Diiairxixr oi Ixoiax Puiiosoiu\ axo Buoouisr Sruoiis

Uxiviisir\ oi Tox\o
1 January :o1
Anuixavacuira ox rui Sun;icrivi Naruii oi Biauxaxicai Vaiuis:
ixra Fuxoaxixraiisx Acaixsr rui Ansoiiriox oi aivisx ixro Hixouisx
Alexis Sanderson
Haxoour
Ouriixi
A. Atimrga: a history of ever more radical transcendence of brahmanical norms.
1. Atimrga I (Pcrthika Pupatas, as early as :nd c. ci; earliest epigraphical
records in th century)
:. Atimrga II (Lkulas / Klamukhas, unlikely to be later in origin than c. ci oo;
earliest epigraphical record at the beginning of the ,th century)
. Atimrga III (Somasiddhntavdins / Mahvratins / Kplikas, probably no
later than the fth century ci in origin, certainly no later than the beginning
of the sixth; earliest epigraphical record, seventh century from Daks
.
in
.
a Kosala).
B. Saiddhntika Mantramarga: a history of progressive accommodation of brahman-
ical norms.
1. Its earliest text-corpus, that of the ninth-century Nepalese Nivsatattvasam
.
hit
xs, dates in its earliest stratum from c. oo ci, and exhibits close connec-
tions with Atimrga II.
:. Te Saiddhntika mardaka Mat
.
ha was in existence in the Deccan at modern
Aun
.
d
.
h/Aundah (1,: N, ;;: E) about 18o km southeast of Sirpur and
about o km northeast of Parbhani at least as early as the sixth century on
the evidence of an inscription of the reign of ivagupta Blrjuna of Daks
.
in
.
a
Kosala from Senakapt
.
, close to Sirpur (rpura, the royal capital of Daks
.
in
.
a
Kosala) (Epigraphia Indica 1:, vv. 1o1;).
1
. Tree major south-Indian rulers are known to have received Saiddhntika aiva
initiation (dks
.
) during the course of the seventh century (or two in the seventh
and the third possibly as late as the rst quarter of the eighth): the Clukya king
Vikramditya I in a.o. ooo, the Eastern Ga nga king Devendravarman in o8:/,
and the Pallava king Narasim
.
havarman at some time between o8o and ;1.
. Dharmakrti attacks the Saiddhntika doctrine of liberation through initiation
in Pramn
.
avrttika, Pramn
.
asiddhi vv. :,c:o,v.
. Assimilation of Brahmanism: the eort to construct a aiva-brahmanical socio-
religious order as aivism rose to pre-eminence during the early medieval pe-
riod. Sadyojyotis (in the seventh or early eighth century) argues:
(a) that the Vedas are valid in their own sphere (svagocare),
(b) that the validity of the aiva scriptures requires the validity of the Vedas,
and
(c) that aivas are subject to the authority both of the Vedas and of their own
scriptures and may not transgress the brahmanical socio-religious order
(varnramadharmah
.
) even in thought (manaspi).
o. Evidence of aivisms pre-eminence:
(a) aiva inuence on the ritual systems and literatures of Vais
.
n
.
avas (the
Pacartra Sam
.
hits), Buddhists (the Mantranaya, Tantric Buddhism),
and Jains, all of which adopted and adapted aiva Mantramrgic models
and drew on the scriptures and Paddhatis of the aivas.
(b) In the epigraphic record of the centuries fromthe fth to the twelfth rulers
who identify themselves in their inscriptions as aivas, most commonly by
including the epithet paramamhevarah
.
completely devoted to Mahe-
vara with their royal titles, greatly outnumber those declaring any other
religious adherence.
(c) Te same imbalance is evident from the epigraphic record of religious
donations during these centuries. Of those reported in the inscriptions
published in Epigraphia Indica I nd that ooo are grants to brahmins
(brahmadeyam)these emanate from rulers of all kinds, regardless of sec-
tarian aliationand that of the remaining ,o, ,o (o) are aiva
(including ; donations to Devs and 8 to Skanda), 1o (18) Vais
.
n
.
ava,
111 (1:) Jain, o (;) Buddhist, and 8 () Saura. Approximately the
same ratios are seen in the inscriptions of the same time range published in
:
the Indian Antiquary. 1o are sect-neutral donations to brahmins, 11; are
aiva (including kta), :; are Vais
.
n
.
ava, are Jain, :, are Buddhist,
and are Saura.
