MAP-630 Major Thinkers: Abhinavagupta

Wednesdays: 9:30-11:00 AM and Fridays: 11:30 AM-1:00 PM

Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities,

January-May Semester, 2018

Instructor: Mrinal Kaul -- mrinal.kaul@manipal.edu

Office Phone: 0820-29-23567 Extn: 23567
Office hours: Saturdays: 2-4 PM and Fridays: 2-4 PM or by appointment
Location: LH 1

Course Description:

This course is meant to introduce students to one of the major thinkers in pre-modern South
Asia—Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta (fl.c. 975-1025 CE), the non-dualist Trika Śaiva thinker
of Kashmir and an unusual literary figure, is recognized for his major contributions to
diverse domains of knowledge, primarily philosophy, theology, and aesthetics. He is usually
associated either with what is popularly known as ‘Kashmir Śaivism’ or with the Sanskrit
aesthetic theory of rasa (“relish”). The former is an historically problematic designation for
non-dualist Śaivism, of which Abhinavagupta is one of the main representatives.

This course will explore the philosophical problems discussed in the tradition of Śaiva non-
dualism mainly focusing Abhinavagupta. A few themes to be discussed would be the
Metaphysics of Light, Theory of Error, Consciousness, Erotic Mysticism, Absolutism,
Transcendental Recognition, Theory of Speech, Theory of Manifestation, Cosmology,
Ontology, Aesthetics, Bondage and Liberation, Grace etc.

Grading and Course Requirements

Class Assignments: 35% (this will also include 5% presentation)

Midterm Exam: 20%
Final Paper: 35%
Participation: 10%

Class Assignments: There are total of 3 assignments due for this course and the deadline for
each assignment is mentioned below. Each assignment should be 2000 words, double
spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman font. Specify the page numbers. All assignments
should mention the word count. These assignments should not be done in a hurry or at the
last minute, as the grades given for sloppily written or weakly supported critiques will suffer
accordingly. Grammar and spelling mistakes will not be corrected by the instructor, but they
will result in a reduced grade.

No e-mail submissions will be accepted; hard copies must be submitted in class on the date they
are due. Late papers will not be accepted. No “make-up” papers will be allowed. Think

1
ahead, and please do not ask for exceptions. In cases where a student fails to turn in three
papers total, each during the assigned week, at the end of the semester a “zero” grade will
be recorded for each missing paper. All work submitted must be exclusively your own.

All late assignments will be penalized. A paper that is 2 days late will be marked starting at
B; a paper that is one week late will be marked starting at C. Papers more than one week late
will not be accepted and will receive 0 marks. Of course, if the student has a doctor's note
explaining the lateness, then the paper is accepted as is. Lastly, all students found guilty of
plagiarism will be formally charged under the University's code of conduct.

Class Presentation: The ‘class assignments’ will also include a 5% presentation component
by a student for about 15-20 minutes on any topic relevant to the theme of the course. The
topic should be finalised before presentation in consultation with the instructor. The
presentations those are not found up to the mark will be given “zero”.

Class participation: 10% of the final grade is allotted for: i) active in-class participation and
ii) in-class reflection on what you found most interesting about the assigned reading.
Students are expected to come to class having read the assigned material in order to
contribute to class discussion, raise questions and demonstrate their understanding in
written course assignments.

Absences: If you miss class or arrive late, you are absent. Do not contact the instructor about
the content of missed lectures. It is your responsibility to find out from classmates about
subjects discussed in your absence.

Course Schedule

1 3/5 January Introduction

2 10/12 January
3 17/19 January
4 24 January
5 31 Jan/2 Feb Assignment due on 31
6 7/9 February
7 Midterm week
8 Reschedule
9 Reschedule
10 Reschedule
11 14/16 March Assignment due on 16
12 21/23 March
13 28/30 March
14 4/6 April Assignment due on 6

2
 15 11/13 April
16 18/20 April

(Please note: in the event of unforeseen circumstances, the above schedule and evaluation could be
subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.)

Required Readings:

Indian Philosophy (5 January)

Smart, Ninian (1989) ‘The Analogy of Meaning and the Tasks of Comparative Philosophy’, In
Interpreting Across Boundaries, In Interpreting Across Boundaries: New Essays in
Comparative Philosophy, Gerald James Larson and Eliot Deutsch (eds.), pp. 174-183,
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (Reprint: Princenton University Press, 2014).
Krishna, Daya. (1989) ‘Comparative Philosophy: What It Is and What it Ought to Be’, In
Interpreting Across Boundaries: New Essays in Comparative Philosophy, Gerald James
Larson and Eliot Deutsch (eds.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (Reprint: Princenton
University Press, 2014).

