The Introduction to Tantric Philosophy - The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta with the Commentary of Yogaraja (480p) [Anomolous].pdf

The Introduction to Tantric Philosophy - The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta with the Commentary of Yogaraja (480p) [Anomolous].pdf

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Routledge (February 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0415836956
ISBN-13: 978-0415836951

This book is certainly impressive, with Introduction, Notes, and an edited Sanskrit text. I am sure that anyone who buys it will not regret the purchase, even though they may have to go without lunch for a month or so. Like much of what is produced by academic presses anymore, it is way too expensive. The copy I'm looking at is from a university library. There are, however, options, and that is the reason why I'm writing this review. The Paramarthasara has also been translated by Deba Brata Sensharma and published by the Muktabodha Institute (unfortunately not available through Amazon.) This translation also contains the commentary of Yogaraja, but not the Sanskrit text. The text though is available through the same Muktabodha Institute for free download. Just so people know, unless they really want to, they often don't need to spend so much for a text if they look around a little.

The Paramārthasāra, 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 Śaivism, which he designates in his works as the Trika, or ‘Triad’ of three principles: Śiva, Śakti and the embodied soul (nara).

The main interest of the Paramārthasāra is not only that it serves as an introduction to the established doctrine of a tradition, but also advances the notion of jiv̄anmukti, ‘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, Yogarāja (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 Paramārthasāra and Yogarāja’s commentary.

This book will be of interest to Indologists, as well as to specialists and students of Religion, Tantric studies and Philosophy.