(d) Tis marked preponderance of aivism can also be seen in the material
evidence of the numbers of temples constructed; and both this evidence
and that of the epigraphic record show that even when Vais
.
n
.
avism was
the beneciary of a marked increase in patronage the consequent growth
in the number of Vis
.
n
.
u temples was not accompanied by any diminution
in the number of new iva temples
;. aivism [of the [Saiddhntika tradition] generally accepted as based on valid
scriptures by the consensus of orthoprax brahmins (mahjanaprasiddhih
.
) ac-
cording to Jayantabhat
.
t
.
a, writing during the reign of a nkaravarman of Kash-
mir (c. a.o. 88,o:), but at the expense of its claims to transcendence (Ny-
yamajar-gamaprmn
.
ya, ed. Karaoxa, p. 1:, l. to p. 1, l. 8).
8. Bhat
.
t
.
a Rmakan
.
t
.
ha IIs aivas without pride of transcendence. Mata ngapra-
mevaravr
.
tti, introduction to Kriypda .1ooc1o1 (p. oo, ll. o: atha kim-
artham etan nitydikarmnus
.
t
.
hyate. nis
.
prayojanam eva coditatvj jaiminyavat
iti kecit. . . . .
,. Apardityas aivas by birth (jty )(early twelfth century). Yjavalkyasmr
.
tit
.
k
on 1.;, p. 1, l. : to p. 1, l. 11.
1o. Mantramrga in the Purn
.
as: Li ngapurn
.
a, Uttarabhga; Agnipurn
.
a; Dev-
purn
.
a.
11. Te aivism of the Sthpakas
(a) Te protest of the Devymata (a Pratis
.
t
.
htantra claiming to be a scripture
of the Nivsa cycle) against hybridization and adulteration.
(b) Evidence of hybridization and adulteration (i) in the testimony of Apar-
ditya ( Yjavalkyasmr
.
tit
.
k on 1.;), (ii) in the Dharmastric Nibandhas
such as the Kr
.
tyakalpataru of Laks
.
mdhara (early twelfth century) and
the Bhagavantabhskara (Pratis
.
t
.
hmaykha section) of Nlakan
.
t
.
habhat
.
t
.
a
(active between 1o1o and 1o ci).
1:. Te reactions of Saiddhntika theorists: the complete divorce of theory and
practice.

C. Non-Saiddhntika Mantramrga ( Atimrga II and III): the preservation of

transcendence in through non-dualistic practice (advaitcrah
.
, nirvikalpcrah
.
, nih
.
-
a nkcrah
.
).
1. Cult of Bhairava (Mantramrga texts) (Atimrga II Nivsa corpus Svaccha-
nda corpus).
:. kta Cults of Dev(/s) (Vidypt
.
ha texts): Vma (Vn
.
ikha); Ymala (Brah-
maymala, also called Picumata); Trika (Siddhayogevarmata, Tantrasadbhva,
Mlinvijayottara etc.); Klasam
.
kars
.
an
.
cult (Jayadrathaymala, S
.
at
.
ka I).
D. Kulamrga (Atimrga III): the same the preservation of transcendence.
1. Te Kaula Trika (*Triirobhairava, parts of Mlinvijayottara, Tantrloka :,).
:. Klkula (Jayadrathaymala, S
.
at
.
kas :; the Krama/Mahnaya scriptures: K-
lkulapacaataka, Klkulakramasadbhva etc.).
. Te Kubjik cult (Trika) (Kubjikmata).
. Te cult of the Nitys (Nitykaula) (rvidy [Nitys
.
od
.
aikrn
.
ava, Yoginhr
.
-
daya]).
E. Abhinavaguptas kta aivism (Krama-Trika Kaula synthesis of Tantrloka, Par-
trim
.
ikvivaran
.
a etc.). Te intellectual defence of aivisms transcendence of the brah-
manical domain through counter-brahmanical practice.
1. Tantrloka .:1c::b:
uddhyauddh ca smnyavihite tattvabodhini ||
pum
.
si te bdhite eva tath ctreti varn
.
itam |
Purity and impurity are elements of the generally applicable [brahmanical] pre-
scription. Tis teaching [of Mlinvijayottara 18.;81] provides a special pre-
scription whose function is to suspend the application of those rules in [the
special case] of those who have grasped reality.