Introduction (10 and 12 January)

Required Readings:

Muller-Ortega, Paul. (1989) The Triadic Heart of Śiva. Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the
non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir (SUNY Series in the Shaiva traditions of Kashmir)
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989; Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications,
1997.
Torella, Raffaele. (2002) The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā of Utpaladeva with the Author’s Vṛtti.
Critical edition and annotated translation, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (1st ed. appeared
as Serie Orientale Roma 71, Rome: IsMEO, 1994.)

Recommended Readings:

Rastogi, Navjivan. (2003) ‘Re-Accessing Abhinavagupta’, In N.B. Patil and Mrinal Kaul
‘Martand’ (eds.), In The Variegated Plumage: Encounters with Indian Philosophy, SSRI,
Jammu/MLBD, Delhi. pp. 135-153.
Lawrence, David. (2012) ‘Abhinavagupta’ Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, ed. Knut A.
Jacobsen et al (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2012)

3
Metaphysics of Light

Muller-Ortega, Paul. (2004) ‘Luminous Consciousness: Light in the Tantric Mysticism of

Abhinavagupta’ in The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance and Religious Experience, The
University of Chicago Press, pp. 45-79.
Bäumer, Bettina. (2008). ‘Light and Reflection: The Metaphysical Background of Aesthetics in
Kashmir Śaivism’ In Aesthetic Theories and Forms in Indian Tradition, ed. Kapila
Vatsyayan and D.P. Chattopadhyaya, History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in
Indian Civilization, Centre for Studies in Civilization, New Delhi, pp. 127-147.
Watson, Alex. (2013) ‘Light as an Analogy for Cognition in Buddhist Idealism
(Vijñānavāda)’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Published online.

Theory of Reflection

Ratié, Isabelle. (forthcoming) ‘An Indian debate on optical reflections and its metaphysical
implications : Śaiva nondualism and the mirror of consciousness’, J. Tuske (ed.),
Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics, Bloomsbury, London
Lawrence, David P. (2005) ‘Remarks on Abhinavagupta's Use of the Analogy of Reflection’.
Journal of Indian Philosophy, 33, pp. 583–599.
Kaul, Mrinal. (forthcoming) ‘Abhinavagupta on Reflection’ (unpublished draft).

Imagination

Ratié, Isabelle. (2011b) ‘Can One Prove that Something Exists Beyond Consciousness? A
Śaiva Criticism of the Sautrāntika Inference of External Objects’, Journal of Indian
Philosophy, 39 (4-5), pp. 479-501
Ratié, Isabelle. (2010b) ‘A five-trunked, four-tusked elephant is running in the sky – How
free is imagination according to Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta?’, Études Asiatiques /
Asiatische Studien, pp. 341-385
Ratié, Isabelle. (2010a). ‘The Dreamer and the Yogin: On the relationship between Buddhist
and Śaiva idealisms’. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 73(3), pp.
437–478.

Transcendental Recognition

Rastogi, Navjivan. (1977) ‘Recognition in Pratyabhijñā school: a study in epistemology’,

ABORI, 58-59, 1977-78, pp. 841-861.

Logical-Epistemological

Torella, Raffaele. (1992) ‘The Pratyabhijñā and the Logical-Epistemological School of

Buddhism’, In Ritual and Speculation in Early Tantrism. Studies in Honour of André
Padoux, ed. T. Goudriaan. Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 327-345.

4
Ratié, Isabelle. (2013) ‘On the Distinction Between Epistemic and Metaphysical Buddhist
Idealism: A Śaiva Perspective’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Published online: 05
September 2013.
Lawrence, David P. (1996) ‘Tantric Argument: The Transfiguration of Philosophical
Discourse in the Pratyabhijñā System of Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta’. Philosophy
East and West, 46(2), pp. 165–204.
Lawrence, David P. (1998) ‘Śiva's Self-Recognition and the Problem of Interpretation’.
Philosophy East and West, 48(2), pp. 197–231.

Theory of Error

Rastogi, Navjivan. (1986) ‘Theory of Error According to Abhinavagupta’, Journal of Indian

Philosophy, 14, pp. 1–33.
Nemec, John. (2012) ‘The Two Pratyabhijñā Theories of Error’, Journal of Indian Philosophy 40
(2), pp. 225-257.

