Review of: Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega, The ... - Alexis Sanderson

The Triadic Heart of Śiva: Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism ofKashmir by Paul Eduardo Muller-OrtegaReview by: Alexis SandersonBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 53, No. 2(1990), pp. 354-357Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/619260 .Accessed: 06/02/2013 14:01Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org..Cambridge University Press and School of Oriental and African Studies are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon.http://www.jstor.orgThis content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:01:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

s s s s j s ]t . dS, r . . . r. . .Kashmir.From ch. iv to ch. ix, the last, Muller-Ortegaconsiders the nature of the Trika's conceptionof the Heart as the Absolute, the methods of itsrealization, and the nature of that realization.In the fourth chapter he shows the connexionsbetween the concept of the Heart and those of(i) the omnipresent centre (madhya) and (ii) thecoessentiality of prakasa and vimarsa. He givesno translations of these latter terms, butglosses them as ' the primordial light beyondand behind all manifestation, ... bothtranscendent . . . as well as immanent . . . in itsmanifestation' (p. 95) and 'the capacity ofconsciousness to be conscious of itself (p. 96).In his handling of this pair, which he refersto collectively (prakasa-vimarsa) as ' theself-reflecting illumination' (p. 95), he followsthe late Harvey Alper (Journal of IndianPhilosophy, 7, 1979, 345v07), explainingAbhinavagupta's doctrine of appearance-inand-of-consciousness(abhasavada) as anattempt to find a middle way between thedoctrine of real transformation (of one intomany) (parinamavada) and that of merelyapparent change (vivartavada), which wasmotivated by a desire ' to encompass withoutreconciling-contradictions, that is, to befaithful to the confusion of experience, to beconsistent in inconsistency' (Alper, op. cit*, atp. 98). Abhinavagupta would have beenstartled by the implication that he consideredit impossible to give an entirely coherent andrational account of fundamental realityChapter v examines passages which equatethe Heart with the cosmic totality (kula), withthe all-encompassing triads characteristic of theTrika, with the (sexual) union of Siva and hisPower, and its replication in the sexual ritual ofKaulism. Chapter vi moves on to two otherfundamental and related concepts: (i) that ofvibration (spanda), and (ii) that of ' emissionalpower' (visarga). Chapter vii looks at someother ' natural metaphors' of the Heart, particularlythe sky, the abyss, the ocean, the waveand the AHAM (' I ') which, through crypticsemantic analysis of its constituent letters, isshown to be the system's Absolute in its all-tlXlVU6ll 11sO llVW UWWl-aD"WtO } D Wlilkilgenerates that concealed light which has fivefaces', as though the text read -rucijanakah.Even if this were an attested variant it wouldhave to be rejected as unmetrical. Furthermorehe translates as though his new compound withits nom. sg. masc. ending qualified the neuternoun yamala which occurs in its stem within acompound in the following verse-quarter.Equally bizarre is his rendering of abhinavasrstimahayananl in the preceding verse-quarter (i.e.' the " mother ' whose effulgence [mahas] is inthe primal emission ') as ' producing the greatand quite new manifestation'. Finally, he takesthe main verb of the verse to be a noun. The lastverse-quarter reads hrdayam anuttaramrtamayammama samsphuratat, i.e. ' May myheart, which embodies the supreme nectar,%ullyexpand.' Muller-Ortega has ' My heart . . .because of its quivering and throbbing [mytalics], is the supreme immortal group (kula).'Evidently he has taken the imperative samsphuratatas the ablative singular of a (nonexistent)action-noun samsphgrata.Such errors are not isolated freaks. They teemin his translations, including that of theParatrlsikalaghuvrtti in the appendix. Indologistsand students of religion should be warnedagainst quoting these translations or using themas the basis of argument.Nor can the reader be always sure what theauthor is translating. The edition of theParatrlsikalaghuvrtti which he has used is thatof the Kashmir Series of Texts and StudiesNo. 68. Yet under references to that edition hesometimes quotes passages which diverge fromit; and he does so without comment or explanation.This is the case at, e.g. p. 257, n. 39 quotingp. 10, 11. 5-8; p. 279, n. 18 quoting p. 19, 11. 13-17; and p. 261, n. 17 quoting p. 5, 11. 