Kashmir Shaivism: Salient Features and Contribution
Shaivism is one of the main traditions of Hinduism that reveres Lord Shiva as ultimate and supreme reality, omniscient, omnipresent and unbound and regarded as the supreme Brahman. It believes that Shiva is all; Shiva is in all; Shiva is the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of everything.
Shaivism originated in India and spread to several parts of world from here, particularly Southeast Asia, including Java, Bali, and parts of the Southeast Asian continent, including Cambodia.
Kashmir Shaivism
There are sects / philosophies among shavites such as Shiva Advaita; Pashupata Shaivism; Kashmir Shaivism; Shaiva Siddhanta and Lingayatism. Out of these, Kashmir Shaivism flourished in Kashmir in circa 800 AD. Among Kashmir Shavites, the various sub-sects that flourished during the early medieval period include Kula, Krama and Trika, which then integrated into a new non-dualistic Shaiva system founded by Vasugupta. Sometimes, Trika Doctrine is used to explain the Kashmir Shaivism only.
Kashmir Shaivism became a major philosophical trend during the eighth or ninth century AD in not only Kashmir but also other parts of India including Odisha and Maharashtra. It made significant strides both philosophically and theologically till the end of the 12th century.
Salient Features
- Kashmir Shaivism is different from a dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta tradition that flourished in medieval Kashmir. It is essentially a philosophy of consciousness and is non-dualistic.
- The most significant philosophy of monistic Kashmiri Shaivism is the Pratyabhijna or recognition. Pratyabhijna is a system propounded in the writings of Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta.
- According to the followers of Kashmir Shaivism, world is not an illusion but is very real.
- Kashmir Shaivism can be held as the culmination of non-dualist philosophy of reality that evolved from the Tantric tradition of the Shaivagamas, and hence representing a paradigmatic shift from Vedic thought.
- Another important concept of Kashmir Shaivism is abhasavada or the ‘theory of apperances’. According to this theory, everything that appears is the manifested form of the absolute.
- Kashmir Shaivism focuses on the relation between god, nature and man. It is intensely monistic. This school of thought does not deny the existence of god but places more emphasis upon the personal meditation and reflection of devotee and the guidance from guru to the disciple.
- According Kashmir Shaivism, sadhana or spiritual practice is essential to attain moksha. It describes four methods for attaining moksha:
- aṇavopaya, the method of the body,
- saktopaya, the method of the mind,
- sambhavopaya, the method of Consciousness,
- anupaya, the ‘methodless’ method.
Concepts in Kashmir Shaivism
The key concepts in Kashmir Shaivism are as follows:
Anuttara (the Supreme)
It is the ultimate principle of Kashmir Shaivism which is identified with Siva and Sakti, the supreme consciousness (cit), uncreated light (prakasa), supreme subject (aham) and atemporal vibration (spanda). Its interpretations are: “Supreme”, “above all” and “unsurpassed reality”. The practitioner who realized anuttara is considered to be in possession of an instantaneous realization and perfect freedom (svatantrya).
Aham (the Heart of Śiva)
Aham is the concept of supreme reality and is thought as a non-dual interior space of Siva, and identical to Sakti.
Kula (the spiritual group)
Kula is the notion of family or group. Kula are called as families as they have a common unifying bond which is the Supreme Lord, Siva. The Practices with respect to Kula are mystical and obscure in which the lower aspect of oneself gets dissolved into the higher ones.
Svatantrya (self-created free will)
Svatantrya is the concept of independent free will. It is considered as the primordial force that resulted in the creation of the universe. It is considered as the sole property of god. Man is considered to have a very limited degree of free will depending upon their level of consciousness. Ignorance is also considered as a force projected by Svatantrya and can only be removed by Svatantrya. In Kashmir Shaivism, Svantantrya is considered to exist beyond the limiting shield of cosmic illusion, maya.
The Four schools of Kashmir Shaivism
The four schools of Kashmir Shaivism are as follows:
Krama
The term ‘Krama’ denotes ‘spiritual progression‘ or ‘gradual refinement of the mental processes‘, or ‘successive unfoldment taking place at the ultimate level’, in the Supreme Consciousness. Krama is a synthesis of Tantra and Sakta traditions based on monistic Shaivism. Krama school is not only forms an integral part of Kashmir Shaivism but is also an independent system both philosophically and historically. Krama school is aimed at forming a synthesis of enjoyment (bhoga) and illumination (mokṣa).
Kula
Kula is another important school of Kashmir Shaivism which means ‘family’ or ‘totality’ in Snaskrit. As per this tantric school par excellence, sakti plays a paramount role.
Spanda
Spanda School was introduced by Vasugupta and is described as “vibration/movement of consciousness”. The central theme of this school of thought is both the objective exterior reality and the subjective world is Spanda.
Pratyabhijna
The Pratyabhijna is another school of Kashmir Shaivism which means “spontaneous recognition” in Sanskrit. Pratyabhijna is a unique school, as it does not have any upāyas (means). According to this school of thought, there is nothing to practice and the practitioner’s only job is recognize himself. The school was lost in between due to a lack of understanding the philosophy of the school. Later this school was revived in the 8the century CE by Somananda.
Written tradition in Kashmir Shaivism
The first Kashmiri Shaiva texts were written in the early 9th century CE. The written tradition can be classified into three parts, namely, Agama Sastra, Spanda Sastra and Pratyabhijna Sastra.
Agama Sastra
Agama Sastra are considred as being a direct revelation from Siva. They include works such as Malinivijaya Tantra, Svacchanda Tantra, Vijnanabhairava Tantra, Netra Tantra, Mrgendra Tantra, Rudrayamala Tantra, Sivasutra and others.
Spanda Sastra
Spanda Karika of Vasugupta is the main work of Spandasastra. Two most important works are Spanda Sandoha and Spanda Nirnaya.
Pratyabhijna Sastra
It has writings mainly with a metaphysical content. It has extremely high spiritual and intellectual contents. The most important works are Isvara Pratyabhijna fundamental work of Utpaladeva) and Pratyabhijna Vimarsini.
Prominent sages of Kashmir Shaivism
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta was credited for putting together all the four branches of Kashmiri Shaivism by smoothing out all the differences and disparities among the different branches. He offered a coherent and complete vision of Kashmiri Shaivism. The most important work of Abhinavagupta is the Tantraloka which is a work that synthesizes the whole tradition of monistic Shaivism.
Jayaratha
Jayaratha (1150-1200 AD) was a Kashmiri Shaivite who worked on a difficult task of providing commentary to Tantraloka, which he made as his life long pursuit.
