An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy

The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta with the Commentary of Yogaraja
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-0-415-83695-1
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 476 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 723 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions

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 nondualistic Saivism, which he designates in his works as the Trika, or ‘Triad’ of three principles: Siva, Sakti and the embodied soul (nara).

The main interest of the Paramarthasara is not only that it serves as an introduction to the established doctrine of a tradition, but also advances the notion of jiv¯anmukti, ‘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, Yogaraja (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.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Professional

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bansat-Boudon, Lyne

Tripathi, Kamalesha Datta

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Minderheiten, Interkulturelle & Multikulturelle Fragen
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Nicht-Westliche Philosophie Indische & Asiatische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie von Migranten und Minderheiten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction 2. Translation of Paramarthasara and Commentary by Yogaraja, with notes 3. Sanskrit Text 4. Glossary

Über Autor(innen)

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 Saiva tradition. She published in 1992 Poétique du théâtre indien. Lectures du Nâtyaçâstra, and, in 2006, as the chief editor of the volume and a translator, Théâtre de l’Inde ancienne, Gallimard (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade).

Kamaleshadatta Tripathi is Emeritus Professor at the Benares Hindu University, 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.