2s22. Thethird of these quotations is less problematic,because he turns out to be following variantsproposed by Rafaele Torella (Rivista degli StudiOrientali, 53, 1979, 178-9), but this fact is notmentioned.Where the Paratrzsikalaghgvrtti is quoted inchs. i to ix such divergences can at least beobserved. But the complete translation in theappenc 1X 1S glVeIl US without the original. Thatencompassing circularity. Chapter viii turns to here too the reader must be on the look out forthe Heart as mantra, i.e. to the symbolism of divergences is signalled from the start by histhe syllable SAUH Chapter ix considers the translation of the prose introducing the iirstpresentation of the Heart as the state of verse. The Sanskrit of the edition is ...realization attained.svatmadevataiva ... svatmanam paramarsam-The work contains many passages in transla- senavatarantam prechati, i.e. ' It is the deitytion (with the Sanskrit given in the endnotes). constituting one's own [true] identity who asksHis principal source, as already mentioned, is the question [and asks it] of itself [when it seesthe Paratrlsikalaghuvrtti; but he has drawn itseli] descending through its aspect of selfwidelyon the Kashmirian Saiva literature, par- expression.' Muller-Ortega has '... the Godticularlyon Abhinavagupta's other major dess ... reflects and questions herself incessworkson the Trika: the Tantraloka, the antly. ' This does not register the edition's parti-Tantrasara, the Malinlvijayavartikand the ciple avatarantam (' descending ') and gives anPara trimsikavivarana .adverb ' incessantly' to which nothing in theThis is a brave attempt to make sense of edition corresponds. I suspect, therefore, that hedifficult materials. But it is also a somewhat was reading anavaratam for avatarantam. Therefoolhardy one, since the author's Sanskrit is not iS, of course, no way of determining the sourceyet ready for it. This will be sufficiently evident of this variant. The author may simply havefrorn three examples drawn from his rendering misread the text, or he may have emended for(p. 87) of the prayer with which Abhinavagupta reasons good or bad.opens his Tantrdloka, Tantrasara, MalinlvEjaya- Given his inadequate grasp of the language ofvartika and Paratrimsikavivarana. Firstly he his sources the author has done surprisinglytranslates pancamukhaguptarucir janakah (i.e well. On the whole he has managed to convey' the " father" whose radiance is preierved the general outline and tone of Abhinava-This content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:01:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

o suKEV1EWSness so Inal Iney appear more accesslole to tnehas gone into this study, sustained by an evident imagination. I shall give two examples of thepersonal enthusiasm for Abhinavagupta's reli- first tendency and one of the second.gious vision. There are, however, numerous (i) Pp. 167-170 deal with initiation (dlksa).errors over particulars. Some of these he has Muller-Ortega says here that a detailed discusinheritedfrom the works of other scholars in the slon of this topic is precluded by the variety offield. Examples are the view that the these rites, but gives one passage in translationParatrlsika/-trimsika is part of the (Tantraloka 23.33-39) which, he says, ' des-Rudrayamalatantra (pp. 6 and 42), and that cribes a rather advanced initiation for theAbhinavagupta's ' spiritual search ' led him to empowerment of a new teacher, in which thetravel outside of Kashmir and that finally, in transmission of a mantra plays a crucial role'Jalandhara, he encountered his guru (p. 167). However, this passage does not des-Sambhunatha (p. 45). Both views go back to cribe an initiation of any kind. Its subject is theK. C. Pandey (Abhinavagupta, 1963 [2nd ed.]: mantra-observance (vidyavrata) which is to be4$5 and 45-7) and both are without founda- performed by a newly consecrated officianttion. The first proceeds from the occurrence of (acarya, guru) before he is able to initiate others.the word rudrayamalam in the last verse of the Muller-Ortega's translation turns this into a riteParatrlsika (evam mantraphalapraptir ity etad of initiation by inserting a reference to anrudrayamalam/etad abhyasyatah siddhih initiand where there is none in the Sanskrit:sarvaCnatvam avapnvyat//). However, it refers ' . . . the teacher must recite the mantra . . . Thenot to the text of the Paratrlsika but to the mantra then reaches the disciple's heart' (sasyllable SAUH taught in it, as is particularly guruh [3 la] . . . japen mantram [34d] . . .obvious from the expression which follows, i.e. anabhikuharantaram [36b]). It is his own heart' Anyone who persistently practises this will that it reaches.attain success . . .' There may be no reference to (ii) On p. 164 we read: ' The guru is alwaysthe Rudrayamalat all here, the word meaning taken to be Siva incarnate by reason of hissimply 'the union of Siva (Rudra) and his condition of enlightenment. ' He holds, in otherPower (Rudra)' (see Paraitrimsikavivarana words, that all gurus were believed to bep. 178, ll. 4-5). The short commentary, enlightened. Neither Abhinavagupta nor anyhowever, does take it to refer to the Tantra of other author of this tradition held this extrathatname, but as follows: ' Thus one can obtain ordinary view. No such claim is made, even forfrom this supreme seed-syllable all the benefits the gurus of the elite Kaula form of the Trika.of mantras, i.e. the higher and the lower accom- Indeed Abhinavagupta refers explicitly toplishments. This is why it is this [syllable] that is Kaula gurus who have not attained enlightenthe[true] Rudrayamala; for since Siva and his ment (Tantraloka 29.129: apraptavibodhah)Power are eternally fused in it, it has the teaching the manner in which they are to do thecapacity to bestow all that may be bestowed by fixed rites (nityakarma) before they proceed tothe Rudrayamala [proper] with its 12,500,000 carry out a rite of Kaula initiation.verses. 