Philosophy and Religion / J. C. Chatterji: Kashmir Shaivism

Jagadish Chandra Chatterji

Kashmir Shaivism

Part I. History and Literature

The first beginnings of what has been called ‘Kashmir Shaivaism', to distinguish it from other forms of Shaivaism known and still practised in different parts of India, may have to be traced to the Shiva Sutras¹, which, together with the commentary on them by Kshemaraja called the Vimarshini, have been published as the opening volume of this series of publications, i.e. The Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies. Its teachings and practices are given, in the literature of the system, the distinctive name of Trika-shasana, Trika-shastra or simply Trika²; and are often referred to as the Rahasya-Sampradaya³, while Shaivaism in general is spoken of as Shiva-Shasana⁴ or Shivagama.

The peculiarity of the Trika consists in the fact that, as a system of Philosophy, it is a type of idealistic monism (advaita)⁵ and as such differs in fundamental principles from other forms of Shaiva Philosophy, for instance, from what is described under the name of the Shaiva Darshana in the Sarva-Darshana-Sangraha of Madhavacharya.

Although the Trika form of Shaivaism would seem to have made its first appearance in Kashmir at the beginning of the ninth, or perhaps towards the end of the eighth century of the Christian era⁶, Shiva Shasana or Shivagama, that is Shaivaism as such, is far older than this date.⁷ Indeed we may have to trace its beginnings in the Vedic Revelations. In Kashmir itself—where even the most orthodox followers of the Shivagama admit that the Trika-Shasana first appeared (or, as they put it, reappeared) about the beginning of the ninth Christian century—Shivagama is regarded as of high antiquity, indeed of eternal existence like the Vedas. According to the belief and tradition of the Kashmir Shaivas, the history of Shivagama and of the Trika is as follows:

“Before their manifestation, all Shastras which are but thoughts expressed as speech, like the manifested universe itself which forms the object of that thought and speech, existed in the as yet unuttered thought and experience of the Supreme Deity in the form of the 'All-transcending Word' (the Para Vak) that is beyond all objective thought and speech in every one of their forms, not excepting even the Avyakta, the most germinal of them.

“Next, as the manifestation of the Universe begins, the Para Vak, the All-transcending Word, also begins to appear in the form of that thought and experience which would hold, as it were in a mighty Vision, the whole universe which is to be and which is still in a most germinal and undifferentiated state so that it cannot yet be thought, much less spoken of, as consisting of This’ or That'—the Para Vak puts forth, in other words, another form, that of the Pashyanti which is the 'Vision'⁸ of the whole Universe in its undifferentiated form. Then as the of the Universe progresses, and its contents form the objects of discursive thought and they become distinguishable from one another as This' or That’, —what was erstwhile the all-holding 'field of Vision,' the Pashyanti Vak, assumes a third form, the Middle one, Madhyama, which stands, as it were as a link, between, on the one hand, the undifferentiated Pashyanti and, on the other, what is soon going to be the spoken word, the Vaikhari Vak⁹, which is but thought and experience expressed by means of the vocal organ. And what are called the Shaiva Shastras—indeed all Shastras—are nothing but this Divine Madhyama Vak assuming these forms and 'flowing out,' as the Vaikhari or spoken words, in five 'streams,' from what may be regarded as the 'Five Faces' of the Deity, - the Faces which represent the five aspects of His five-fold power and glory—namely, of Chit, Ananda, Ichchha, Jnana and Kriya¹⁰, and which are respectively called Ishana, Tat-Purusha, Sadyojata, Aghora and Vama. The Shaiva Shastras, which thus streamed forth from the five Divine Mouths in these the five-fold faces of the Deity, consisted originally and in their entirety of no less than sixty-four 'systems' representing as many aspects of thought and suited to the diverse needs of the people but were all divisible under the three classes what taught
“a. the essential unity and identity of all that appears as the many; (Advaita or Abheda);
"b. the diversity of principles which, in this way only i.e. as a diversity, could be comprehended by some as the essence of things (Bheda); and
"c. the unity, from one point of view, and diversity from another, of these principles according to the comprehension of others (Bheddbheda).¹¹

But of these sixty four systems, which, as such, at first appeared in the form of the Madhyama Vak of the Deity and afterwards 'streamed forth' from his five Divine Mouths, as Vaikhari the Spoken words, but which had all along existed, first as the Para and then in the Pashyanti form—of these sixty-four Shaiva Shastras most disappeared with the growing influence of the Kali age and with the gradual disappearance of the Rishis who, having learnt the Shastras, were the repositories of their knowledge. As, thus, with the disappearance of the Shastras the world became engrossed in spiritual darkness, Shiva, —as the Deity is called, —took pity on men and, appearing on the Kailasa mountain in the form of Shrikantha, commanded the Sage Durvasas to spread in the world the knowledge of these Shastras again. Durvasas, thus commanded, created, by the power of his mind, three sons, —Tryambaka, Amardaka and Shrinatha by names—whom he charged with the mission of establishing spiritual order and of teaching men again the ancient and eternal Shaiva faith and doctrine in their three aspects of Abheda, Bheda and Bhedabheda—of Unity, Diversity and Diversity-in-unity,— Tryambaka was to teach the first, Amardaka the second, while Shrinatha was to have the charge of the last. It is this Abheda or Advaya Shaiva teaching, thus retaught to the world by Tryambaka, which is spoken of as the Trika."¹²
However this may be, before tracing the history of the Trika as represented in its existing literature, since its appearance—or reappearance according to the belief of its followers—in the 9th. Christian Century, it may be convenient to give here a brief account of this literature itself.

