizes the supremacy of the nature of ParameSvara. 7. These hinderers are defined by Abhinavagupta as follows in IPVV, vol. 1, p. 18, U1: adhyttmiadayo ‘navadhanadosadayas trividha upaghitastadadhighhatras ca devataviesak “The hinderers(oighndt) (to be dispelled) are such as the defect of distraction, that is, all the three kinds of affliction, mental (Adhyattmiar), {material (ahibhoutta)], and [supernatural (adhidavike)], and the various gods that empower them.’ CE Yogartia, Paramarthasdraiort,p.2, 11-2... athatadalasasaseydirapaighnaugha- ‘he multitude of hinderers, namely, such [states of mind] as hesitation, uneasiness, laziness, and uncertainty’; Siadtarmottra f.125t5-7 (12181-1836) on the hinderers of meditation (yopevighndh): Alayah vydheas ‘ord pramadastytna*srhsayah (er. + sarkSayah Cod.) | anavasthitcitlatoam asraddha Dhrantidarsanam: | ‘dubhani daurmanasyart ca visayesu ca land | ity eoamadikth prokta yogavighnal ‘Lassitude, serious ilnesses, negligence, apathy, uncertainty, lack of concentration, lack of confidence, hallucinations, pains, melancholy, and distraction by sense-objecs. Such as these are termed the hinderers of Yoga.’ For the deities that embody them see, e.g. Netratanra 19.6264, which refers to the 300,000 milion ‘hindering Vinyakas created by Siva from his thumb, and the site-protectors (Ksetrapdlas) thought to hinder a Siddhi-seeker’s practice if not placated that are mentioned and listed in the Aghorpatcaistakx quoted in Nityadsergrahapaddhat,f, Abv1-A5v2. In the latter passage see especialy f. 4iv3-4: upopthe fu sandohe tathtnyesaroatas sthith| kgetre kere pure pure grime grime vasanti te | adhikrar snails te Pi kuroanti palakah | vighnabkatas surdnah ca vtrdna siddhim icchatam | tapascchidrani kurvanti toarsayanti tu path “Yet others are found everywhere, in Upapithas and Sandohas. They dvell in every sacred place, town, and village. They exercise their office as protectors under the command of Siva, As hinderers of gods and adepts seeking powers they cause fatal flaws in one's ascetic practice, but remove [these obstacles] if they are worshipped. 8 Abhinavagupta alludes to the opening of Utpaladeva’s Isearapratyabhijnakarla:kathencid asaya rmahefvarasya dasyarh janasyapy upakaram icchan | semastasaripatsamavdptihetur tatpratyabhijiam upaptdaytmi ‘Having miraculously achieved the status of a slave of Siva, and desiring to benefit mankind I shall bring about his recognition, the cause ofthe attainment of all success.”92 Siimarasya - "During this [immersion] the universe too is one with this true self, being nothing in its ultimate reality but undivided and autonomous consciousness. So [while the state continues] what can impede whom, and where? Thereafter, when one is producing the text, one has to focus on the individual self, since otherwise one would be incapable of composing the treatise, which can be accomplished only if it is brought down to the level of articulate speech. But [then] the hinderers have no power [to impede one], because one’s inner force, which [now] blazes [more] intensely under the influence of the greater power of the impression of that state of immersion, has inspired one to abandon one’s [earlier] faith in the state of differentiation. ‘The opening benediction, then, is to be read as testimony of the act of self-realization that enabled the work to proceed unhindered to its completion. But this is not its whole meaning. Both types of opening verse express immersion in the ultimate nature of the self, but whereas verses of homage and adoration (namaskirah) do so more or less directly, verses of benediction (aSirvddah), such as this, do so only by implication. To the extent that they describe the deity they imply an act of immersion in its nature; but their explicit reference is to an act of prayer for a state that is yet to be accomplished (sidhye-). Furthermore, benedictory verses are always altruistic in intention. They are prayers that the deity act for the benefit of others, usually the audience or, more impersonally, the whole world or the virtuous." Occasionally the author includes himself among the beneficiaries, but I know of no instance in which the beneficiary is the author alone." Thus, though Abhinavagupta leaves the beneficiaries unstated in this verse, the force of convention conveys that he is praying either exclusively or inclusively for the enlightenment of others. Which of these does he intend? Does he include himself among the beneficiaries? Or is he excluding himself, praying that we may attain the enlightenment that is already his? His exalted status in the tradition might be taken to support the latter reading. Yet I propose that itis the inclusive reading that he wished to 9. Any auspicious recital of a verse of homage (namaskiraslokak) must embody two aspects, humble devotion to the deity and sincere conviction of the deity’s supremacy (utkarsai), though only one or the other is usually explicit, the first with such expressions as nami “I bow to...» the second with such expressions as jayati or ofjayate'... is supreme.’ This principle is formulated by Utpaladeva in his [Goarapratyabhijnavit, in a passage quoted by Abhinavagupta in IPVV vol. 1, p. 8, 12-13; see also IPV, vol. 1, pp. 68; and Mahesvaranands, Maharthanaariparimala p. 5, U. 5-13. 10, Reference tothe audience isthe commonest form ("May the deity ... you (oak). This is what we find, for example, in all but 14 of the 109 benedictory verses included in the anthology of Jalhana (Sidtimuttaalt, pp. 16-35), and in all but 5 of the 74 in that of Vallabhadeva (Subhaitoal, pp. +18). “The world’ (iagat, jagat), ‘the worlds’ (aganti) or “the three woslds’trijagat, trio) are the next most frequent beneficiaries (7/109, 2/75). Once in Jalhana's collection (2.24) they are ‘the virtuous! sya sate mohark mahabhsiraoak "May Mahabhairava remove the delusion ofthe virtuous,’ cf. the ‘commentary on the Old Kashmiri Mahinayaprata, p. 1, v1... Sdn das... basta sat May the quiescent state .. . become manifest to the virtuous.” 11, The form is then ‘May the deity... us (nah)’ This occurs twice in Jalhana’s collection (258 and 281). 12, Nor-mention of the beneficiaries is seen five times in Jalhana's collection and thrice in Vallabhadeva's,A Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 93 convey, namely, “May my heart shine forth in its fullness for us all.” This accommodates the doctrine stated in the passage quoted above that even those who have achieved enlightenment must constantly reinforce it through acts of immersion (samavesah) while they remain in the body. If he thought this was necessary for the venerable Utpaladeva he would certainly have thought it necessary for himself. But more importantly, it is this alternative alone that accommodates what I take to be the natural implication of his silence, namely that the distinction between self and other is ultimately unreal, that self and other are merely the modes of appearance of the true self (“my heart”) that expresses itself as all consciousness and its objects. The basis of this implication must be the alternative that includes both self and other. “My heart,” then, is not Abhinavagupta’s heart as opposed to that of others who are yet to be enlightened but rather the core of his, being which is the core of all beings. Or we may say that “my heart,” mama hrdayam, is intended to mean “the heart of the ‘T’,” that is the innermost awareness (vimarsah) that animates all manifestation (prakasah)."* The same analysis will apply to the implied pronoun “us” in “May my heart shine forth in its fullness {for us all].” For within Abhinavagupta’s Saivism “we” can only mean the plurality of “I”s projected by and in the one “1.” This, then, is the purpose of the verse. Through it Abhinavagupta expresses his own. immersion in the true self as the precondition of successful exposition and at the same time prays for enlightenment, both for his own, that its prospering influence may sustain his work as he descends for our benefit into the unenlightened state of conceptual thought, and that we his audience may attain the same enlightenment in our turn, suggesting through the impersonality of the benediction that he and we are ultimately the one self, indeed that the deity and the beneficiaries of its favour are identical in the highest consciousness. But the verse also exists to empower those who undertake to teach or study the work after its completion. We too are to contemplate its meaning in order to experience to the extent of our capacity the non-dual consciousness that alone can hold at bay the powers 13, _Jayaratha recognizes the second of these meanings in his commentary on the verse as it occurs atthe beginning of Abhinavagupta’s Tantrloka (TAV vol. 1 (1, p. 4, 1-2): mamatmano krdayart.. tthyart twsiu the heart, the realty, of me, ie. of the self. 14, In suppor ofthe proposition that he includes himself among the beneficiaries one may cite the prayer for enlightenment that opens his commentary on the second section of Utpaladeva’s Isoarapratyabhijaharta, There too he prays inclusively, saying “May the glorious husband of Gauri reveal theultimate reality to us...” (PV vol. 2, p. 1, v.ld:... praktayatu nah Srindn gaurpatih sa rar ara). And in support of a non-dualistic interpretation of this inclusive prayer, namely, that “we” means “I” in the plural, the plurality of “I°s that are the aspects the one true “I,” we may cite