:. Tantrloka .:c:ob:

bahih
.
satsv api bhves
.
u uddhyauddh na nlavat ||
pramtr
.
dharma evyam
.
cidaikynaikyavedant |
yadi v vastudharmo pi mtrapeks
.
nibandhanah
.
||
sautrman
.
ym
.
sur hotuh
.
uddhnyasya viparyayah
.
|
Even if entities were to exist outside [our consciousness of them] the purity and
purity [attributed to them] could not be [objective] in the way that, say, blueness
is. Tis is purely a property of the perceiver (pramtr
.
dharmah
.
), resulting from
the way in which he perceives [a thing], as one with his consciousness or not.
Or rather, even if it were after all a property of the thing itself (vastudharmah
.
) it
would still have to be admitted that something is pure or impure only in relation
to specic perceivers. [For the scriptures of the bound hold that] fermented
liquor is pure for the sacricer (hotuh
.
) in the [rauta] Sautrman
.
sacrice, but
impure for others.
. Conceiving, then, of the social agents brahmanical identity as a false conscious-
ness that had to be jettisoned if salvation was to be attained, Abhinavagupta
prescribed the dramatic practices advocated by the scriptures of the Trika and
Krama as a means of ensuring that the jettisoning of this identity would be
enforced in practice, through observances that went against brahmanical prin-
ciples of purity and caste. Te radical nature of this view, when compared with
those found among the Saiddhntikas, is easily appreciated in the following
passage from the Partrim
.
ikvivaran
.
a, in which Abhinavagupta explains what
he sees as the rationale behind his traditions requirement that the worshipper
should oer and ingest substances that the exoteric religions consider impure:
tad etni dravyn
.
i yathlbham
.
bhedamalavilpakni < . . . >. tath hi dr
.
yata
evyam
.
kramo yad iyam
.
sam
.
koctmik a nkaiva samullasant rd
.
h phalaparyant
sam
.
srajrn
.
ataror
1
pratham nkurastih
.
. s cprabuddhn prati sthitir
:
bhaved iti
prabuddhaih
.
kalpit. bln prati ca kalpyamn
.
py etes
.
m
.

rd
.
h vaicitryen
.
aiva
phalati. ata eva vaicitryakalpand eva s bahudh

dharmdiabdanirdey prati-
stram
.
pratideam
.
cnynyarp yathoktam
.
glnir vilun
.
t
.
hik dehe
iti. seyam
.
yad jhat
.
iti vigalit bhavati tad nirastapavayantran
.
kala nko bhai-
ravahr
.
daynupravis
.
t
.
o bhavati. iti sarvathaivetad abhyasitavyam.

rtilakastre
yam
.
bhvah
.
. rbhargaikhym apy uktam
vravratam
.
cbhinanded yathyogam
.
tathbhyased
itydi. rsarvcre pi

ajnc cha nkate md

.
has tatah
.
sr
.
s
.
t
.
i ca sam
.
hr
.
tih
.
|
mantr varn
.
tmakh
.
sarve varn
.
h
.
sarve ivtmakh
.
||
peypeyam
.
smr
.
t po bhaks
.
ybhaks
.
yam
.
tu prthivam |
surpam
.
ca virpam
.
ca tat sarvam
.
teja ucyate ||
spr
.
yspr
.
yau smr
.
to vyu chidram ka ucyate |
naivedyam
.
ca nived ca naivedyam
.
gr
.
hn
.
ate ca yah
.
o
||
sarvam
.
pactmakam
.
devi na tena rahitam
.
kvacit |
icchm utpdayed tm katham
.
a nk vidhyate ||
iti. rvrvalstre py ayam evbhipryah
.
. uktam
.
ca kramastotre
sarvrthasam
.
kars
.
an
.
asam
.
yamasya
yamasya yantur jagato yamya |
vapur mahgrsavilsargt
sam
.
kars
.
ayantm
.
pran
.
ammi klm ||
iti. vykhytam
.
caitan may tat
.
t
.
kym eva kramakelau vistaratah
.
. ata eva s
.
ad
.
-
ardhastres
.
v es
.
aiva kriy pryo niyantran
.
rahitatvena pj.
Editions: Partrim
.
ikvivaran
.
a, ed. Gxoii, p. :oo, l. 8p. :o;, l. ;; KSTS ed. (Ked), p.