The literature of the Trika falls into three broad divisions:—

A. THE AGAMA-SHASTRA,
B. THE SPANDA-SHASTRA, and
C. THE PRATYABHIJNA-SHASTRA.¹³

The chief features of the three Shastras, as they are called, and a few of the principal and still existing works belonging to each of them are as follows:—
A. THE AGAMA-SHASTRA — This is regarded as of superhuman authorship. It lays down both the doctrines (jnana) the practices (kriya) of the system as revelations which are believed to have come down (agama) through the ages, being handed down from teacher to pupil.

Among the works (if they may be so called) belonging to this Shastra there is a number of Tantras, of which the chief ones are the following:—
Malini Vijaya (or Malini Vijayottara)
Svachchhanda
Vijnana Bhairava
Uchcchhushma Bhairava
Ananda Bhairava (lost)
Mrigendra
Matanga
Netra
Naishvasa
Svayambhuva
Rudra-yamala (from which the famous Para-Trimshika verses are said to be taken)

Most of these had existed long before the appearance (or reappearance ) of the Trika and taught mostly a dualistic doctrine; at any rate they seem to have been interpretated in a dualistic, even pluralistic, sense.¹⁴

It was to stop the spread of this dualistic teaching¹⁵ and to show that the highest form of the Shivagama taught only the pure Advaita Tattva—Idealistic Monism—that there were revealed the Shiva Sutras, which therefore form, from the Trika point of view, the most important part of the Agama Shastra. Indeed, they are spoken of as the ‘Shivopanishat-Sangraha’¹⁶ which is again interpreted as ‘Shivarahagyagama-Shastra-Sangraha'. Their authorship is attributed to Shiva himself,¹⁷ while they are said to have been revealed to the sage Vasugupta who must have lived towards the end of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth Christian century.¹⁸

On the Shiva Sutras there are:—
a. The Vritti
b. The Varttika, of Bhaskara.
and c. The Commentary called Vimarshini by Kshemaraja.

Of these, the Varttika is admittedly of a later date, perhaps of the 11th. century,¹⁹ while what is now known as the Shiva-Sutra Vritti is of uncertain authorship. Almost every word of this Vritti is to be found interspersed in the Vimarshini of Kshemaraja. The Vritti may thus be either an extract from the Vimarshini or it may be un earlier work which was incorporated by Kshemaraja in his commentary. This is, however, a point which I have at present no means of deciding.

There are also commentaries on some of the Tantras. Of these the chief ones are the following:—
the Uddyota on the Svachchhanda
do do Netra
do do Vijnana-Bhairava
Vritti do Matanga

These commentaries are great attempts to show how the pre-Shiva-Sutra Tantras taught the Advaita Tattva, although in reality they seem to have taught but plain and unvarnished dualism and even pluralism, like what is described as the Shaiva Darshana in Madhava's Sarva Darshana Sangraha. That some of the Tantras had had dualistic interpretations can be definitely proved. We find, for instance, at the end of the Commentary on the Svachchhanda, called the Uddyota, by Kshemaraja, the following verses: —
नान्नैव भेददृष्टिर्विधुता येनास्वतन्त्रतातध्वा ।
श्रीमत्स्वतन्त्रतन्त्रं भेदव्याख्यां न तत् सहपे ॥
भेददर्शनसंस्कार- रससंतति-मादितः ।
स्वच्छस्वच्छन्दचित्स्वात्मसतत्त्वं नेक्षते जनः ॥
गतानुगतिकप्रोक्तभेदव्याख्यातमोऽपनुत् ।
तेनाद्वैतामृतस्फीतः स्वच्छन्दोद्द्योत उम्भितः ॥

From this it is clear that the doctrines of the Tantra had previously been understood to represent a dualistic system of philosophy and that it was only after the rise of the Advaita Shaivaism that the Tantra-Shastra was incorporated into the literature of the Trika by giving a different interpretation to it.²⁰

Even the Malini Vijaya, which is regarded as one of the best authorities²¹ on Advaita Shaivaism, containing the true doctrine of the Siddha Yogishvara, would seem originally to have been a work on dualistic Shaivaism.²²

B. THE SPANDA SHASTRA—This lays down the main principles of the system in greater detail and in a more amplified form than the Shiva Sutras, without, or hardly, entering into philosophical reasonings in their support.