Language/Speech

Torella, Raffaele. (1999a) ‘“Devī Uvāca,” or the Theology of the Present Tense’. Journal of
Indian Philosophy, 27, pp. 129–138.
Torella, Raffaele. (2001) ‘The Word in Abhinavagupta's Bṛhad-Vimarśinī’, in: Raffaele Torella
et al. (ed.) Le parole e i marmi. Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70° compleanno,
Serie Orientale Roma 92.1–2, IsIAO, Rome, pp. 853–874.
Torella, Raffaele. (2004). ‘How is Verbal Signification Possible: Understanding
Abhinavagupta's Reply’, Journal of Indian Philosophy 32, pp. 173–188.
Rastogi, Navjivan. (2009) ‘Vāk as Pratyavamarśa: Bhartṛhari from Abhinavan Perspective’ In
Bhartṛhari: Language, Thought and Reality, ed. Mithilesh Chaturvedi, MLBD, Delhi, pp.
301-342.
Lawrence, David P. (2014) ‘The Linguistics and Cosmology of Agency in Nondual Kashmiri
Śaiva Thought’, In Matthew R. Dasti & Edwin F. Bryant (eds.), Free Will, Agency, and
Selfhood in Indian Philosophy. Oxford University Press
Lawrence, David P. (2008) ‘Abhinavagupta's Philosophical Hermeneutics of Grammatical
Persons’. The Journal of Hindu Studies, 1(1-2), pp. 11–25.
Lawrence, David P. (1998) ‘The Mythico-Ritual Syntax of Omnipotence’. Philosophy East and
West, 48(4), pp. 592–622.
Biernacki, Loriliai. (2013) ‘Panentheism and Hindu Tantra: Abhinavagupta’s Grammatical
Cosmology’. In Loriliai Biernacki & Philip Clayton, eds., God’s Body: Panentheism
Across the World’s Religious Traditions (New York: Oxford University Press): pp.
161-176.

Ontology and Causality

5
Allen, Keith Maurice (2003) Causality in Kashmiri Śaivism: A Translation and Study of
Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka Chapter Nine Verses 1-49 and Jayaratha’s Commentary.
Unpublished M.A. thesis presented at The University of Texas at Austin, 2003.
Kaul, Mrinal. (2017) ‘Ontological Hierarchy in the Tantrāloka of Abhinavagupta’, In the
Tantrapuṣpāñjali: A Commemoration Volume for Pandit H.N. Chakravarty, Indira
Gandhi Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, Eds. Bettina Bäumer & Hamsa Stainton

Erotic Mysticism and Body

Skora, K. M. (2007). ‘Abhinavagupta's Erotic Mysticism: The Reconciliation of Spirit and

Flesh’. International Journal of Hindu Studies 11, 1 (2007), pp. 63-88.
Skora, K. M. (2013). ‘The Bodily Efflorescence of Words: The Crossing of Divine-Voice and
the Body-Self in Abhinavagupta’s Cosmology’, Southeast Review of Asian Studies
Volume 35 (2013): 70-89
Skora, K. M. (2007). ‘The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in
Abhinavagupta's Trika’, Numen 54 (420-458).
Skora, K. M. (2009). ‘The Hermeneutics of Touch: Uncovering Abhinavagupta’s Tactile
Terrain’, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 21 (2009) 87-106

Grace

Wallis, Christopher (2008). ‘The Descent of Power: Possession, Mysticism, and Initiation in
the Śaiva Theology of Abhinavagupta’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 36,
Issue 2, pp 247–295

Liberation/Bondage

Muller-Ortega, Paul. (2005) ‘‘tarko yogāṅgam uttamam’ : On Subtle Knowledge and the
Refinement of Thought in Abhinavagupta’s Liberative Tantric Method’. In Theory and
Practice of Yoga Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen.
pp. 181-212. BRILL, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Muller-Ortega, Paul. (1996) ‘Aspects of Jīvanmukti in the Tantric Śaivism of Kashmir’, Fort/
Mumme, pp. 187-217.

Aesthetics

Lawrence, David P. (2013) ‘The Disclosure of Śakti in Aesthetics: Remarks on the Relation of
Abhinavagupta’s Poetics and Nondual Kashmiri Śaivism’. In Southeast Review of Asian
Studies (SERAS), Volume 25: pp. 90-102.
Cuneo, Daniele. (2016) ‘Detonating or Defusing Desire: From Utpaladeva’s Ecstatic
Aesthetics to Abhinavagupta’s Ecumenical Art Theory’ In Torella, Raffaele and
Bäumer, Bettina (eds.). Utpaladeva, Philosopher of Recognition, DK Printworld, Delhi.

6
Cuneo, Daniele. (2015) ‘Rasa: Abhinavagupta on the Purpose(s) of Art’. In Nair Sreenath, ed.,
The Natyashastra and the Body in Performance: Essays on Indian Theories of Dance and
Drama (New York: McFarland): pp. 72-88.

