tantrasara-of-abhinavagupta-00abhiuoft.pdf

THE KASHMIR SERIESOF

TEXTS AND STUDIES.

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THE

TANTRASARAOF

ABHINAVA GUPTA.Edited with notes by

MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA

PANDIT MUKUND RAM SHASTR1,

Offlcer-in-Cliarge Eeseaxcli Department,

JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE,

SRINAGAR,

Published under the Authority of the Government of

His Highness Lieut.-General Maharaja

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

MAHARAJA OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE,

BOMBAY:

PRINTED AT THE 'NIRNAYA-SAQAR' PRESS,

1918.

PK313/ft 51

-..-

% f

808994 .

(All rights reserved).

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

23, Kolbhat Lane, Bombay.

Published by Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit

Mukund Ram Shastri for the Research Department,

Jammu and Kashmir State, SR1NAQAR.

t i

V

II ^ II

PREFATORY.

Before introducing the reader to the most abstruse

and technical contents of this philosophical work I take

this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the

owners of the manuscripts which have been made the

main bases of this edition of the Tantrasara, appearing

for the first time as volume XVII of the Kashmir Series

of Texts and Studies.

In all there were three manuscript copies used in

preparation of this work for the Press. The first of

these belonging to RajanakaSodarshana of Srinagar con-

sisted of 72 leaves of Kashmiri paper written in Sharada

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

It is a transcript of another older manuscript and bears

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

cription. As regards omissions and mistakes it is, how-

ever, not free from blemishes.

The second manuscript copy with which the above

was collated belongs to the collection of books bearing

on the Shaiva philosophy in general which one Rivat!

Raman of Southern India got copied during his visit to

Kashmir for acquisition of rare manuscripts. On his

death here in Kashmir these books fell into the hands

of his servants, and from one of them I bought this

manuscript copy of the Tantrasara for my personal use.

It is in Devanagiri characters and consists of 48 leaves

of old Kashmiri paper. Three more leaves which this

manuscript seems to have contained are lost. It is

generally incorrect and full of omissions.

The third and the most useful manuscript copy of

the Tantrasara was the one presented to me at Agra in

1912 A. D. A brief history of its acquisition would not

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

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

II PREFATORY,

of very old Kashmiri paper. It belongs to the

collection of books which one Manmohan Chandra of

Srinagar received as a heritage from his ancestors.

During the tenor of the Emperor Shah Jahan the great

Moghul's reign the aforesaid Manmohan Chandra left

Kashmir for Dehli and, rinding favour at the Emperor's

Court, settled down there. Of the precious books of

Manmohan Chandra's only about one fifth were available

when in 1895 A. D. on my visit to Agra I saw them

in a state of preservation with the widowed wife of

Kidar Nath, the source of all this information, being

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

Narayan Chandra, a descendent of Manmohan Chan-

dra. When I revisited this city in 1912, the widow-

ed wife of Kidar Nath who had no male issue byher deceased husband, found the further preservation

of the few remaining books a burden and willingly

presented them to me in the sanguine hope of their

utility in some way or the other. Of these the

Tantrasara written on very old Kashmiri paper in

Sharada characters is bound in one cover with ten more

books. 1 All of them appear to have been copied by one

and the same scribe, Krishna Swami, as stated byhimself at the end of Mahanaya Prakash, one of the

books of this collection, in two Shlokas which run thus:

: II

I

: II*

1. (a) Janma Marana Vichara; (b) Amaraugha Shasan;

(c) Mahanaya Prakasha; (d) Kama-kala-Vilas; (e) Vatula

Natha Sutra Vritti; (f) Munimata Vartikam, (g) Bhavopahara-

stotram Savivaranam, (h) Spanda Vivriti by Ram Kantha,

(i)Ajada Pramatri Siddhi, (j) Spanda Vritti by Kallata.

PREFATORY. Ill

It is generally correct and abounds in marginal

notes. It has been made the principle basis in prepa-

ration of this edition.

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

that among the Pandits of this Department RajanakaMaheshvara who assisted me in going through the

proofs, has my thanks.

Last though not least I gratefully acknowledge the

promptitude and efficacy with which the Proprietor,

Nirnaya-Sagar Press, Bombay, carried this work throughthe Press.