:, l. p. :o, l. 1
Manuscripts:
1
A f. [1;]r[18]r; B f. ;1r11;:r; C= f. v11r1o; D= f. ,,v1
1o1r1
1 jrn
.
ataror a Gxoiis xs x (n
.
rn
.
ataror c) : bjataror no Ked i s cprabuddhn prati
sthitir anc Ked,: uddhuddhdnm
.
sthitir conj. Gxoii bln prati ca kalpyamn
.
py
etes
.
m
.
conj. : bln prati ca kalpyamn
.
pi ca tes
.
m
.
anco Ked Gxoii bahudh no: ba-
huvidh ac Gxoii : bahuvidha Ked , sarvathaitad abhyasitavyam anco: sarvathaitada-
bhyse yatitavyam Ked Gxoii 6 gr
.
hn
.
ate ca yah
.
anco: gr
.
hn
.
ate ca ye em. Gxoii following
the citation in Tantrlokaviveka vol. ;, p. 1oo : gr
.
hyate ca yat Ked
So whenever they are available [all] these substances [should be oered and
consumed], for they dissolve the impurity that is plurality. I shall explain. We
witness directly the following process. Tis inhibition (a nk) is the state of
the contraction [of consciousness that constitutes our bondage]. Emerging and
becoming established to the extent that it takes full eect it causes the rst
sprouting of the ancient tree of Sam
.
sra. Tat has been constructed by the
enlightened for [the benet of ] the unenlightened in order to provide them
with a stable [social] order; and although merely constructed it becomes deeply
rooted for them and bears fruit in a variety of ways. Precisely because of this
1
A = Srinagar, Oriental Research Library xs 88: paper; rad script; B = Srinagar, Oriental
Research Library xs :1:: paper; rad script; C = Jammu, Raghunath Temple Manuscripts Library,
1,1o: paper; Kashmirian Devangar; D = Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Orientabteilung, Hs. or. 1: o;,: paper; rad script; penned in a.o. 188,.
o
construction of diversity [inhibition] assumes a multiplicity of aspects, diering
from scripture to scripture (pratistram) and from region to region, passing
accordingly under various names, of which dharmah
.
(the religious obligations
enjoined by the Veda) is only one. Tus we are taught:
Debility (glnih
.
) in [the state of identication with] the body is the
robber [that carries o the wealth of ones enlightened awareness].
Now, when this same [inhibition] is suddenly dissolved [through non-dualistic
practice] one throws o the contamination imposed by the restrictions of the
bound and enters the heart of Bhairava. Terefore one should strive in every
way to cultivate this [dissolution]. Such is the teaching of the Tilaka. Te Bha-
rgaikh too has told us:
He should venerate the observance of the Hero, [the follower of non-
dualistic practice,] and he should practice it himself to the extent of his
power.
And the Sarvcra teaches:
Te deluded is inhibited out of ignorance, and from that ow his births
and deaths [in the cycle of transmigration]. [All] Mantras are only sounds
and all sounds are iva. [So why should one hesitate to repeat those
that are not Vedic?] It is ordained that all drinks permitted and forbid-
den are [to be seen equally as] [the element] Water, [all] foods permit-
ted and forbidden as forms of [the element] Earth, [all visible things]
whether beautiful or ugly as [forms of the element] Fire, all tangible
things, whether one is or is not permitted [by the Veda] to touch them,
as [the element] Air, and [every] aperture [of the body] as [the element]
Ether. Te food oered, the oerer, and the recipient are all [to be seen] as
those ve [elements]. Nothing anywhere is other than those. Te self may
[therefore] generate desire [freely]. Why should it be inhibited [when it
comes to performing these non-dualistic rites]?
Te gist of the Vrvalstra is the same. In the Kramastotra too we are told
[with regard to Yamakl]:
I bow to [that] Kl who in the passion of her desire to accomplish the
great resorption retracts the power of the tyrant Inhibition who impedes
total withdrawal so diminishing man's [innate vitality].
I have explained this [statement] at length in the Kramakeli, my commentary
on that [hymn]. So it is that in the venerable teachings of the Trika the ritual
is essentially this: to oer worship without the inhibitions [imposed on con-
sciousness by the constructions of the brahmanical religion].