'Muller-Ortegappears to be blind to the factAs for the travels in search of spiritual that the enlightened guru represents an idealenlightenment which K. C. Pandey attributed to rather than the norm even in such esotericizingAbhinavagupta, there is not a shred of evidence forms of Saivism as the Trika. The norm is theand Pandey offers none. This does not prevent initiated (ksita) and consecrated (abAisikta)him from saying that they occurred. The but unenlightened performer of Siva-directedculmination of his supposed wanderings in the rituals, the karmin. The enlightened ' gnostic 'sacred site (p.tha) of Jalandhara, where he met (jeanin) who claimed to have needed no rites forSambhunatha, is evidenced 'beyond doubt' his own liberation nor resorted to them for the(op. cit., p. 12), and this, it seems, is enough to liberation of others may have become the soullend plausibility to the whole story. of Saivism in Abhinavagupta's presentationUnfortunately the evidence quoted by K. C. but its body was still a system of rites in thePandey and there is no other says only that hands of ordinary officiants.Sambhunathachieved celebrity from that site; (iii) On pp. 137 and 138 Muller-Ortega interseeTantralokaviveka on 1.213.prets Abhinavagupta's doctrine of the threeOther errors are Muller-Ortega's own. Alote, emissions (visarga) ( Tantraloka 3.211-2 19).for example, his assertion that the letter These are the anava (=cittavisranti), the saktaanusvara represents the finite knowing subject (= cittasambodha), and the sambhava ( = citta-(pramat,r) (p. 126), when in fact it is identified pralaya), so called because they are proper towith the infinite knowing subject (parapramatr, the three ascending but coessential aspects ofSiva). See, e.g., Jayaratha on Tantraloka consclousness which constitute the Trika's most3.111: asmaddarsane bindur vidikriyayam basic triad: the individualized, contracted conparapramatrekarupahparamesvarah sivah; on sciousness (anu or nara), Power (sakti) and Siva3.112-l 13b: bindur vedayEta parah prakasah. (/Sambhu). He presents them to us as ' threeSome of these errors are of a deeper kind. levels of meditative absorption'. Of the firstThey are perhaps connected with the very stage he says that it is that 'in which theenthusiasm for the spirituality of Abhinava- meditator reposes in consciousness, cittaguptawhich has motivated this study. There is a visranti'. He explains: ' The term visrantitendency to underestimate the role of ritual as repose, is significant. It denotes an effortlessopposed to meditation or ' enlightenment resting of consciousness in itself, alert, yetexperience' and consequently to be under- undirected, so that the current of consciousnessinformed about this very important component may cause it to drift slowly inwards. This culmiofhis subject. There is also a tendency to nates in an inner vacuity which Abhinavaguptaembroider or window-dress Abhinavagupta's calls ' the fire of emptiness ' (sunyatanala).'references to functions or states of conscious- Now he presents this picture of the meditator'sThis content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:01:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

* .r r * r ar 1 . * r , , 1 rr v r w7evident meaning of the text before him or atUV96llllk W1 tllk 61119W lllVUbO V1 WVbllltlUllnamely, the root, centre and summit (bodh-least that of its commentary.In fact it is iargelyamula, bodhamadhya,and bodhagra).This pass-concocted. Its very basis which his imaginationage, which Jayaratha gives in full in his com-embellishes, namely, the view that Abhinava-mentary, is closely parallel to the passage of thegupta is speaking about some kind of introver-Tattvarak$avidhana whichAbhinavaguptative meditation here, is opposed by the contextquotes as his scriptural authority for this teach-and contradicted by the explanation of theing of the three emissions (Tantraloka3.215-passage given by Jayarathain the only surviving219). But there is this difference, that while thecommentaryon the Tantraloka.According toTattvaraksavidhana'saccount of cittavisrantihim (Tantralokaviveka2 [3] 201-203) this citta-(/anavavisarga)unfortunately undetailed, thatvisrantis not an inwardly directed resting ofof the parallel ' root of cognition ' (bodhamula)consciousnessin itself but exactly the opposite,in the Trisirobhairavatantranot. It is definednamely, consciousness coming to rest in theas 'dualistic awareness which represents thedifferentiated perception which characterizes[universe of the] thirty-six tattvas as outside itsthe finite knowing subject (anu, nara). Whereidentity, and memory [or imagination] whoseMuller-Ortega reads introversion Jayarathacontent is [experienced as] reality vividly distinctreads 'the outermost limit of extroversion'[from the self], [in short the individual subject(ibid., 203, 1. 