Bhaskarakantha's commentary on that prayer: ‘May he reveal to us, that i, to the agents of awareness ‘who being aspects of him are the object of limited “I” [-consciousness], the ultimate, all-ontaining reality that is his nature’ (Bhaskar vol. 2, pal, U. 20-21: param ant nijasvardpdkhyar: par satya casta nah sodisabhatanark parimitaharkoiseytnarh pramsdtPyartprakatayatu ...)94 Samarasya that would have impeded Abhinavagupta’s progress and will now try to impede ours as. ‘we attempt to follow him." The reader is invited to re-activate the awareness that inspired and sustained the original act of composition, reading the verse as though it were his own, reaching towards his true identity and praying for the enlightenment of all others, both those who are his contemporaries and those that will follow. Thus the contemplation of the verse evokes not only the non-duality of consciousness in the timeless, metaphysical sense, but also the non-duality of the transmission of enlightenment through time from generation to generation. As Abhinavagupta says, the lineage is to be understood as a single state of being within which individual identities are incidental and irrelevant. This is the basis of the doctrine that the guru lineage and the deity are one and the same, and the justification of the injunction that the initiate must look upon the guru as the deity incarnate. Let us now consider more closely the terms in which the ultimate reality is expressed in the verse. The “heart” that Abhinavagupta contemplates and whose contemplation he invites, is his own consciousness in its ultimate, universe-enfolding nature as the non- dual essence of the union of Siva and his innate power (Saktih). This union is presented as the inseparability of the manifest (prakasah) and its representation (vimarsah). Siva, the manifest (prakasah), is consciousness as the constant and totality of manifestation seen without reference to its modes. Representation (vimarsal), his power, is that by means of which this ever-manifest consciousness appears in those modes, representing itself variously as the differentiated reality of common experience (thedahijas the aesthetic y / synthesis of that plurality within the unity of self-awareness (bhedabheda), as non-duality (abhedah) through the complete retraction of that plurality, and, ultimately, as the state 15, For the benefit ofthe margalam to teachers (oytkhyataah) and students (GrolaaH) see Abhinavagupta’s comments on the Divanyaloka’s opening verse in his Dkoanydlotalocana ad loc. Cf. in a Buddhist context, Karnakagomin’s comments in his -tikt on the opening verse of Dharmakirt’s Prananavartikarti. See also Vytkarayamahabhasya vol. 1, p. 7,12, in which Patatjal, continuing the passage quoted and translated above (n. 1), adds that the purpose of Katyayana's auspicious frst Word is also to promote the success of those who will study his work (adkyetaé ca siddhttha yatha sy it. 16, TA 1283-50; Mahtrthamatjarparimala p. 95, 12-p. 96, L.A tata ea parasanitseabaa Sigurapan it tatperyrthah. tata esr “bahutoam: ela (cor. : bahutoom. etat Ed.) tattoortiyd na seigacchate koala tatadupadhyupastegavatad aupacrikatayaivangsriyate ythaikam eon vastu darpanasalilataiadyadharabhedat tatha tata praibimbati. bahutoavaccharidyupardgo ‘pi na Bhedaprathdm upaptdayat yathoktam mayaioaSr- Pldukodaye “tatra yat pajyam asmakamh Sakti mandala mahat | svaoabhaotmake Sembhau tt kisah parycvasyati | so ‘pi deve gurau soltmany aikatmyam upagacchati” ... iti ‘And so the gist is that the venerable line of [the Krama’s] gurus is of the nature of all-containing awareness, Therefore their [apparent] plurality is notin accord with the way they are in reality, It is accepted only figuratively, by virtue of association with diverse adventitious conditions, just as a single thing casts a variety of reflections because of the difference between the surfaces [on which it appears), such as a ‘water or oi. The fact that [the guru lineage] is affected by bodies and the like that are plural does not cause any [true] plurality to appear [here], as I myself have taught in [my] Padukodaye: “The whole vast ctcle of powers that we are to worship there is inthe final analysis the Siva that constitutes the essence of the self. And he is one with the venerable guru and {the worshipper] himsel”’A Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 95 of absolute potential (visargah) in the core of consciousness, the ‘ultimate non-duality’ (paramadvayam, parddvaitam) that contains all these modes in a timeless simultaneity.” The essence of that union, the “heart,” is the manifest represented in this mode of higher non-duality, the state in which the manifest and representation are perfectly fused in the undifferentiated but all-inclusive totality of absolute potential. This state of fusion constitutes the very essence of consciousness. It is ever present as the basis of all experience. The “mother grounded in pure representation, radiant in ever-new genesis” is the power of representation itself." It is pure, because though it manifests the factors of time, place, and form that delimit contracted consciousness it is not subject to them itself, being the inexhaustible freedom of consciousness to appear in any configuration or in none. The “father, all-enfolding (Bhairava]” is Siva as the totality of this manifestation; and his “five faces” are the five powers by virtue of which this manifestation is sustained: consciousness, bliss, will, cognition, and action.® When these two are fused, that is to say, when their natural state of fusion becomes manifest in the process of immersion (samavesah), consciousness rests blissfully in itself alone, having withdrawn the modes of extroversion in which it appears to reach out towards what is other than itself. In terms of the modes of plurality, synthesis, and non- duality it shines forth here as the state of higher non-duality that knows itself as the ground and substance of all three; and in terms of the five powers of manifestation it shines forth as the first two, consciousness and bliss, or more exactly as consciousness blissful (nirorta) through fusion with itself, the powers of will, cognition, and action having been withdrawn and dissolved within this state as their ground and source. Saying that this reality embodies “the bliss (literally ‘the nectar’) of the ultimate” 17, This non-duality of the manifest is ‘higher’ (parama-, para-) in the sense that it does not exclude plurality; see MVV 1.108; 1.122-123 (parddvaitam); 1.615-631 (paramadvayadrstih (1.631); 1.982¢ (paramcidesita-); 1.1132 (arthe paramadvayasundare; 2.17e-19 (paremadoayadrstih and paradvaitam); 2.151 (— TA 4275) (ehairavtyeparamadvayarcanam); 2270; 2329 (paramadoayaoijanam). 18. Cf, TAV vol. 1 (2), p. 5, I 15-16, where Jayaratha, commenting on this same verse in its occurrence at the beginning of the Tantalok, takes @rayoh ‘ground’ or ‘basis in the compound vimkalasayl to be equivalent to soarapam ‘nature,’ ‘identity’: ‘whose ground, ie. identity, is...” 19, I take bharitatanuh (Yallcontaining,” lit. “whose form is fll”) to imply the name Bhalrava, as intended to be understood as a semantic analysis (nrvacanam) of that name. For this analysis cf. PTV p. 266, 7 (Keo p. 233): bhaiaoatma bhartakaram:; Vinanabhairaca 15 (bhariaiara bharaot) and 23 (ytasthd bard Bhairavasyopalabhyate; cf. Urmikaularnava f. 7¥8-9 (1.157e-158b): “pair (corr. : pani Cod.) hastart rahttyugrar Bairaarh vtrayakam | bharitdesthayt tasyabhaiaot sd vidhtyte); Kulastraf,SSv: “iar (com. :Biraoa Cod.) | tharitars tena caesar; Churmsarketapraka f. 76-7 (v.98): oy tu samdytit nirdvaranadharmint | bhairaoasyamittlokabharitasya nirdhytek; and the unattributed quotation in TAV vol. 1 (1), p. 143, 1% bharanat bharitasthith. 20. See TAV vol. 1 (1), p. 7, ll 2-5 (ad loc). The five powers are called faces through their equation with the five faces of iconic Bhairava, namely, Tatpurusa (E, front), Sadyojata (W, reat), Vamadeva (N, proper lef), Aghora (S, proper right), and Isana (upper). For this equation see MVV 1.169c-171b; and Keemarija, SoTU vol 1 @),p. 54, IL 23.96 Samarasya (anuttardmytakulam)® Abhinavagupta alludes to its definition in the alphabetic code which he will expound in the third chapter of this work. In those terms, the “ultimate” (anuttarah) is the first sound, the short vowel a, and “bliss” (anandah) is the second, the long vowel 2, understood as the fusion of two short a-s. Of these two the first is the ultimate in the masculine gender (anuttarah), Siva as undifferentiated manifestation (prakaSal); and the second is the ultimate in the feminine gender (anuttard), the representation (vimarsak) or creative intuition (pratibha) of that ultimate, the innate urge of manifestation to represent itself as the universe. Abhinavagupta's “heart” is “bliss,” the long 4, because itis the bliss of self-containment that arises when the ultimate and its power combine in a state of fusion (yamalam, sarighattah), that is to say, when manifestation immersed in itself alone experiences infinite bliss in the relish of its state of absolute potential (visargat). As evidence in favour of this interpretation of the heart I offer two passages from Abhinavagupta’s earlier works on the Malintoijayottara: Malinfoijayavarttika (1.15-23) and Tantraloka (3.67- 69). The first: aniyantritasadbhavad bhavabhedaikabhaginah | yat prig jatarit mahdjfidnark tad rasmibharavaibhavam W115 1 tatamh tadrk svamaylyaheyopadeyavarjitam | vitatibhavandcitraraémitamatrabheditam 16 M abkimarsasvabhavarn tad dhrdayart paramesituh | latrapi Saktya satatamt svdtmamayya mahesvarak 1117 W yoda sarighattam asadya samdpattirk pardri vrajet | tadasya paramari vaktrarh visargaprasardspadam N18 W anuttaravikasodyajjagadanandasundaram | thavivaktravibhagena bijamt sarvasya yat sthitamt 1119 W hytspandadykparasaranirntmormyadi tan matam | etat parart trikamt parvart sarvasaktyavibhagavat 1120 It atra bhavasamullasasankasarnkocavicyutih | svinandalinatdmdtramatricchakarmadrktrayam 1121 \\ tatha ca guravah Saivadystav ittharh nyarapayan | sa yadaste cidahladamatranubhavatallayah 122 W fadicchd tdvatt jftanarh taoat tavat kriyd hi sa | susaksmasaktitritayasamarasyena variate N23 W cidrapahladaparamas tadabhinno bhaved itit 15d vaibhavam J,, HaNNeDER : bhairavam J, after correction, KeD 16a atari corj. ‘SANDERSON (in HANNEDER) : tatas Ke 21, analyse this as an exocentric compound with kulam in the meaning ‘body’ (anuttartmytani kala Sartram asy); cf. TAV vol. 2 (3), p. 76, 1.7 glossing akulah: akaraltsanartkulav Sriram asa. For this meaning see the unidentified Kaula scripture cited in TAV ad 29.4 kuarhSariram ity ukto For amiam and synonyms in the meaning ‘bliss’ (2nandah) see, e.g, Kjemardja, Sivastrotrvaltivri on 12.40 (amptam anandah); 12.64 (sudhasadanam anandadhama); 12.17a (amtasya paramdnandasye); 13.50 (Chavadadoayamptakhyates toadaikyanandaprathayah)A Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 7 2 24 The supreme awareness that has arisen before (all others] from the unlimited [ground] that contains all things in their pure non-duality is manifested all- pervading in the plenitude of its powers, sharing the nature of that ground, [still] free of the hierarchy of goals that it will appropriate [at lower levels], differentiated only inasmuch as the radiance it emits is diffracted in the process of its expansion. This, whose nature is the power of representation itself, is the heart (hrdayam) of Siva. In this state he attains the highest non-duality by experiencing intimate union with the power that is eternally one with his nature, When this occurs, the highest ‘face’ arises, the ground in which absolute potential (visargah) flows.” It is the seed of the universe, beautiful with the all-embracing bliss (jagadanandah) that surges up in the expansion of the ultimate, holding in non-duality all the ‘faces’ that will subsequently emerge. It is this that is meant [in the scriptures] by such terms as the Heart (ht), the Subtle Motion (spandak), Apperception (drk), the All-embracing [power] (para), the Essence (sdram), the Nameless (nirndma), and the Wave (armik)® This is the ultimate triad [of the Trika], the prior [state] that holds all [other] powers within its unity. Here the contraction caused by the inhibition of consciousness through the emergence of [differentiated] entities hhas fallen away, and the three [powers] that are the conscious subject’s (maty- ) will, cognition, and action have become nothing but that subject's state of immersion in his own bliss (svdnandalinata).* The master [Somananda] taught this, when he declared in his Sivadrsfi (1.3-4), “When one rests immersed in the experience of the unmingled bliss of one’s consciousness, then one's will, cognition, and action are no more [than that experience]. One exists as the fusion of these three powers in their subtlest from. At that time one is undivided, completely immersed in the bliss that is consciousness (cidrapahladg}.” ‘Abhinavagupta uses the term ‘face’ (cakiram) here because his context is an exposition ofthe process through which consciousness conceives and manifests the streams of Saiva revelation, their emergence being traditionally associated with the five faces of Sadasva. These faces are equated in the MVV with aspects of Siva's power, the streams being presented as the natural expressions of Sivahood in these aspects The hear is the sixth or highest face: and as the embodiment of absolute potential tis seen as the source of the non-dualistic teachings of the Trika. For other lists of such terms see, e., Tantrasara p. 27: tata paramesvarah parnasamvitsoabhacah prpataiodsye Sakti kulars samarthyane rmirkpdayarh sara spando vbhatis tisk kat *kargin (core Aargont Keo) carat oan bhogo dk nitytyadibhir agamabhasabhis tattadonvarthapravrtabhirabhidhiyate ‘in that [practice] Paramesvara is al-containing consciousness. The Power that is his [consort is nothing but ths comprehensiveness. I is she that is meant by such scriptural terms as the Totality, Potential the Wave, the Heart, the Essence, the Subtle Motion, Pervasive Glory, the Ruler of the Three [Goddesses], Kali, the Retractor [of Time] ((Kalasach{karsini), the Furious (Cant), the Word, Experience, Apperception, and the Etemal (Nitya) TA 3.49 (quoted below); Spandasaridoa p. 5, IL 12; Spandaniraya p. 66, UL, 69. Jayaratha, TAV vol 1 (1), p. 7, UL 11-13, defines the ‘ultimate triad’ (param tikam) asthe fusion of Siva snd Saki taktsoighatih), ie,we must presume, Siva, Sakti and ther fusion (ee and 2. It is dear that he thinks this is what AbhiSavagupta means here, because he cites these verses (MVV 1.17-20) immediatly ater the passage containing this definition (TAV vol. 1 [1], p. 7, L 1p. 8 L 5). However, the context indicates that the trad intended is rather that of the three powers will, knowledge, and action. CE. MVV 1.391639. 4 ,98 Samarasya The second: itthare vigoam idarh nathe bhairavtyacidambare | pratibimbant alarit svacche na khalv anyaprasadatah N65 1 ananyapeksita yasya vigvdtmatvart prati prabhoh | {dri pardrt pratibharh devith samgirante hy anuttardm N66 l akulasyasya devasya kulaprathanasalint | aulikt sa para Saktir aviyukto yaya prabhul N67 tayor yad yamalark raparit sa samghatta iti smytal | anandasaktih saivokta yato viSoari visrjyate 168 pardparat parari tattuart sais dev? nigadyate | tat sdravit tac ca hydayart sa visargah parah prabhuh N69 1 So this universe is a reflection in the Lord, in the perfectly reflective void of Bhairava's consciousness, [and arises) under the influence of nothing outside [that consciousness). This ability of the Lord to embody himself as the universe without drawing on anything outside [his own nature] is the supreme goddess that [our masters] call ‘creativity’ (pratibhart), ‘the feminine ultimate’ (anuttardrt) It is the supreme Power of Universality (Kaulikt Saktih), the ability of this (asya) deity (devasya) [Bhairava] {embodied in the sound a (akulasya)|#* to manifest the universe (kulaprathanaSalin?) [though] (transcending it (akulasye)}, the power with which the Lord is ever one (aviyukto yaya prabhuh), ‘The Power of Bliss (dnandasaktih) [=A] is the combination (yamalam rapam) of these two, the ‘passionate embrace’ (sarighaffah) out of which the universe is emitted [into consciousness]. This is the [ultimate] reality beyond both the universe-transcending and the universal (pardparat parart tattoam).” It is ‘the Goddess’ (devt) ‘the Essence’ (saram) and ‘the Heart.’ It is the highest (parah), omnipotent (prabhul) state of absolute potential (visargah). The heart that Abhinavagupta invokes as the source of inspiration and the goal to be realized is, then, the state of absolute potential (visargali) in which the three powers of will, cognition, and action, and the three modes of plurality, synthesis, and non-duality, are fused in blissful, all-embracing consciousness. 2. 2, ” 2 TA 34549. Cl. the parallel passage in his eater MVV (1890-894) Take the single word atlas here toe intended to mean both ‘other than the sat of university (halen) and having #28 ts body; following Jayarstha ad loc, vol. 2 (3), p 5, 1516 and p. 76 7 CL MVV 1.990, where Abhinavagupta makes it clear thatthe “ulimate’ (antral) as Bharea is both the sound a and akula in the first ofthese two meanings: anutaarydraya parsharaaripinah | lula part yey ill tir uta CL. TAV ad loc., vol. 2, p. 82, Il 9-10: pardd vifoottiredc chaivad rapad aparad visnamayae chibi rapat param parnam ‘Puller (parnars ( one liberationA Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 101 It might be thought that in making this the object of his prayer Abhinavagupta has abandoned the convention that such verses should invoke the author's chosen deity (isfadeouta) For it would appear that this heart is no deity at all, but at best the ground in which Bhairava and his power mingle and lose their separate identities. But the breach of convention is only apparent. For at the centre of Abhinavagupta’s pantheon of contemplation and worship is a deity embodying this heart. He is merely leaving the reader to recognize it for himself: like the reality it personifies, it is pervasive but veiled. ‘The Mandala that enthrones the Trika’s deities and symbolizes their interrelation is a trident with a lotus above the cusp of each of its three prongs. On these lotuses three goddesses are installed: Para in the centre, Pardpard to her right, and Apard to her left. In the Trika of the Devydyamala, however, there is a fourth goddess, Kalasamkarsint (the Destroyer of Time), who is installed above Para as the ultimate ground. In the Trika of the Malinfujayottara, the explicit basis of the group of works to which the Tantrastra belongs, there are only the three goddesses; but there are two forms of Paré, her common form and Matysadbhava (‘The Essence of the Mother Goddesses’ or, as the non-dualists preferred to gloss it, ‘The Essence of the Conscious’), and Abhinavagupta, influenced by the Devyfytmala and cognate traditions, took the second to be the Devyaydmala’s fourth goddess under another name, that is to say, a higher aspect of Para in which she subsumes her lower aspect along with Parapara and Apara.* Now the powers and modes are > element, the menstrual blood (értgoam), in the case of women. Now in TA 29.119¢-122b we are told that although in Kaula sexual union both partners simultaneously experience a state of emission that 's both quiescent (inwardly focused) and active (through ejaculation) santoditatmatcbhayardpapartmaria stmyayoge pi [121cd) only the woman can conceive and that itis for this reason that she has been said to be ‘one whose centre expands’ (pravishararamadhyapada Sakih Sastre ttak kahit (122ab). Jayartha (ed 29. 122-1236) explains that the reason for men’s inability to conceive is that they lack this expansion (nant ki madhyopadapravikaso nasty Asayal). The nature ofthis expansion is not clarified here but itis surely associated with the bliss of emission (nsargdnandah) that was mentioned in ths context in TA 572 cited above, Jayaratha comments on Abhinavagupta’s remark in TA 29.122ab that women are distinguished from men by this natural power of expansion by quoting the following verse: tisthet serrontsarth prirnarh stdhako nitaoratak | siddhir bhavat yd tsya 54 dinaikena yositim “The success that a sticly observant [male] practitioner can achieve in a whole year, can be achieved by women in a single day.’ I propose that our authors believed that women are endowed by nature with the capacity to experience a sexual climax of much greater intensity than that accessible to men and held that this explains both thelr greater ability to experience in Kaula practice the blissful ascent through the central channel (madhyadhima, susumnd) of the fire of the vital energy termed udtnak and their unique ability to conceive, The passage of the Janmamaranavicara cited above contains a citation from the Clcakesseramata, a post-Abhinavaguptan Saiva scripture known to Jayaratha, that begins as follows, echoing TA 5.72 (somasdryakaldjdlaparasparanigharsatah | agnisomatmake dhamni viserginanda unis!) somastryarasllssparasparanighargandt | jatavedas sarjate madhyadhamavitasn’ | “otrydrupa(em. : vrdruna Ke)parhumavasad ahkurasabhavak “The mutual friction of the expanding pleasure of the moon and the aun gives rise toa fire that causes the centre (madhyadhdma) to open up. This brings about a change in the [mingled] semen and menstrual blood, transforming them into the Bist state [ofthe embryo- tobe) 35. For the outline of this Mandala see Sanderson 1986, p. 171. 36, See Sanderson, 1986, pp. 192-194.102 Samarasya everywhere equated with the three goddesses. So the ‘heart,’ which is the fusion of those powers and modes,” is none other than this fourth goddess. And this equation, though tacit in the opening verse, is not so everywhere. For after identifying the state of bliss arising from the union of Bhairava and his power with ‘the essence,’ ‘the heart and ‘absolute potential’ (visargah), the passage of the Tantraloka quoted above continues as. follows: deviyamalasastre st kathita kalakarsint | mahadamarake yage Sripardmastake tathd 70 \ Sriparoasastre sa matysadbhavatvena varnita 70¢ Srfpardmastake corr., as quoted in TV vol. 9 (15), p. 125, 1. 12 : Sripara mastake Keo It is called Kala[sarhJkarsint in the Devyayamalatantra, in [the section on] the Great Damara Mandala, [where she is worshipped] above Para; and it is called Matysadbhava in the Malintoijayottaratantra. In locating reality at this point at which the three goddesses of the Trika and the triads they express are absorbed into the goddess Kalasarhkarsini Abhinavagupta reveals an important key to his tradition’s exegesis of the Trika, namely, that at its highest level its dynamics are none other than those of the Kaula Krama system followed by the practitioners of esoteric Kali worship. For Kalasarhkarsini has been imported into the Trika, or imposed on it, under the pervasive influence of that tradition. Abhinavagupta alludes to this Krama core of his Trika at vital points throughout his exposition of the system.” Verse 2 vitatas tantraloko vigahiturm naiva Sakyate sarvaih | rjuoacanaviracitam idarh tu tantrasdrart tateh Synuta I 37. Cl. the opening benediction of the [PV on which Abhinavagupta invokes ‘the heart that is one with the three divine powers’ (Srsaktititaytviyogi hrdayar) 38, TA 370-716, For the term yigoh in the meaning ‘that on which [the deities] are worshipped” (atrejyanta it yoga, that isto say, the Mandala, see, eg, Mrgendra, Kriydptda 8.136; TA 31.454, 460-472, and Sab. For the use of the term [maht]dimarayagak to denote the variant of the trident Mandala taught by the Devyiyinala see TA 31.100ab. For the use of the term to denote the section of the work in which that Mandala is taught see TA 15.335cd and Jayaratha on TA 370 39. CE. TA 3330-31, here equating the three goddesses with emission, stasis, and retraction: "purl parpard (core. : parapara para Keo) camya sytisthtitirdhayah | matrsadbhaoarapa tu turya vigrintirucyate | tac “eapratasarh (em. : ea prakasem Keo) vaktrasthah sitar tu pede pede ‘Para, Parapars, and Apard are emission, stasis and retraction. But the scriptures teach a fourth, the state in which they come to rest. This is Matyadbhva, This fourth level] is not explicit, being a matter for oral instruction. But I have alluded to it at every step.’ Cf. TAV vol 1 (1), p: 150, Ik 3+: trikane pardiakttrayathidhtyaar Sista. iramah eatustaydrthak "The Teika is the doctrine that teaches the three Powers Para, [Partpara, and Aparal, The Krama is the doctrine ofthe four [: emission, stasis, retraction, and the nameless)”A Commentary on the Opening Verses of Tantrasara 108 Not all are capable of mastering in depth my long Tantraloka. Study, then, this Tantraséra, which I have composed as a more straightforward [summary of the same subject]. ‘The Tantraloka (Light on the Tantras) is Abhinavagupta’s most extensive work of Saiva scriptural exegesis.” Entirely in verse it comprises nearly 6,000 stanzas; and these are succinct in style and technical in content. The Tantrasara is about one sixth as long and is written in simple prose interspersed with verses that conveniently summarize the matter covered in each section. It also presents its subject more smoothly, sparing the student much of the philosophical arguments, digtessions, elaborations, and accounts of alternative procedures that abound in the Tantrdloka.* The title Tantrasdra could mean ‘The Essence of the Tantras’;* but the structure of the verse strongly suggests that -sira here means not ‘essence’ but ‘summary,’ the summarized being the subject covered in the longer Tantrdloka. For Abhinavagupta states here that his Tantnaloka is both too difficult and too long for some and then recommends his Tantrasara as the remedy, that is to say, as both a less complicated and a shorter treatment of the same subject. Either he could leave the reader to understand for himself that he is recommending the work for both these reasons, or he could make both reasons explicit. What he cannot do is to state one but not the other. This he would be doing unless we take the second, that of brevity, to be conveyed by the title itself, as I have indicated in the portion of my translation placed within parentheses. The title may be rendered, then, as "A Shorter Exposition of the Tantras.'* Having clarified the meaning of the element -sara we may now consider the identity of the Tantras which the first part of the title identifies as the subject-matter of our work. Since Abhinavagupta refers here to the Tantras in general rather than to a more restricted 40, The Sansiit also permits the translation “Light ofthe Tantra’ Thus Raniero Gnoli published his translation of the work into Italian (1999) under the ttle Lace dei Tanta, Jayaratha gives bot this and “Light on the Tantas’ asthe meaning ofthe tile in TAV wo. 1 (1), p. 256, I 1618: tant tanner amerika ills tan aokayat praaaati ot “In the Tantrlks,.fn| this [ork] which 2s it were, the light of the Tantras taught by Siva, or which illuminates them.” 42, See the marginal annotations in Tantrastre ms, P: (1) sraihaitatitgnatarksastapariranais‘TNot all [are capable of mastering in depth my voluminous Tantralot}, since [not all] have the [necessary] traning in rigorous reasoning’ and (2) ttgnatarkahinytrjutd [The Tantrasdra] is straightforward because its fre from rigorous reasoning’ The annotator echoes the opening words of Ksemarij's Prayetitahrdaye, his simple outline of the philosophical and soterological doctrines of Utpaladeva's Uvarapratyabiakarika, where he says that his purpose isto introduce the essence of that system to ‘those of undeveloped intellect, who have not laboured in the rigorous discipline of reasoning’ (sutunramatayo itattgtarkastraparsrart). 42, Thus Raniero Gro entitled his Italian translation of the Tanrasrs (1990) Essenaa det Tent 48, This is how the title is understood by the glossator in Tantrastra ms. Py stram arthdtspena tact sailseak sar, ie. an exposition with the implication of [non-essential] topics, a summary’ The literal meaning of the second half of the verse is: ‘But this Tantrasdra has been composed in straightforward language. Study it, therefore”