Of the treatises belonging to this Shastra, the first and foremost are:—

i. The Spanda Sutras, generally called the Spanda Karikas. These Sutras (really verses, numbering 52)²³ are based on the Shiva Sutras, on which they form a sort of running commentary; but a commentary which only enunciates the principles, no doubt in fuller detail, still without entering much into philosophical reasoning. The collection of the Spanda Sutras spoken of as संग्रहग्रन्थ²⁴ i.e. a work which gathers together the meaning of the Shiva Sutras.

The Spanda Sutras are attributed by Kshemaraja to Vasugupta himself but they were composed most likely by the latter's pupil, Kallata.

On these Sutras there is,

ii. The Vritti by Kallata.

The Vritti, together with the Sutras or Karikas, is called the Spanda-Sarvasana. These are practically all of what now remains of original Spanda Shastra. But on the Spanda Sutras there are the following commentaries: —

i. The Vivriti by Ramakantha,²⁵ a pupil of the great Utpala, the son of Udayakara and author of the Pratya-bhijna-Karikas.

ii. The Pradipika by Utpala—not the same as Utpala, the son of Udayakara, mentioned above. The author of the Pradipika is traditionally known as Utpala Vaishnava to distinguish him from his great namesake. Utpala Vaishnava lived later than Utpala author of the Pratyabhijna but earlier than Abhinava Gupta.²⁶

iii. The Spanda Sandoha by Kshemaraja. It is a commentary on only the first, Sutra or Karika, but explains the purport of the whole work.

iv. Spanda Nirnaya, also by Kshemaraja. Of this work only the first section, called the first Nihshyanda, is available in Kashmir—at least I not as yet succeeded in securing a complete MS. of it.²⁷

C. THE PRATYABHIJNA SHASTRA—This may be regarded as the manana- or vichara-Shastra, i.e. philosophy proper,²⁸ of the Trika. It deals rationally with the doctrines, tries to support them by reasoning and refutes the views of opponents. Indeed, the method of the founder of this Shastra, the Siddha Somananda, most probably a pupil of Vasugupta, is said to have been The exhaustive treatment of the doctrines of his own system as well us of those of opponents'.²⁹ Somananda is also spoken of as the originator of reasoning (तर्कस्यकर्ता),³⁰ namely, in support of the Trika.

The first work which laid the foundation of this branch was the

(i) Shiva Drishti

by Somananda himself. As the name implies, Shiva Drishti, which is the same as Shiva Darshana,³¹ was par excellence the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivaism. Unfortunately the work is not to be had now in its completeness—at least I have not succeeded yet in securing a complete MS. of it nor have I heard of its existence anywhere in Kashmir. So far I have seen only the first four Ahnikas of the work (the fourth in fragments). But it must have been of a considerable size and must have extended at least to seven Ahnikas, if not more.³²

Somananda composed a Vritti of his own on the Shiva Drishti. But this, with other works of his, are lost now and we know them only by name and from quotations from them.

The next and now the most important existing work of this Shastra is

(ii) the Ishvara Pratyabhijna

or simply the Pratyabhijna Sutras by Utpala,³³ the famous pupil of Somananda. It is a work in verses which are called Sutras.

It is a shorter work than the Shiva Drishti which even in its existing parts contains more than 307 anushtubh verses, while the total number, of verses in the Pratyabhijna Sutras is only 190.³⁴

In his own Sutras or verses, Utpala summarised the teaching of his master Somananda. Indeed, his Ishvara Pratyabhijna is spoken of as only “the reflection of the wisdom taught by Somananda."³⁵

Being a shorter and more compact work the Pratyabhijna would seem to have superseded, to a great extent at least, the Shiva Dristi of Somananda. Indeed, the Pratyabhijna assumed such an important position that the whole system of the Shaiva Philosophy of Kashmir would seem to have come to be known, outside Kashmir, as the Pratyabhijna Darshana, under which name Madhavacharya treats of the Trika in his Sarva Darshana Sangraha.³⁶

However this may be, round the Sutras or Karikas of Utpala there grew up a mass of literature; and the Pratyabhijna Sutras, together with the various Commentaries on them and with other works which drew their inspiration from the Sutras, now constitute perhaps the greater portion of the existing writings on Kashmir Shaivaism.

Of the commentaries on the Pratyabhijna Sutras, the following are still available, either complete or in parts:—

a. The Vritti by Utpala himself (available only incomplete—up to verse 161 i.e. Ill. ii. 9.)³⁷
b. The Pratyabhijna Vimarshini by Abhinava Gupta (complete), also called the Laghvi Vritti i.e. the Shorter Commentary.
c. The Pratyabhijna Vivriti Vimarshini, also called the Brihati Vritti or Longer Commentary, by the same author.

This latter work is a Commentary really on the lost Tika, presumably called the Vivriti, on the Sutras by Utpala himself. Complete MSS. of this work are very rare in Kashmir. I have seen only one complete MS. of the work and have heard of the existence of only one other.³⁸

In addition to these three main divisions of the Shaiva literature there are also

(a) a number of compositions called “Stotras," which give expression to the Philosophical doctrines of the system in a devotional form and occupy the same position in this system as the Vedanta Stotras do in the Vedanta system; and

(b ) a number of compositions on the daily practices and ceremonials to be performed by a Shaiva.

Those two classes, however, may be regarded as forming parts of the three main groups named above—class (a) belonging to the groups B and C, and (b) to A.

Finally there is the great work, Tantraloka, by Abhinava Gupta, which forms a class by itself and deals comprehensively with Shaivaism in all aspects.³⁹

Of these three branches of the Kashmir Shaiva literature the first, that is the Agama Shastra, is attributed to Shiva himself who is represented in the Tantra section of this Shastra as explaining the doctrines and practices of Shaivaism, generally to Parvati in answer to her questions, while He is believed to have Himself composed the Shiva Sutras, in which He laid down the principles in compact form and which were revealed to Vasugupta; the second was originated either by Vasugupta himself or by his pupil Kallata; while the third was founded by Siddha Somananda.

Leaving aside the Agama Shastra, including the Shiva Sutras of which the authorship is attributed to Shiva Himself, we have to regard Vasugupta and Somananda as the human founders of the Advaita Shaivaism which is peculiar to Kashmir.

Of these two again, while Vasugupta gave out the doctrines merely as revelations and articles of faith, Somananda, who was most likely a pupil of Vasugupta,⁴⁰ laid the foundation of their philosophy.

Of the personality and lineage of Vasugupta we know little from himself. If he recorded anything on these points, it is lost with most of his writings. Whatever little we know now of him is from his pupils, who tell us that he lived in retirement, as a holy sage, in the charming valley of what is now called the Harwan stream (the ancient Shadarhad-vana) behind the Shalimar garden near Srinagar.⁴¹

And we can also gather from the Raja Tarangini, v. 66, which states that Kallata flourished in the reign of king Avanti-Varman of Kashmir i.e. in the latter half of the 9th Christian century, that Vasugupta, Kallata's Guru, must have taught not much earlier than the first half of the same century, i.e., either at the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century A. C.

While we know nothing more than this about Vasugupta, Somananda, the founder of the Pratyabhijna Shastra tells us a good deal about his lineage. We find the following account given by Somananda himself:—
शैवदीनि रहस्यानि पूर्वमासन्महात्मनाम्।
ऋषीणां वक्त्रकुहरे तेष्वेवानुग्रहक्रिया॥
कलौ प्रवृत्ते यातेषु तेषु दुर्गमगोचरम्।
कलापिग्रामप्रमुखमुच्छिन्ने शिवशासने॥
कैलासाद्रौ भ्रमन्देवो मूर्त्या श्रीकण्ठरूपया।
अनुग्रहायावतीर्णश्चोदयामास भूतले॥
मुनिं दुर्वाससं नाम भगवानूर्ध्वरेतसम्।
नोच्छिद्येत यथा शास्त्रं रहस्यं कुरु तादृशम्॥
ततः स भगवान्देवादादेशं प्राप्य यत्नवान् ।
ससर्ज मानसं पुत्रं त्र्यम्बकादित्यनामकम् ॥
तस्मिन् संक्रामयामास रहस्यानि समन्ततः ।
सोऽपि गत्वा गुहां सम्यक् त्र्यम्बकाख्यस्ततः परम् ॥
ज्ञानमभ्यासकाष्ठां तन्नीतवान् स गुहान्तरे ।
तन्नान्ना चिह्निता सापि गुहा ख्यातात्र भूतले ॥
स तत्र ज्ञानसंसिद्ध्या ससर्ज मनसा सुतम् ।
खस्योत्पतनसंसिद्धस्तत्पुत्रेऽपि यथा तथा ॥
सिद्धस्तद्वत्सुतोत्पत्त्या सिद्धा एवं चतुर्दश ।
यावत्पञ्चदशः पुत्रः सर्वशास्त्रविशारदः ॥
स कदाचिद्रागवशात् कुतश्चिद्ब्राह्मणात् स्वयम् ।
ब्राह्मणीमानयामास ततो जातस्तथाविधः ॥
तनयः स च कलेन कश्मीरेष्वागतो भ्रमन् ।
नान्ना स संङ्गमादित्यो वर्षादित्यस्तु तत्सुतः ॥
तस्याप्यभूत् स भगवान् अरुणादित्यसंज्ञकः ।
आनन्दसंज्ञकस्तस्मात्स बभूव तथाविधः ॥
तस्मादस्मि समुद्भूतः सोमानन्दाख्य ईदृशः ॥⁴²

While thus we know something of Somananda's descent in his own words, we know the period when he must have lived from that of the great scholar and Shaiva teacher, Mahamaheshvara Abhinava Gupta, who lived, as we know from his own statements, towards the end of the tenth and the first quarter of the 11th Christian century and who was the fourth in succession from Somnnanda in line of spiritual discipleship. Somananda was followed by his famous pupil Utpala, son of Udayakara and author or the Ishvara Pratyabhijna Karikas and many other works; and he by Lakshmana Gupta who was the Guru of Abhinava Gupta, Somananda thus having flourished four generations earlier than Abhinava Gupta must have lived towards the end of the ninth century,⁴³ and as said above, was most likely pupil of Vasugupta⁴⁴ who flourished at about the same period or somewhat earlier.