Additional/Recommended Readings:

Allen, Keith. (2011) Being Known According to Abhinavagupta, A doctoral thesis submitted to
the University of Oxford, 2011.
Bansat-Boudon, Lyne and Tripathi, Kamalesha Datta (2011). An Introduction to Tantric
philosophy. The Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta with the commentary of Yogarāja,
translated; introduction, notes, critically revised Sanskrit text, appendix, indices by
Lyne Bansat-Boudon. Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions, Routledge, London.
Bäumer, Bettina. (2011) Abhinavagupta’s Hermeneutics of the Absolute - Anuttaraprakriyā - An
Interpretation of his Parātriśikāvivaraṇa, IIAS, Shimla / DK Printworld, New Delhi.
Dupuche, John (2003) Abhinavagupta The Kula Ritual As Elaborated in Chapter 29 of the
Tantrāloka. Delhi: MLBD.
Dyczkowski, Mark S. G., trans. (1992) The Stanzas on Vibration: The Spandakārikā with Four
Commentaries: The Spandasaṃdoha by Kṣemarāja; the Spandavṛtti by Kallaṭabhaṭṭa; the
Spandavivṛti by Rājānaka Rāma; [and] the Spandapradīpikā by Bhagavadutpala. Albany:
State University of New York Press.
Dyczkowski, Mark S.G. (1987) The Doctrine of Vibration : An Analysis of Doctrine and Practices
of Kashmir Shaivism, State University of New York Press, Albany.
Gnoli, Raniero. (1962) The Aesthetic Experience according to Abhinavagupta, Benares (SOR,
Roma 19561).
Hanneder, Jürgen (1998) Abhinavagupta’s Philosophy of Revelation. An edition and annotated
translation of Mālinīślokavārttika I, 1–399. Groningen Oriental Series Volume XIV.
Groningen: Egbert Forsten.
Lawrence, David P. (2000) Rediscovering God with Transcendental Argument A Contemporary
Interpretation of Monistic Kashmiri Śaiva Philosophy, Sri Garib Das Oriental Series
No. 252. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
Masson, J.L. and Patwardhan, M.V. (1969) Śāntarasa and Abhinavagupta’s Philosophy of
Aesthetics, Bhandarkar Oriental Series No. 9, BORI, Poona.
Nemec, John. (2011) The Ubiquitous Śiva. Somānanda’s Śivadṛṣṭi and his Tantric Interlocutors,
Oxford University Press, Oxford - New York
Padoux, André. (1992) Vāc - The Concept of Word in Selected Hindu Tantras. (translated by
Jacques Gontier). Sri Garib Dass Oriental Series No.155. Delhi.
Rastogi, Navjivan. (2013b) ‘Quintessentiality of Camatkāra in Rasa Experience: Revisiting
Abhinavagupta’. In Navjivan Rastogi and Meera Rastogi, eds., Abhinavā: Perspectives
on Abhinavagupta, Studies in Memory of K.C. Pandey on his Centenary (Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal): pp. 429-455.
Ratié, Isabelle. (2007) ‘Otherness in the Pratyabhijña Philosophy’, Journal of Indian Philosophy,
35 (4), pp. 313-370

7
Ratié, Isabelle. (2009) ‘Remarks on Compassion and Altruism in the Pratyabhijñā
Philosophy’. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 37(4), pp. 349–366.
Ratié, Isabelle. (2011a) Le Soi et l’Autre. Identité, différence et altérité dans la philosophie de la
Pratyabhijñā, Brill, Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture 13, Boston-Leiden
Ratié, Isabelle. (2014) ‘A Śaiva Interpretation of the Satkāryavaāda: The Sāṃkhya Notion of
Abhivyakti and Its transformation in the Pratyabhijñā Treatise’ In Journal of Indian
Philosophy, 42, pp. 127-172.
Ratié, Isabelle. (2016a) ‘Some hitherto unknown fragments of Utpaladeva’s Vivṛti (I) : on the
Buddhist controversy over the existence of other conscious streams’, in R. Torella and
B. Bäumer (eds.), Utpaladeva, Philosopher of Recognition, DK Printworld, Delhi, 2016.
Ratié, Isabelle. (2016b) ‘In Search of Utpaladeva’s Lost Vivṛti on the Pratyabhijñā Treatise: A
Report on the Latest Discoveries (with the Vivṛti on the End of Chapter 1.8)‘, In
Journal of Indian Philosophy, published online on 20 June 2016. DOI 10.1007/
s10781-016-9302-2
Sanderson, Alexis. (2005) ‘A Commentary on the Opening Verses of the Tantrāsara of
Abhinavagupta’. In Sāmarasya. Studies in Indian Arts, Philosophy, and Interreligious
Dialogue, edited by Sadananda Das and Ernst Fürlinger, pp. 89-148. New Delhi:
D.K.Printworld.