2: bhedaunmukAyepara ka$tha).known as] the limited knower.' (Tantra-This 'emission' is 'that proper to thelokaviveka,5. [8]. ll, ll. 7-8: sattrimsattattva-individual' (anava) precisely because it isvisaye yad bAedenavikalpana/smrtEhsusphuta-characterizedby this gross projection of multi-bhedatmamitamatatad ucyate//).plicity in consciousness(ibid., 203, 11. 3X: ...Thus Muller-Ortega is wrong, it seems, tobhedapradhanyadanavo narasambandhl...take Abhinavagupta's citta-visrantias a state ofsthulo visargah).As for the ' fire of emptiness'introversion. But more reprehensible is the factthis is taken not as ' the fire which is emptiness',that having decided that this admittedly prob-as a state of inner vacuity produced by medi-lematic verse refers not only to a state oftation, but as this same state of extroversion.Itintroversion but also to a meditation leading tois fire-likein the sense that it causes the dissolu-it he then goes on to invent precise details of thistion of the contentlesstate which precedesit inmeditation, talking in seductively mystical tonesthe natural cycle of cognition (ibid., 202, 11. 11-of undirected alertness, of consciousness drift-12: sunyata bhavaksayatmakamniskalamrupaming slowly inwards.tasya anale tadvilapakatvattadviruddhenikhiieALEXIS SANDERSON(Read nikhila-?)bhavamayesakale rupe). Therelevant verse of the Tantraloka(3.211) is readby Jayaratha as follows: ' The anava emission[the emission proper to the individual]is thatHEINZ BECHERT(ed.) and KLAUSbeginninglessfunction [of consciousness]in theWILLE(comp.): Sanskrithandschrif-fire of emptiness, whose purpose is to projectten aus den Turfanfunden.Teil 6.the state of immanence[characterizedby theDie Katalognummern1202-1599.duality of subject and object].' This ' transla-tion' can certainly be questioned. Abhinava-(Verzeichnis der Orientalischengupta's Sanskrit here is far from transparent:Handschriften inDeutschlandpurvam visrSyasakalamkartavyamsunyatanale/Bd. x, 6.) [xiii], 243 pp. Stuttgartcittavisrantisam.jno 'yam anavas . . .,andFranz Steiner Verlag WiesbadenJayaratha'sreadingis certainiy rather strained.A more naturalinterpretationwould be: ' FirstGmbH, 1989. DM 160.[consciousness] having emitted the state ofREINHOLDGRUNENDAHL(comp.): Aimmanence [reading visrSyasakalam] has toconcordanceof H. P. Sastri's Cata-fashion it in the fire of emptiness.' But whetherlogue of the Durbar Library and theJayarathais right or wrong in the detail of hisinterpretationthe immediate context confirmsmicrofilms of the Nepal-Germanthat he is at least right in taking the text to beManuscript Preservation Project.describingthe opposite of what Muller-Ortega[Bound with] HARA PRASADSASTRI:reads, seeing a process of filling not emptyingA catalogue of palm-leaf and select-consciousness.For the next emission,the sakta,termed ' the awakening of awareness' (citta-ed paper MSS belonging to thesambodha)is defined by Abhinavaguptas ' theDurbar Library Nepal, Vol. s and II.condition in what that reality (-tadvastu-),(Verzeichnis der Orientalischennamely, whateverhas been grasped by the eyes,Handschriften inDeutschlandthe ears or any other [faculty], tends toturn inwards to merge with one's self-aware-Suppl.-Bd. 31: Publications of theness (212: drstasrutaditadvastupronmukhatvamNepal-German Manuscript Preser-svasamvidi/cittasambodhanamoktahsaktollasa-vation Project, 1.) i-vi, [xi]-cxxix,bharatmakah.//).' ' That reality' can only be that[iii], 771 pp. Stuttgart:Franz SteinerWhiCh iS the content of the anava emissionjustdescribed. The latter's function then is to pro-Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, 1989.ject the ' external' reality which the subjecthenSome 25 years after the inaugural issue of theinteriorizesthrough cognition. This reading iscatalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts from Chinesefurthersupportedby the existenceof parallelstoTurkestan, Heinz Bechert has taken over thethis cyclical model elsewherein the literatureofrole of editor in chief. His introduction sum-the Trika. At Tantraloka8.12-lSb Abhinava-marizes nine decades of struggle to exploit thegupta summarises the Trisirobhairavatantra'slegacy of the monastic libraries of ancientThis content downloaded on Wed, 6 Feb 2013 14:01:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions