An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy: The Paramārthasāra of Abhinavagupta with the Commentary of Yogarāja

474 Pages·2011·21.881 MB·English

by  Abhinavagupta, Lyne Bansat-Boudon, Kamalesha Datta Tripathi

An Introduction to
Tantric Philosophy
The Paramarthasara of
Abhinavagupta with the
Commentary of Yogaraja
Translated by
Lyne Bansat-Boudon and
Kamaleshadatta Tripathi
Introduction, notes, critically revised
Sanskrit text, appendix, indices by
Lyne Bansat-Boudon
Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions
AN INTRODUCTION TO TANTRIC PHILOSOPHY
The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta
with the Commentary of Yogarâja
The Paramarthasara, or ‘Essence of Ultimate Reality*, is a work of the Kashmirian
polymath Abhinavagupta (tenth-eleventh centuries). It is a brief treatise in which
the author outlines the doctrine of which he is a notable exponent, namely non-
dualistic Éaivism, which he designates in his works as the Trika, or ‘Triad* of three
principles: £iva, Éakti and the embodied soul (nara).
The main interest of the Paramarthasara is not only that it serves as an intro­
duction to the established doctrine of a tradition, but also advances the notion of
jlvanmukti, ‘liberation in this life*, as its core theme. Further, it does not confine
itself to an exposition of the doctrine as such but at times hints at a second sense
lying beneath the evident sense, namely esoteric techniques and practices that are
at the heart of the philosophical discourse. Its commentator, Yogarâja (eleventh
century), excels in detecting and clarifying those various levels of meaning.
An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy presents, along with a critically revised
Sanskrit text, the first annotated English translation of both Abhinavagupta*s
Paramarthasara and Yogaraja’s commentary.
This book will be of interest to Indologists, as well as to specialists and students
of Religion, Tantric studies and Philosophy.
Lyne Bansat-Boudon is Professor in the Section des sciences religieuses at
the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) in Paris, and an Honorary Senior
Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF). Her main fields of research
are Sanskrit Literature and Poetics, Aesthetics and the Éaiva tradition.
She published in 1992 Poétique du théâtre indien. Lectures du *Nàtyaiâstra\ and,
in 2006, as the chief editor of the volume and a translator, Théâtre de Vînde an-
derme, Gallimard (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade).
Kamaleshadatta Tripathi is Emeritus Professor at the Benares Hindu Univer­
sity, India, where he was Dean of the Faculty of Sanskrit Learning and Theology
and Head of the Department of Religious and Agamic Studies. For several years
he also was the director of the Kâlidâsa Akademi in Ujjain. His research interests
include Agamic Philosophy, Hindu Theology, Philosophy of Grammar, Sanskrit
Literature, Poetics and Aesthetics.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN TANTRIC TRADITIONS
Series Editor: Professor Gavin Flood, University of Stirling
The Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions series is a major new mono­
graph series which has been established to publish scholarship on South,
East and Southeast Asian tantric traditions. The series aims to promote the
serious study of both Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions through the
publication of anthropological and textual studies and will not be limited
to any one method. Indeed, the series would hope to promote the view
that anthropological studies can be informed by texts and textual studies
informed by anthropology. The series will therefore publish contempo­
rary ethnographies from different regions, philological studies, philosoph­
ical studies, and historical studies of different periods which contribute to
the academic endeavour to understand the role of tantric texts and their
meaning in particular cultural contexts. In this way, the series will hope
to establish what the continuities and divergencies are between Buddhist
and Hindu tantric traditions and between different regions. The series
will be a major contribution to the fields of Indology, Sinology, History of
Religions, and Anthropology.
IDENTITY, RITUAL AND STATE IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM
Martin A. Mills
THE KHECARlVIDYA OF ADINATHA
A critical edition and annotated translation of an early text of hathayoga
James Mallinson
AN INTRODUCTION TO TANTRIC PHILOSOPHY
The Paramdrthasara of Abhinavagupta with the Commentary of Yogaraja
Lyne Bansat-Doudon and Kamaleshadatta Tripathi
AN INTRODUCTION TO TANTRIC PHILOSOPHY
The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta
with the Commentary of Yogarâja
Translated by
Lyne Bansat-Boudon and Kamaleshadatta Tripathi
Introduction, notes, critically revised
Sanskrit text, appendix, indices by
Lyne Bansat-Boudon
R
Routledge
Îaylor & F rancis Croup
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2011 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2011 Lyne Bansat-Boudon and Kamaleshadatta Tripathi
Printed and bound in Great Britain by The MPG Books Group in the UK
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN 978-0-415-34669-6 (hbk)
ISBN 978-0-203-84593-6 (ebk)
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. The two Paramarthasara 1
1.1. The Paramarthasara of Adisesa 2
1.2. Rewriting 7
2. The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta 19
2.1. The text and its commentator 19
2.2. Structure of the text 23
2.3. Sketch of the doctrine 32
Translation 59
Karika 1 61
Karikas 2-3 72
Karika 4 76
Karika 5 82
Karika 6 88
Karika 7 92
Karika 8 96
Karika 9 99
Karikas 10-11 104
Karikas 12-13 111
Karika 14 117
Karika 15 126
Karika 16 129
Karika 17 131
Karika 18 136
Karika 19 138
Karika 20 141
Karika 21 142
Karika 22 144
v
CONTENTS
Karika 23 145
Karika 24 147
Karika 25 149
Karika 26 150
Karika 27 152
Karika 28 161
Karika 29 163
Karika 30 164
Karika 31 166
Karika 32 169
Karika 33 173
Karika 34 175
Karika 35 177
Karika 36 184
Karika 37 187
Karika 38 190
Karika 39 191
Karika 40 193
Karika 41 195
Karika 42 199
Karika 43 200
Karika 44 206
Karika 45 207
Karika 46 209
Karikas 47-50 210
Karika 51 215
Karika 52 217
Karika 53 217
Karika 54 219
Karika 55 219
Karika 56 220
Karika 57 222
Karika 58 223
Karika 59 225
Karika 60 227
Karika 61 231
Karika 62 232
Karika 63 234
Karikas 64-66 237
Karika 67 240
Karika 68 243
Karika 69 245
Karika 70 247
CONTENTS vii
Kârikâ 71 248
Kàrikâ 72 250
Kârikâ 73 251
Kârikâ 74 252
Kârikâ 75 255
Kârikâ 76 258
Kârikâ 77 260
Kàrikâ 78 261
Kârikâs 79-80 265
Kàrikâ 81 270
Kàrikâ 82 271
Kârikâ 83 272
Kàrikâ 84 278
Kârikâs 85-86 279
Kârikâs 87-88 282
Kàrikâ 89 285
Kârikâs 90-91 287
Kârikâs 92-93 290
Kârikâs 94-95 292
Kârikâ 96 299
Kârikâ 97 301
Kârikâs 98-99 304
Kârikâs100-101 306
Kârikâ 102 308
Kàrikâ 103 311
Kârikâ 104 313
Kârikâ 105 315
Appendix 317
Sanskrit text 347
On the Sanskrit text 347
List of typographical errors corrected 348
List of variants in some collated passages 348
Description of the manuscripts consulted 352
Text 356
Bibliography 407
Abbreviations 407
Sources (editions and translations) 410
Studies 428
Index 437
viii CONTENTS
Index locorum 453
Anthology of spiritual experience 461
Preface
In the text, karikas and pratlkas are set in boldface.
In general, an effort has been made to limit citation of Sanskrit terms
in parentheses. However, it has been judged desirable to make the basic
vocabulary of the doctrine visible to the reader. Thus, the Sanskrit term
is instanced
— when it designates a key notion of the Trika, or one of its favorite
metaphors, and at its first occurrence,
— when it is required in order to grasp the sense of a gloss (e.g., ad 33,
where krida is glossed by khela)y
— in order to take note of the more or less uniform translation of di­
verse, but essentially synonymous, Sanskrit terms, e.g., X Y Z, all of
which have been translated by ‘consciousness* (note, especially, the
variety of terms for ‘liberation*),
— mutatis mutandis, in order to take note of the polysemy of certain
crucial Sanskrit terms, paramarsa, paramartha, smrti, etc.
Certain Sanskrit terms of wider, but often technical usage, whose
meaning is not easily grasped, or which are expanded upon, have been
treated in the notes. Literal translations are likewise to be found there.
Sanskrit terms that have become, or are used as, English words are left
in Roman, and may accept a plural suffix: karika, sloka, mantra, avatara-
nika, guru, karman, etc.
Likewise, marks of suppletions have been limited as much as possible
to those necessary to make sense of an often laconic Sanskrit, especially
as concerns the many technical explanations of concepts and terms. The
frequently occurring aha, referring always to Abhinavagupta, has been
rendered by ‘the master says’.
Glosses or terms to be understood as such are enclosed in single quo­
tation marks. Double quotation marks indicate that the author ‘wishes to
single out a word or phrase, not quoting it from a specific document... but
referring it to a general background that will be recognized by the reader’
(Chicago Manual of Style, 13th ed.).
ix