Thus it will be seen that the origin of both the Advaita Shaiva Faith and Philosophy of Kashmir—ag the teachings of the Agama and Spanda Shastras on the one hand and of the Pratyabhijna Shastra on the other may respectively be called—must be traced to the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century A.C.; and they were then founded by men who were both regarded as holy sages.

One of them, Somananda, claimed descent from the great sage Durvasas himself and his "mind-born" son Tryambaka, while about the other, wonderful stories are told. One of these stories is connected with the origin of the Shiva Sutras themselves.

We are told in the Shiva Sutra Virnarshini, that Vasugupta, while residing in his hermitage below the Mahadeva peak,⁴⁵ had one night a dream in which Shiva, who was moved to compassion to see the world immersed in spiritual darkness, appeared and disclosed to the sage the existence of certain Sutras—embodying the essence of the Shiva Shasana—which were to be found inscribed on a rock. The rock had been, Vasugupta was informed in the dream, lying in a certain part of the valley, with the inscribed side turned downwards and hidden from the profane gaze. But if he went there in the morning, he was also told in the dream, the rock would turn over of its own accord by his very touch and he should then learn the Sutras of which the meaning would be revealed to him and he should teach them to worthy pupils. A huge rock represented in the second illustration published in the Shiva Sutra Vimarshini is still pointed out as the one upon which these Sutras were found inscribed, although no trace whatever of any inscription on it is now to be detected. The rock goes by the name of Shankarpal which may be merely a corrupt form of the Sanskrit Shankaropala; and the Sutras found thereon are, according to Kshemaraja, the very ones which were expounded by him in his Vimarshini and which are now printed as a whole, for the first time as far as I know.⁴⁶

There is, however, a different version of this tradition.⁴⁷ It has been recorded by at least three writers, Rajanaka Rama or Ramakhanta,⁴⁸ author of the Spanda Vivriti, Utpala, son of Trivikrama and author of the Spanda Pradipika and finally by Bhaskara, son of Divakara and author of the Shiva Sutra Varttika. According to this version the Sutras, although composed by Shiva himself,⁴⁹ were taught to Vasugupta by a Siddha i.e. a super-human being with high spiritual attainments. In other words Vasugupta did not find them inscribed on a rock—their existence in this form having been revealed to him by Shiva in a dream—as related by Kshemaraja. This is most likely the original version of the tradition, unless we regard what is recorded by Kallata, who was a pupil of Vasugupta himself, as the original tradition, which, while not knowing anything of the Sutras having been found inscribed on a rock, did state, as said above, that they were taught by Shiva himself—and not by a Siddha—in a dream. Kshemaraja is, as far as I know, the only writer who gives the other version. It, however, seems certain that although the original version knew nothing of the Sutras having been found inscribed on a rock and of Shiva himself having given Vasugupta, in a dream, the information of their existence in this form, it did know that either a Siddha or Shiva himself taught the Sutras to Vasugupta, not in the ordinary way but in a dream, and that the Sutras so taught to Vasugupta were the composition of Shiva himself.

However this may be, and however Vasugupta may have obtained them, it is clear that the Shiva Sutras as taught by him laid the foundation of the Advaita Shivaism of Kashmir—or, of the Trika, as is called.

It is also clear from all accounts that the chief agent by whom Vasugupta had his teachings promulgated was his pupil Kallata, who lived, according to the Raja Tarangini, in the days of king Avanti-Varman (855—883 A.C.), as said above. But there is a difference of opinion as to how this was done. According to the tradition, which is recorded by Kshemaraja⁵⁰ and which would seem in later times to have been generally accepted⁵¹ in Kashmir, Vasugupta himself wrote the Spanda Sutras or Karikas basing them on the Shiva Sutras, which had been revealed to him. And the Spanda Sutras thus composed by himself were taught by him, along with the Shiva Sutras, to Kallata and other pupils, while Kallata spread their knowledge by writing commentaries on them.

But what seems to be the older, and perhaps correct, account is given, among others, by Rama, author of The Spanda Vivriti, Utpala Vaishnava⁵² and Bhaskara, author of the Shiva Sutra Varttika. The last named of the three, Bhaskara, gives the tradition in some detail. He says:—

"Formerly, on the holy Mahadeva mountain, the Shiva Sutras with their mysterious meanings were revealed to the Guru, Vasugupta, by the teachings of a Siddha. He then transmitted them to the revered and learned Kallata Bhatta. Having received, in this way, these Sutras in four parts, he afterwards expounded three parts out of the four by his own Spanda Sutras and the last part by the Tika called the Tattvartha-Chintamani.⁵³

From the above it would appear that Vasugupta did no more than simply transmit the Sutras with their meanings to Kallata who spread their knowledge by writing explanatory treatises on them, one of these treatises being called Spanda Sutras, which are no other than what are now generally called the Spanda Karikas.⁵⁴ It is however possible that Vasugupta wrote a work called Spandamrita,⁵⁵ which Kallata made use of in composing his Spanda Sutras or Karikas. Indeed his Spanda Sutras may not be anything more than the Spandamrita of Vasugupta with only a few additions and alterations of his own,⁵⁶ very much like the Paramartha-Sara of the great Abhinava Gupta, who in later times adapted the old Adhara Karikas attributed to Shesha Naga to something suited to his own purpose.⁵⁷ Kallata wrote on the Spanda Karikas also a short Vritti which, together with the Karikas, is called Spanda Sarvasva. In the Spanda Sarvasva, Kallata 'gathered together'⁵⁸ the meaning of the Shiva Sutras; while evidently on some of the latter he wrote commentary, the Tattavartha Chintmani, and also perhaps another, named the Madhuvahini,⁵⁹ and together with these he handed down the Shiva Sutras to his pupil Pradyumna Bhatta who was also a cousin of his, being a son of his maternal uncle. Pradyumna Bhatta in his turn handed the teaching to his son Prajnarjuna and he to his pupil Mahadeva. The latter again transmitted it on to his son Shrikantha Bhatta from whom Bhaskara, sen of Divakara, received them and wrote his Varttika on them.⁶⁰

In the Varttika of Bhaskara, therefore, we have got what Kallata must have taught as, in all essentials, the meaning of the Shiva Sutras. And we can see at once from it that Kallata handed down the teaching merely as religious doctrines, which he no doubt explained in some detail without, or hardly, entering into any philosophical reasoning in their support.

Yet in a country like India, where philosophic reasoning has from early times played such an important part, it was essential for any system of religion to give full philosophical reasons in its support, if it was at all to hold its own, especially in an age when Buddhism exercised such a great influence as it did in Kashmir about the time the Advaita Shaivaism as represented by the Trika made its appearance. This need must, have been felt almost from the beginning—a need which was not met by the writings of Kallata. And it was undoubtedly to meet this necessity that there grew up another line of activity supplementing that followed by Kallata. This was started by the Siddha Somananda, who like Kallata may have been a pupil of Vasugupta himself.⁶¹ While Kalatta may be said to have handed down the doctrines as a system of religion, Somananda supplied the logical reasoning in their support and made a system of Advaita Philosophy of what was at first taught as a system of faith, and thus founded the Pratyabhijna Shastra which is mentioned above and which is so named after the Pratyubhijna Sutras or Karikas of his pupil Utpala.

And as, for the success of a religion in a philosophic land like India, it was necessary to lay greater stress on the philosophical reason of the religion, the work of Somananda was carried on in greater detail by Utpala and Abhinava Gupta, his great successors in the line of discipleship. This branch, therefore, forms perhaps a far larger portion of the Shaiva literature of Kashmir than either of the other two. Indeed, the Pratyabhijna method of treating the Shaiva doctrines came to be regarded as so important that it was adopted, more or less, practically by all subsequent writers on the subject. Among these later writers are to be mentioned:

1. Kshemaraja, who was the author of the Shiva Sutra Vimarshini and several other works,⁶² and who was a pupil of Abhinava Gupta;
2. Yogaraja, author of the Commentary on Abhinava Gupta's Paramahartha Sara Sangraha and a pupil apparently of both Abhinava Gupta and Kshemaraja.⁶³
3. Jayaratha, commentator on the Tantraloka of Abhinava Gupta; and
4. Shivopadhyaya, author of a Commentary on the Vijnana Bhairava.

Kshemaraja being a pupil of Abhinava Gupta must have lived and written in the eleventh Christian century and Yogaraja, being junior to Kshemaraja, may be considered as having continued the labours of his masters till either the end of the same or the beginning of the 12th century; whereas Jayaratha and Shivopadhyaya must have lived in the 12th⁶⁴ and the 18th⁶⁵ centuries A.C. respectively. After this date we do not find any great writer on the Shaivaism of Kashmir and the history of its literature may be regarded as closed, although the Shaiva faith is still living in the valley and there are also a few Pandits⁶⁶ who still continue the study of its literature at least in some of its branches. The study of most of them, however, does not go beyond the Spanda-Karikas and the Pratyabhijna-Hridaya, a compendium of only 20 Sutras by Kshemaraja.

Such is the end of the Shaivaism of Kashmir and of its history which may be summarised in a tabulated form as follows:—

As for the writings of the above the following list may be useful:—

1. Vasu Gupta received inspirationally the Shiva Sutras. Wrote:
• Spandamrita, probably incorporated in the Spanda Karikas.
• A Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita called the Vasavi-Tika of which the first six chapters are perhaps still to be found existing as incorporated in another Tika on the Bha. Gita called Lasaki, by Rajanaka Lasakaka, of which MSS. are available.

2. Kallata⁶⁷ wrote:
• Spanda Karikas
• Spanda Vritti (or Spanda Sarvasva)
• Tattvartha-Chintamani ( lost )
• Madhuvahini (lost); both the above were Commentaries on the Shiva Sutras.

3. Somananda wrote:
• Shiva Drishti
• A Vritti on the above.

4. Utpalacarya wrote:
• Pratyabhijna Karikas or Sutras.
• Vrtti on above; only incomplete MSS. Available.
• Tika on the same called Vivrti (lost).
• Stotravali
• Ishvara-Siddhi
• Ajadapramatri-Siddhi

5. Rama wrote:
• Spanda-Vivriti
• Commentary on the Matanga Tantra.(?)
• Commentary on the Bh. Gita from the Shaiva point of view. (?)

6. Utpala Viashnava wrote:
• Spanda Pradipika and other works referred to therein but now lost.

7. Abhinava Gupta wrote:
• Malini-Vijaya-Varttika
• Para-Trimshika-Vivarana
• Shiva-Drishtyalochana (lost)
• Pratyabhijna-Vimarshini (Laghvi Vritti)
• Pratyabhijna-Vivrti-Vimarshini (Brihati-Vritti)
• Tantraloka
• Tantrasara
• Paramarthasara;
besides numerous other works.

8. Bhaskara wrote:
• Shiva-Sutra-Varttika

9. Kshemaraja wrote:
• Shiva-Sutra-Vritti(?)
• Shiva-Sutra-Vimarshini
• Pratyabhijna-Hridaya (both Sutras and commentary)
• Spanda-Sandoha
• Spanda-Nirnaya (incomplete).
Besides Commentaries on several of the Tantras.

10. Yogaraja wrote:
• Commentary on the Paramarthasara of Abhinava Gupta.

11. Jayaratha wrote:
• Commentary on the Tantraloka.

12. Shivopadhyaya wrote:
• Commentary on the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.

The following table showing the known facts as to the dates and mutual relation of the principal writers on Kashmir Shaivaism may also be appended here:—

Footnotes

48. This Rama or Ramakantha is said to have been one of the pupils of Utpala, author of the Pratyabhijna Sutras, and as such a fellow student of Lakshmana, Guru of Abhinava Gupta. He therefore either was a contemporary of or lived slightly earlier than Utpala Vaishnava, son of Trivikrama and author of the Spanda Pradipika. This Utpala lived as we know later than Utpala, the Pratyabhijna-kara, but must have been senior to Abhinava Gupta as I have tried to show above.

49. See Varttika where the Sutras are often introduced with such phrases as सूत्रमाह महेश्वरः or शिवः सूत्रमरीरचत्. Comp. also the closing statement of the same work which is

इतिप्रकरणत्रयं सुधटमीषदुन्मीलितं मया शिवमुखोद्रतं सुमतिसिद्धये सांप्रतम् ।
विचार्य गतमत्सरैर्बुधजनैर्गुणग्राहिभिः सुसेव्यमिह तेष्वलं भवतु सिद्धिमोक्षप्रदम् ॥

50. See his Introductions to the Spanda Sandoha and the Spanda Nirnaya and also Shiv. Su. Vim. पृ० ३.

51. To judge from the colophons of MSS. of the Karikas only (without the commentaries) wherein they are always ascribed to Vasugupta.

52. Ramakantha explains the phrase गुरुभारती at the end of the Karikas as the words of Vasugupta thereby evidently meaning that the Karikas were composed by Kallata embodying therein the 'words' of his master.

Ubpala Vaishnava says:—

अयमत्र किलाम्नायः सिद्धमुखेनागतं रहस्यं यत् ।
तद्भट्टकल्लटेन्दुर्वसुगुप्तगुरोरवाप्य शिष्याणाम् ।
अववोधार्थमनुष्टप्-पश्चाशिकयात्र संग्रहं कृतवान् ॥Sp. Prad., Intro.

He also reads the following at the end as part of the original: —

वसुगुप्तादवाप्येदं गुरोस्तत्त्वार्थदर्शिनः ।
रहस्यं श्लोकयामास सम्यक् श्रीभट्टकल्लटः ॥

This verse, however, is not to be found in the MSS. of the Spanda Vritti by Kallata or of the Vivriti by Ramakantha.

53. Translated, more or less freely, from the following orginal:—

श्रीमन्महादेवगिरौ वसुगुप्तगुरोः पुरा ।
सिद्धादेशात् प्रादुरासञ्छिवसूत्राणि तस्य हि ॥
सरहस्यान्यतः सोऽपि प्रादाद्भट्टाय सूरये ।
श्रीकल्लटाय सोऽप्येवं चतुःखण्डानि तान्यथ ॥
व्याकरोत्रिकमेतेभ्यः स्पन्दसूत्रैः स्वकैस्ततः ।
तत्त्वार्थचिन्तामण्याख्यटीकया खण्डमन्तिमम् ॥

The word त्रिक in the above does not refer, as might be supposed, to the technical name of the system or to the triple principles of रिव-शक्ति-अणु which that name implies, but to the three divisions out of the four into which the Shiva Sutras would seem to have been divided. Only three divisions of the Shiva Sutras, alluded to here as त्रिक, very likely formed the basis of the Spanda Sutras or Karikas, while the fourth division of the Sutras were apparently reserved for a different treatment, namely, in the form of a commentary, properly so called, on them. This commentary on the fourth division of the Shiva Sutras, as distinguished from the Karikas written on the other three divisions, was called Tattvartha Chintamani and is now lost. We now know it only from quotations made from it, as for instance in the Shiv. Su. Vim., Para Trim. Viv., fol. 62 and Pratybhijna Hridaya.

Kallata would seem to have written a Commentary, properly so called, also on the three divisions of the Shiva Sutras which apparently formed the basis of the Spanda Karikas. It seems to have been called Madhuvahini, to judge from the following passage occurring in the Prat. Viv. Vim. (Brihati):—

तदुक्तमिति शिवसूत्रवृत्योर्मधुवाहिनीतत्त्वार्थचिन्तामण्योर्भदृश्रीकल्लटपादैः ।

As the commentary Tattvaratha Chintamani is expressly said to have been written on the fourth division of the Shiva Sutras, this other commentary, Madhuvahini, was composed very likely on the three divisions of the Shiva Sutras which formed the basis of the Spanda Karikas.

The statement that the Spanda Karikas were based only on three, out of the four, divisions of the Shiva Sutras would seem to bBe justified by the fact that Kalatta’s own Vritti on the Spanda Karikas divides the latter work also into three sections (not four as in the Viritti of Ramakantha who was a later writer).

54. That the Spanda Karikas and the Spanda Sutras are the same may be gathered from Shiv. Su. Vim. पृ० ९ and also from references made explicitly to the Karikas as Sutras, for instance, by Ramakantha speaking of them as स्पन्दार्थसूत्रावली.

55. See the verse quoted above.

56. This theory, if accepted, has the advantage that it would account for the phrase गुरुभारती in the 52nd Karika referred to above. It would also explain why the divisions of the Karikas according to Kallata's own Vritti are called Nihshyandas or streams, namely, of the 'amrita of Spanda.' And if Kallata retained even the name given to the sections of the original, it is not likely that he altered much of the original composition of his master. It would also seem to account, on the one hand, for the use of the words श्रीकल्लटस्तत् प्रकटीचकार in the verse quoted above, and, on the other, for the colophons found in all MSS. which I have seen of the Spanda Karikas by themselves, in which they are invariably attributed to Vasugupta.

57. See above.

58. The 'Spanda Karikas' are spoken of as a संग्रहग्रन्थ; see above note; also संग्रह कृतवान् in Sp. Prad. Intro.

59. See note above.

60. एवं रहस्यमप्येष मातुलेयाय चावदत् ।
श्रीमत्प्रद्युम्नभट्टाय सोऽपि स्वतनयाय च॥
श्रीमत्प्रज्ञार्जुनाख्याय प्रादात्सोऽप्येवमावदत् ।
श्रीमहादेवभट्टाय स्वशिष्यायाप्यसौ पुनः ॥
श्रीमच्छ्रीकण्ठभट्टाय प्रददौ स्वसुताय च |
तस्माप्राप्य करोम्येष सूत्रवार्तिकमादरात् ॥
दैवाकरिर्भास्करोऽहमन्तेवासिगणेरितः ।
Continuation of passage quoted in note above. The एष in the first line of this portion of the extract refers of course to Kallata.

61. See above note.

62. The chief existing works of Kshemaraja are:—
• Pratyabhijna Hridaya
• Spanda Sandoha
• Spanda Nirnaya,
• Svachchhandoddyota
• Netroddyota
• Vijnana—Bhairavoddyota (only a portion of this work exists incorporated in Shivopadhayaya's commentary on the Vijnana Bhairava. See the concluding verse of the latter work).
• Shiva Sutra Vritti(?) (see ante)
• Shiva Sutra Vimarshini
• Stava Chintamani Tika
• Utpala-Strotavali Tika
• Para—Praveshika
• Tattva Sandoha &c.

63. See the second of the introductory verses and the last verse of his Paramartha-Sara Vivriti.

64. Bühler's Report pp. 82 and cxlix to cliv.

65. For an account and date of Sukha Jivana in whose time Shivopadhyaya lived and wrote, see Hasan Shah's Persian History of Kashmir.

66. The word Pandit as used in Kashmir now unfortunately means any descendant of a Brahmin family who still keeps within the fold of the Hindu community, no matter how ignorant and illiterate he may be, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of 'Pandits' who are absolutely illiterate.

67. Mukula, who wrote the Alankarodaharana and Vivahatattvanusmarana gives Kallata as the name of his father. It is however doubtful if he was the son of our Kallata.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System: Atman

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System: The Process of Manifestation

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System: The Transcendent Parama Shiva.

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System: The Shiva Tattva

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System. The Limited Individual Experience.

Kashmir Shaivaism. Part II. The Main Doctrines of the System. The five senses, five Powers of Action and five General objects of sense perception.