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Abhinavagupta

c. 950–1016

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The self is the consciousness of Shiva recognising itself – and art lets us taste feelings freed from self-interest.

Placement

South Asian & Tibetan Philosophy · Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Religion

Kashmiri philosopher of non-dual Shaivism and of aesthetics: the self is consciousness that recognises itself as Shiva; in art we savour emotion (rasa) freed from self-interest.

Key ideas

  • Recognition (pratyabhijna)
  • Consciousness as light and reflexive awareness
  • Theory of rasa

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Influence

Influenced by 1

  • Bhartrhari

    influenced by

    Abhinavagupta, following Utpaladeva, adopted Bhartrhari’s view that awareness is inwardly permeated by language and made supreme speech an aspect of consciousness itself. R. Torella, “From an Adversary to the Main Ally: The Place of Bhartrhari in the Kashmirian Shaiva Advaita” (2009); Abhinavagupta, Isvarapratyabhijnavimarsini

    Evidence: AI draft

    Bhartrhari › c. 450–510

Influenced 1

  • Lal Ded

    influenced

    Lal Ded’s Kashmiri verses (vakh) voice the non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir, the tradition of Abhinavagupta, as personal experience: self and Shiva are one. G. Grierson & L. D. Barnett, Lalla-Vakyani (1920); R. Hoskote, I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded (2011)

    Evidence: AI draft

    Lal Ded › c. 1320–1392

Criticism

Criticizes 1

  • Dharmakirti

    criticised

    Following Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta argued against Dharmakirti’s Buddhist epistemology that memory and recognition presuppose one enduring, self-aware consciousness (Ishvarapratyabhijnavimarshini). Abhinavagupta, Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī I; I. Ratié, Le Soi et l’Autre, 2011

    Evidence: AI draft

    Dharmakirti › c. 600–660

Works

Position

Abhinavagupta systematised the non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir. All reality is one consciousness – Shiva – which is both light (prakasha) and reflexive awareness of itself (vimarsha). The world is not illusion, as in Advaita Vedanta, but the free self-expression of this consciousness. Bondage is not knowing who one is; liberation is the recognition (pratyabhijna) of oneself as Shiva. Against the Buddhist epistemologists he defended an enduring self that unifies memory and knowledge. In aesthetics, commenting on the Natyashastra and on Anandavardhana, he explained rasa as an emotion savoured in generalised form, free from personal interest, and defended tranquillity (shanta) as a rasa. Bhartrhari’s philosophy of the Word shaped his thought.

Life & context

Abhinavagupta was born around 950 into a learned Brahmin family in Kashmir. He studied with many teachers, among them Lakshmanagupta, a pupil of Utpaladeva, in the philosophy of Recognition, Shambhunatha in Trika practice and Bhatta Tauta in dramaturgy. He remained unmarried and lived as a teacher and author; his dated works fall between about 990 and 1015. Legend says he walked into a cave with his disciples and vanished.

Further main works

  • Commentary on the Natyashastra (Abhinavabharati, c. 1000)
  • Locana (commentary on Anandavardhana’s Dhvanyaloka, late 10th century)
  • Commentary on Utpaladeva’s Stanzas on the Recognition of the Lord (Ishvarapratyabhijnavimarshini, early 11th century)

Sources: Wikipedia · Wikidata

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