;
. Tantrloka 1:.1oc:b:
yad yath yena yatra sv samvittih
.
prasdati ||
1; tad tath tatra ca tad yogyam
.
dravyam
.
vidhi ca sah
.
|
laukiklaukikam
.
sarvam
.
tentra viniyojayet ||
18 nis
.
kampatve sakampas tu kampam
.
nirhrsayed |
balt yath yenbhyupyena kramd akramato pi v ||
1, vicikits galaty antas tathsau yatnavn bhavet |
dhkarmks
.
agat devr nis
.
iddhair eva tarpayet ||
:o vravratam
.
cbhinanded iti bhargaikhvacah
.
|
tathhi a nk mlinyam
.
glnih
.
sam
.
koca ity adah
.
||
:1 sam
.
srakrgrntah
.
sthlasthn
.
ghat
.
yate |
mantr varn
.
asvabhv ye dravyam
.
yat pcabhautikam ||
:: yac cidtma prn
.
ijtam
.
tatra kah
.
sam
.
karah
.
katham |
sam
.
karbhvatah
.
keyam
.
a nk tasym api sphut
.
am ||
: na a nketa tath a nk vilyetvahelay |
Ked. and A f. 8r11,
1;b tad tath tatra ca tad yogyam
.
dravyam
.
a and xs ga cited in Ked. : tad tath tena
tatra tat tad bhogyam
.
Ked
Any substance is suitable for worship and any procedure at any time or place,
provided that it causes his awareness to become tranquil. He may therefore em-
ploy any [substances] for this, either the mundane [lacto-vegetarian oerings] or
the esoteric [oerings that breach brahmanical taboos]. But this option applies
only if he is already free of inhibition. If he is still subject to it he should cause it
to diminish by force. He should strive, employing whatever method is eective,
to cause this inhibition to dissolve within him, either by degrees or suddenly and
all at once. [To achieve his end] he should therefore use the forbidden substances
to gratify the goddesses that reside in his faculties of sense and action. [For] the
Bhargaikh recommends that he should venerate the observance of the Hero
[and adopt it himself ]. To explain: Tat which we call inhibition, impurity,
debility, or contraction, serves as the capital of the great central pillar that holds
up the prison of Sam
.
sra. [But it can be dislodged. For] Mantras are just sounds,
all substances are just combinations of the ve material elements, and all living
creatures are just consciousness. How, therefore, can there be contamination [by
any Mantra, substance, or person]? Since there can be no contamination, what
is this inhibition? Even if fear of contamination should arise on occasion [out
of long conditioning] he should certainly feel no anxiety about it[, knowing its
illusory nature]. In this way it will readily dissolve.
. Tantrloka 1.,:
8
, rmadrtrikule coktam
.
moks
.
ah
.
a nkpahnitah
.
|
auddhavsanasyes
.
t
.
moks
.
avrtpi durlabh ||
Ked; A f. 11or; B Pt. :, f. 1r1
,b a nkpahnitah
.
Ked : a nkprahnitah
.
an ,c auddhavsanasyes
.
t
.
n : auddha-
vsanasyais
.
t
.
a : auddhavsanayais
.
Ked
And [iva] has declared in the Rtrikula: Liberation comes about through the
loss of inhibition. Liberation is out of the question for anyone who is still under
the inuence of [this] impure [mentality].
o. Tantrloka 1.,ooc:
, atattve bhiniveam
.
ca na kuryt paks
.
aptatah
.
|
jtividykulcradehadeagun
.
rthajn ||
,o grahn grahn ivs
.
t
.
au drk tyajed gahvaradaritn |
tath rniicrdau heyatvenopadaritn ||
,; brhman
.
o ham
.
may vedastroktd aparam
.
katham |
anus
.
t
.
heyam ayam
.
jtigrahah
.
paranirodhakah
.
||
,8 evam anye py udhryh
.
kulagahvaravartman |
atatsvabhve tdrpyam
.
darayann avae pi yah
.
||
,, svarpcchdakah
.
so tra graho graha ivoditah
.
|
sam
.
vitsvabhve no jtiprabhr
.
tih
.
kpi kalpan ||
ooo rd
.
h s tu svarpen
.
a tadrpam
.
chdayaty alam |
y kcit kalpan sam
.
vittattvasykhan
.
d
.
ittmanah
.
||
oo1 sam
.
kocakrin
.
sarvah
.
sa grahas tm
.
parityajet |
rmadnandastre ca kathitam
.
parames
.
t
.
hin ||
oo: nirapeks
.
ah
.
prabhur vmo na uddhis tatra kran
.
am |
devtr
.
ptir makhe raktamm
.
sair no aucayojant ||
oo dvijntyajaih
.
samam
.
kry caryntye pi marcayah
.
|
avikrakr
.
tah
.
Ked; A f. 11oro1o; B Pt. :, f. 1r18
,6b gahvaradaritn an : gahvararitn 6ooa rd
.
h s tu svarpen
.
a conj. : rpam
.
s tv
asvarpen
.
a Ked : rpam
.
s tv asarpen
.
a a : rpostvasvaropyen
.
a n 6oib na uddhis tatra
kran
.
am conj. : na uddhy tatra kran
.
am Ked an 6ob caryntye pi conj. : carcnte pi
Ked an
He should not become attached through prejudice to anything that is not real.
[So] he should immediately exorcize as though they are evil spirits (grahh
.
)
the eight possessors (grahh
.
) that the [Kula]gahvara has mentioned and that
according to the Niicra and other [scriptures] must be abandoned, namely
[pride of ] caste, learning, lineage, orthopraxy, physical appearance, country,
virtue, and wealth. I am a brahmin. How can I perform any rites other than
those ordained by the Veda? Such is the pride of caste, which [must be removed
,
because it] blocks ones access to the higher [teachings]. Te other [seven] too
may readily be exemplied along the [same] lines [as] indicated by the Kula-
gahvara. Tese have been called possessors grahh
.
in this [passage of scripture]
because they are indeed analogous to possessing spirits. Tough individuals are
autonomous [agents] these factors make them appear to take on a nature that is
alien to their own, concealing their true identity. Such conceptual constructs as
caste cannot apply to ones real identity as consciousness. [But] once established
they [like invasive spirits] completely occlude that nature with their own. Each
and every conceptual construct that causes the undivided reality of conscious-
ness to contract [in this way] is such a possessor and should be discarded.
Similarly, the Lord has declared in the nandastra: Te Lord [liberates souls]
without regard [for their standing in terms of virtue and sin as dened by the
scriptures of the bound]; and indeed he is contrary (vmah
.
) [in his very nature
to that mundane order]. So purity is of no avail in this matter. What graties
the Goddess in her worship is [oerings of ] blood and esh not the practice of
[brahmanical] purity. Brahmins and persons of the lowest castes should practice
[the circle rite] together. [For] Te radiant senses themselves do not react with
perturbation even when their object is an untouchable.
F. How widespread amd inuential was this kta tradition of transcendence of brah-
manical norms? Some indirect evidence: the Buddhist Yogintantras, the Devpurn
.
a,
the ktism of the Smarthas.
Ansriacr
Of the two great divisions of the aiva tradition, the Atimrga (:nd century ci+) and
the Mantramrga (th century ci +), the rst shows aivas adopting ever more radi-
cally counter-brahmanical forms of religious asceticism, passing from the Pcrthika
Pupata phase to the Lkula and nally that of the Kplika Somasiddhnta, while the
second (Tantric aivism) shows a progressive eort to accommodate the brahmanical
system, attempting to establish a aiva-brahmanical socio-religious order. Tis refor-
mation led by the ninth century to a widespread acceptance in orthoprax brahmanical
circles that the aiva scriptures and the practices that they ordain are after all valid. Tis
Hinduization was not welcomed by the aiva theorists whose works have reached us.
Tey reacted in the manner of a counter-reformation with various strategies designed
to keep alive the threatened sense that aivism, like Buddhism for Buddhists, oered
a path to a true liberation that lay far beyond the goals achievable by following the
mundane, brahmanical religion of ruti and Smr
.
ti (laukiko dharmah
.
). Among the
mainstream Mantramrgic aivas, those of the Saiddhntika traditionit was this
that had become acceptable in brahmanical circlesthis reaction was entirely on the
level of theory designed to indoctrinate their co-religionists with the conviction that
1o
their rituals were operating in spite of appearances and now widespread belief on an
entirely higher level. But among the aivas of the kta persuasion, who inherited and
further rened the radical rejection of brahmanical values developed in the Atimrga,
the sense of transcendence was kept alive through modes of counter-cultural practice.
However, with the entry of this tradition into the highly learned culture of Kashmir in
the tenth century we see an attempt on the part of its greatest theorist, Abhinavagupta,
to provide an intellectually coherent critique of what he perceived as the basis of
brahmanical orthopraxy, namely the uncritical belief that the properties of relative
purity and impurity ascribed by brahmanical regulation to persons, things, and acts,
are objective, real properties (vastudharmat, prameyadharmh
.
). Elaborating on this
basis a theory of the subjective nature (pramtr
.
dharmat) of such ascribed properties
while at the same time rendering their cultural objectivity intelligible, he shows how
the kta practices that he advocates in accordance with his scriptures make sense as
the means of escaping from what he saw as the bondage of the soul imposed by the
brahmanical tradition.
11