The Reformulation of the svātantryavāda and ābhāsavāda in the Doctrinal Teachings of the Tripurārahasya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.21.2019.01.09Keywords:
ābhāsa, pratibimba, pratyabhijñā, vimarśa, svātantryaAbstract
The Reformulation of the svātantryavāda and ābhāsavāda in the Doctrinal Teachings of the Tripurārahasya
The aim of this article is to discuss a specific element of the teachings of the Tripurārahasya (TR), a Sanskrit work of South Indian origin, possibly composed between the 12th and 15th centuries and associated with the Tantric Śākta religious tradition of the Śrīvidyā. The element in question is the reformulation, to be found in the TR, of the Pratyabhijñā twofold doctrine known as svātantryavāda and ābhāsavāda. According to this doctrine, characterized by a realistic idealism, the divine luminous Consciousness, by Her sovereign freedom (svātantrya), manifests the world, which appears as a reflection (ābhāsa, pratibimba) in the mirror of Her own self. Scrutiny of the relevant passages from the TR, in the light of some extracts from the works of the authors of the Pratyabhijñā, makes it possible, on the one hand, to highlight the main features of this doctrine as it was recast in the TR, and, on the other, to put forward explanations for the inconsistencies detectable in the text of the TR, which may be ascribed to the influence of the illusionism of the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha.
References
Primary Sources:
ĪPK = Utpaladeva. Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā
Torella, R. 2013 (1st ed. 1994). The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā of Utpaladeva with the Author’s Vṛtti / Critical Edition and Annotated Translation. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
PH = Kṣemarāja. Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam
Singh, J. (ed. and transl.). 1982 (1st ed. 1963). Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam / The Secret of Self-Recognition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
TĀ = Abhinavagupta. Tantrāloka
Shāstri, M. K. (ed.). 1921. The Tantrāloka of Abhinava Gupta, with Commentary by Rājānaka Jayaratha. Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies XXVIII, vol. 2. Bombay: Venkateshvar Steam Press.
Silburn, L. and A. Padoux (eds.). 1998. Abhinavagupta. La lumière sur les Tantras / chapitres 1 à 5 du Tantrāloka. Paris: Publications de l’Institut de Civilisation Indienne, Fasc. 66.
TR, jk = Tripurārahasya, Jñānakhaṇḍa
Kaviraj, G. (ed.). 1965. Tripurārahasyam (Jñānakhaṇḍa), with Commentary Tātparyadīpikā of Śrīnivāsa. Varanasi: Sarasvatī Bhavana Granthamālā, Vol. 15.
Hulin, M. (ed. and transl.). 1979. Tripurārahasya (Jñānakhaṇḍa) / La Doctrine Secrète de la Déesse Tripurā (Section de la Connaissance). Paris: Fayard.
TR, mk = Tripurārahasya, Māhātmyakhaṇḍa
Śāstri, M. L. (ed.). 1932. The Tripurārahasya (Māhātmyakhaṇḍa). Intr. and Contents of Each Chapter by Nārāyan Śāstri Khiste. Benares: The Kashi Sanskrit Series 92, The Chowkhambha Sanskrit Series Office.
YH = Yoginīhṛdaya
Kavirāja, G. (ed.). 1979. Yoginīhṛdayam with Commentaries Dīpikā of Amṛtānanda and Setubandha of Bhāskararāya. Varanasi: Sarasvatībhavana-Granthamālā, Vol. 7.
Padoux, A. 1994. Le coeur de la yoginī / Yoginīhṛdaya avec le commentaire Dīpikā d’Amṛtānanda. Paris: Publications de l’Institut de Civilisation Indienne, Fasc. 63, Diffusion de Boccard.
Padoux, A. and R. Jeanty (eds.). 2013. The Heart of the Yoginī / The Yoginīhṛdaya, a Sanskrit Tantric Treatise. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982325.001.0001
YV = Yogavāsiṣṭha
Āchārya, N. R. (ed.). 1937. The Yogavāsiṣṭha of Vālmīki with the Commentary Vāsiṣṭhamahārāmāyaṇatātparyaprakāśa. Bombay: Nīrṇaya Sāgar Press.
Secondary Sources:
Ātreya, B. L. 1936. The Philosophy of the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha / A Comparative, Critical and Synthetic Survey of the Philosophical Ideas of Vasiṣṭha as Presented in the Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha-Mahā-Rāmāyaṇa. Adyar–Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House.
Hulin 1979, see TR, jk
Padoux 1994, see YH
Padoux and Jeanty 2013, see YH
Ratié, I. 2011. Le Soi et l’Autre / Identité, différence et altérité dans la philosophie de la Pratyabhijñā. Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, Vol. 13. Leiden–Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004203440.i-786. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004203440.i-786
Sanderson, A. 2012–2013. The Śaiva Literature. In: Journal of Indological Studies, 24–25: 1–113.
Shāstri 1921, see TĀ
Shulman, D. 2012. More than Real / A History of the Imagination in South India. Cambridge, Massachusetts–London: Harvard University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674065123
Silburn and Padoux 1998, see TĀ
Singh 1982, see PH
Torella 2013, see ĪPK
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Silvia Schwarz Linder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