But it is the Kashmir Durbar to whose liberal

policy in matters of research into ancient Sanskrit

Literature every credit is due in bringing out the

literary books of this Department.

SEINAGAR, i -MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA,Dated Wth Nov. 1918. } PANDIT MUKUND BAM SHASTRI.

Officer I/O Research Department,

Jammu and Kashmir State.

ABSTRACT.

The individual self is the Supreme Self or God Him-

self, but with the only difference of being enwrappedwith the veil of ignorance resulting from Mala or im-

purity (classified under three heads, viz. Anava or little-

ness or limitation as regards self-knowledge; Maylya or

that caused by illusion; and Karma being the outcome

of our deeds, good or ill ).

That the individual self should realise himself as the

Supreme Self, the All-powerful Lord ( Parama Shiva ),

who is beyond time and space, dwelling in all beingsbut unaffected withal, like a crystal reflecting various

hues, sets forth in Agama Shastras or revelations of

divine authorship what is called Jnana or knowledgeof oneself as the Supreme Self. With the obtainment

of Jfiana the trammels of Mala as alluded to above

are cut asunder by dawning of the divine light on the

individual self.

Shaivagama coming under the category of AgamaShastras forms a short cut towards the approach of

Advaita Jnana or knowledge of the Supreme Self

( Parama Shiva ) as identical with that of the individual

self.

Just as the renaissance of the Vedanta system of

Philosophy was brought about by the great expounderof the system, Shankara, generally known as Shankara -

charya, in exactly the same manner the exposition of the

Advaita Shaivagama owes all its credit to the great pre-

ceptor, Abhinava Gupta, who following in every minute

detail the principles as laid down in the Malinivijaya

Tantra, a leading work of Shaivagama, composed the

voluminous work of Tantraloka which, as the name im-

plies, is a cyclopaedia of Shaivagama. Considering the

ABSTRACT. v

volume of the Tantraloka as onerous to less assiduous

people of later generations the aforesaid Abhinava

Gupta epitomised the contents thereof in what is called

the Tantrasfira, the subject of our discourse. In a

prelude to the Tantrasara the author points out the

necessity of the work in a verse which runs thus:

u'

In stating the aims of the book the author adds:

3^f^r:

<Tc[fisRJ

It will be interesting for the reader to know that

the present work lays down two ways by which the

individual self can realise how he is identical with the

Supreme Self. One way leads to this end irrespective

1 "My Tantraloka is much voluminous and as such its

thorough study will be trying to people of less assiduous

habits. The Tantrasara which is an epitome of the Tantraloka

will on a small scale be as useful to the reader as the

latter work."

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

worldly trammels. It has been termed as Mala or impurityin the Shastras. With the knowledge of oneself as the

Supreme Self such Mala is reduced to nothing, and the

stage thus arrived at is called Moksha or freedom from

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

brief explanation of the Tattvas or principles, the knowledgewhereof is indispensable for Self-realisation."

VI ABSTRACT.

of the performance of religious rites and ceremonies,

while the other constitutes the three Upayas or means

( Shambhava, Shakta and Anava ) based respectively on

Ichchha, Jnana and Kriya Shaktis of the SupremeLord. In this connection the author adds :

This book is divided into 22 ahnikas (ahnika,

signifying literally the work done in a day ) and for the

reader's facility the author finishes each ahnika or

chapter by one shloka, giving therein a gist of his detail-

ed discourse. For the reader's information a very brief

summary of the 22 ahnikas is given below :

The first treats of the various kinds of Vijnana or

the highest knowledge.

The second shows how by stability of meditation

on the significance of the all-important word, Aham,the individual self can realise his oneness with the

Supreme Self.

The third emphasises the Shambhavupaya as the

means for attainment of the highest Bliss.

The fourth dwells upon the Shakhtupaya as the

way leading to the same goal.

1 "The All-knowing Lord, Who is All-complete, suffers

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

power )and appear in the form of the Jiva or individual

self and to enable this Jiva to recognise his identity with

the Supreme Self brings to light the path of Jiiana in the

three ways named above."

ABSTRACT. VII

In the fifth the author deals with the Anavupaya

giving a detailed account of the functions of the Prana

and the Apana, the two vital spirits of the body, in the

form of recitation of prayers, postures of the body and

contemplation of mind.

The sixth contains an elaborate description of the

Kaladhva or the significance of Kala or time, beginningfrom the second, the minute, the hour, the night, the

day, the tithi ( time from one moon-rise to another

moon-rise ), the month, the year, in short up to the

Maha Pralaya ( dissolution of the whole universe ) as

based on the working of the Prana, and shows therebythe way of recognition.

The seventh shows how by stability of meditation

on the significance of the Tattvas, ( viz. from Prithvl

Tattva to Shakti Tattva ), enwrapped as they are with

the five-fold aspects of Parama Shiva's power and glory

Nivritti, Pratishtha, Vidya, Shanta and Shantyatlta

and on the relation existing between them and the

Kalagni-Rudra and other representatives of the Lord's

supremacy as also on the extent etc., of all the Bhuvanas,the individual self can realise oneself as the SupremeSelf. This is known as kaladhva.

The eighth deals with the way of contemplation on

the above-mentioned Tattvas and shows how by attain-

ingperfection of knowledge therein, the vision of the

Highest Reality dawns on the mind of the individual self.

In the ninth the forms of all the Tattvas, taken

one by one, are described and it is distinctly stated that

stability of meditation thereon is the way to recognitionof oneself as Parama Shiva.

The tenth describes the three ways Padadhva,Mantradhva and Varanadhva as penetrable in Kala-dhva referred to above, and laying special stress on

their relation with the Lord's five-fold power and glory,

points out the means for Self-knowledge.

VIII ABSTRACT.

In the eleventh it has been decidedly shown that

the benevolence of Parama Shiva is necessary for one to

become worthy of initiation which is another way for

attainment of Moksha by means of knowledge of the

Highest Reality.

The twelfth deals with the ordinances of bathing,

so to speak, in divine waters, as preliminary requisites

of initiation.

The thirteenth ascertains means as to test of effici-

ency of a certain disciple, termed "Samayi", for initia-

tion as also of "Dlksha Yajna" or rites connected

therewith.

The fourteenth likewise subjects to examination

another disciple by name "Putrak" and prescribes the

various courses of initiation which he must go throughas a preliminary measure.

The fifteenth contains the"Samut Kramana Diksha",

or initiation, by his descendants, for one about to die

but desirous of being initiated by grace of the Lord.

The sixteenth shows the way of initiation for him

who is dead or missing in another country. Such ini-

tiation can alone be made by the special grace of his

guru or preceptor.

The seventeenth enjoins how a man of another re-

ligious denomination can, if he so desire, be initiated in

Shaivaism after being freed from his former belief.

The eighteenth formulates the way in which an

initiate can obtain the position of a guru.

The nineteenth ordains re-initiation for one alreadyinitiated but having apostatised under circumstances

beyond his control, as also initiation, on his death, for

the other who may be desirous of obtaining this end but

may die before accomplishment of his heartfelt desire.

ABSTRACT. IX

The twentieth lays down the various religious

ordinances for an initiate, such as recitation of the

Mantras, study of the Scriptures, redemptions for

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

The twenty-first proves how among the Shastras

the Shaivagama is to be looked upon as an authority.

The twenty-second enunciates the internal and

external forms of "Kula Yajfia" or the special modes of

worship towards the Highest Reality.

Mahamaheshvara Abhinava Gupta, the author of

this work, is silent as to the date of its composition.But as, in his great work Tantraloka, he often quotes

from Tshvara Pratyabhijna Vimarshin!, which, he

himself says, was written by him in the year 4115of the Kali age, corresponding to 1014 A. D., it follows

that the former was composed after the year 1014A. D. Now the date of composition of the Tantrasara

which is an epitome of the Tantraloka must necessarilybe some time later than 1014 A. D.

As to the lineage of Abhinava Gupta and a brief

history of his age as well as of his literary activity, as

recorded by himself in his Tantraloka and other books,the reader's attention is invited to my introduction on

Para-Trimshika, forming volume XVIII of this Series.

SRINAGAR,^ Mahamahopadhyaya,

KASHMIR, i PANDIT MUKUND RAM SHASTR!.The 20th Nov. 1918. ) Officer I/O Research Department,

Jammu and Kashmir State.

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3931 The Tantrasara of

A52T4. Abhinava Gupta