Para-trisika-Vivarana of Abhinavagupta

The Paratrisika (or Paratrimsika) is a short Tantra which has been held in the highest esteem by Kashmir Saivism or Trika. After Somananda, Abhinavagupta has written two commentaries on it, a short one (Laghuvrtti) and an extensive one the present Vivarana which is presented here for the first time in an English translation.

The Paratrisika Vivarana is one of the most fascinating but also most difficult texts of the Kashmir Saiva School and of the mystical philosophical literature of India as a whole. It deals with Ultimate Reality (anuttara or para) and with the methods of realization, centred above all in the theory and practice of the mantra. Abhinavagupta displays here his great exegetical genius and presents a penetrating metaphysics of language, of the Word (vak) and its various stages in relation to consciousness. His language reflects in a luminous fashion the mystical experience contained in this text.

The present translation of Abhinavagupta's masterpiece will not only be a milestone in the study of Kashmir Saivism, but it also makes available one of the major mystical texts of the Indian tradition to readers interested in philosophy and spirituality

About the Author

Jaideva Singh (1893-1986) was a great scholar in musicology, philosophy and Sanskrit. A former principal of Y.D. College, Lakhimpurkheri, also acted as a Chairman of U.P. Sangit Natak Academi. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1974. His other works include Siva-Sutras, Spanda-Karika, Pratyabhijnahrdayam, and Vijnanabhairava.

Swami Lakshmanjee, Saivacarya, was the greatest exponent of the Kashmir Saiva tradition or Trika.

Dr. Bettina Baumer, a Sanskrit scholar from Austria, is at present the research director of the Alice Boner Foundation and Hon. Project Coordinator of the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts.

Preface

The last six years of Thakur Jaideva Singh's life were devoted to the study of the Paratrisika Vivarana of Abhinavagupta with that full concentration of which he was still capable at the ripe age of 93. He did not have the satisfaction of seeing the fruit of his labours in published form. After a short but severe illness, he passed away on 27th May 1986.

Jaideva Singh spent two summers in Kashmir (1980-81) to study this difficult text at the feet of his Guru Swami Lakshmanjee, the only living representative of the full Kashmir Saiva tradition both in its theory and practice, sastra and yoga. Without his understanding of the tradition and illuminating exposition, this text would have remained obscure. Swamiji has corrected the Sanskrit text published by the Kashmir Series (KSTS), which contained many mistakes, basing his emendations both on the available manuscript material and on the tradition. He has also devised charts illustrating the text. After completing the translation, Jaideva Singh spent two years preparing a lengthy introduction. He read many Sanskrit texts and other works of philosophy and mysticism, but unfortunately, he did not leave behind any notes for the planned introduction, which he had not committed to paper before his illness. The day before he was admitted to the hospital, he said to me, as if it were his final testament: "Kashmir Saivism is the culmination of Indian thought and spirituality." In a sense, this text led him to his own fulfilment, which may be expressed in the words of the Paratrisika: anuttara, Ultimate Reality, or khecari-samata, identification with the universal Consciousness.

After his death, the task of editing the book was entrusted to me. Pandit H.N. Chakravarty helped in revising the text and translation, for which we would like to express our gratitude. The author's translation, which was partly handwritten and evidenced many corrections, had to be edited and retyped. With the exception of very few corrections, his translation has been left unchanged. It should perhaps be mentioned that sometimes his own "exposition", without which the text would not be understandable, has been inserted in the translation. Except at a few places where brackets have been added to indicate the additions, no attempt has been made to change the style of the translator. In this last work, Jaideva Singh has shown his full mastery of the art of translation, which means more than a literal correspondence to the original. In spite of the great difficulties of both language and content, he has succeeded in bringing out the originality of Abhinavagupta's thoughts and the beauty of his language.

While Jaideva Singh was working on the text, two other translations of it were published: One in Hindi by Nilkanth Gurtoo which he saw before completing his work, and the other in Italian by R. Gnoli which he had no time to compare with his own since he received it when he was already ill.

The present Preface can in no way be a substitute for the author's introduction that he was prevented by illness from writing. It is only intended as a help towards situating the book in its proper context, without claiming to be a study of its contents, tempting though such a study would be. This is one of the deepest and most difficult texts of Kashmir Saivism or Trika in general and of Abhinavagupta in particular, and the present translation can become the starting point for further research, not only in the field of Kashmir Saivism but of comparative mysticism as well.

Abhinavagupta wrote two commentaries on this short and condensed Tantric text: one called Laghuvrtti (Short Commentary) and also called Anuttaratattvavimarsini ("Reflection on the Ultimate Reality"), and this present Paratrisika Vivarana, which he also calls Tattvaviveka or Tattvavivarana and Anuttaraprakriya in his Tantraloka (IX, 313 with Jayaratha's Comm.: anuttaraprakriyayam iti sriparatrisikavivaranadau ityarthah, Vol. VI, p. 249). Since this text is quoted in the Tantraloka, Abhinavagupta must have written it before his magnum opus. The two commentaries differ not only in length but also in interpretation. The commentated text, which consists of only 36 verses and which is supposed to be a part, or indeed the essence of Rudrayamala (Tantra) is generally known as Paratrimsika, "The Thirty Verses on the Supreme". Abhinavagupta however rejects this title because there are actually more than thirty verses, and because he prefers the title which indicates the meaning of the text: Paratrisika. This title, accepted by him, is explained as "The Supreme Goddess of the Three", or more explicitly: "The Supreme Goddess who transcends and is identical with the Trinity (Trika)." The "three" refers to the three Saktis: iccha (will), jnana (knowledge) and kriya (activity), or para, parapara and apara, or else the three states of srsti, sthiti and samhara, and a fortiori to the content of the Trika, i.e., Siva, Sakti and nara. Another possible title, one given by Abhinavagupta's predecessors, was Paratrimsaka, which is explained by them as: "That which speaks out (kayati) the three (tri) Saktis (sa) of the Supreme (para)."

The Paratrisika has also been called Anuttarasutra by the earlier teachers, "The Sutra or essence of the Unsurpassable, the Ultimate Reality" (p. 276, KSTS), and elsewhere Trikasutra, which Jayaratha explains as: sritrikasutra iti, trikaprameyasucikayamsri-paratrisikayam ityarthah (Tantraloka XII, 15, vol. VII, p. 101). This shows the great importance given by Kashmir Saivism to this revealed text as the "index to the entire subject-matter of Trika system. In fact it is one of the most authoritative and venerated texts, along with Malinivijaya Tantra (mostly called Purvasastra by Abhinava). This importance is also proved by the fact that Somananda wrote a commentary on the Paratrisika called Vivrti, which is unfortunately lost and to which Abhinavagupta frequently refers. Maybe some obscure passages of Somananda's Vivrti. Other commentaries quoted by Abhinavagupta are also not available at present, namely those of Kalyana and Bhavabhuti. There is a later commentary by Laksmirama (alias Lasakaka, 18th-19th cent.)", and others about which we have little knowledge.

The Tantra is in the usual form of question and answer-a fact which itself becomes the subject of metaphysical reflection for Abhinavagupta: Bhairava answers the questions of Devi, which are related to the "great secret" (etad guhyam mahaguhyam…, v. 2-this also justifies the English subtitle). Abhinavagupta also calls it trikasastra-rahasya-upadesa ("The teaching of the secret of Trika doctrine," p. 52, KSTS), and he makes it clear that this is not a text for beginners but for advanced disciples or even for enlightened ones: nijasisya-vibodhaya prabuddha-smaranaya ca (V. 5 of his introductory verses). He thus presupposes in his readers both knowledge of the Trika doctrines as well as a spiritual experience. This expression of his shows precisely the function of such a text: to enlighten those who are still on the way and to remind the enlightened ones of their own experience. Simultaneously.

The language of both text and commentary is very often a secret language, used on purpose to hide the real meaning from the uninitiated. Not only that, but most words, verses or passages have a double meaning and can be interpreted on several. Levels, e.g. on the levels of para, parapara and apara, or in the context of sambhava or sakta upaya, etc. The translation contains these different possibilities of interpretation. It should also be mentioned here that the verses in Apabhramsa have not been given in the translation because their language is no longer understood even by Kashmiri Pandits.

Abhinavagupta's interpretation of the verses is variable in the sense that he dwells at great length on the first nine verses but gives a much shorter commentary on the latter part of the Tantra. The interpretation of the very first verse alone covers 50 pages of the printed text in the Kashmir Series edition. In order to understand Abhinavagupta's approach we must be aware of the importance of sacred language and of a revealed text. Since the Tantra is also called a Sutra, he says that a Sutra contains manifold meanings and can be interpreted in a variety of ways which does not however means in an arbitrary fashion. He thus shows his full mastery of exegesis, taking every word of the Tantra to its extreme possibilities of interpretation. The best example of his hermeneutical genius is to be found in the sixteen interpretations of the term anuttara-even the number 16 is significant because it indicates completeness or fullness. Abhinavagupta's exegetic approach consists in combining fidelity to the text with an incredible freshness and originality. In the Indian tradition, there are certain commentators who distort the original text in order to superimpose their own view on it and others who blindly follow to the letter the text in question. Abhinavagupta's genius is to infuse life into each syllable of the text.