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Gitartha Samgraha (critical Study)

by Partha Sarathi Sil | 2020 | 34,788 words

This page relates ‘Literary and Socio-cultural Value of the Gitarthasangraha� of the study on Abhinavagupta’s Gitartha Samgraha commentary on the Bhagavad Gita: one of the core texts of Indian Philosophy. The Gitartha Sangraha is written in the light of Kashmir Shaivism and brings to Shaiva metaphysics and Yoga integrated in the Bhagavadgita. This study deals with Abhinava’s vision about the purpose of human existence and the accomplishment of salvation (i.e., self-realisation).

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2. Literary and Socio-cultural Value of the īٳ󲹲ṅg

Abhinavagupta, the scholar of poetics, belonging to 10th century A.D., unfolded newer perspectives of his creation in īٳ󲹲ṅg. We find an exposure of the poetic art in his philosophical outlook and the manifestation of Philosophical thought in the poetical composition. By dint of his multifarious genius he managed to compose many valuable books. In one hand he has discussed the main tenets of the Tantra and Āśٰ in the Tantraloka and ղԳٰ to unfold the ultimate truth of the universe, on the other he has unfolded the fundamental thought of the ʰٲⲹñphilosophy to establish it firmly as a branch of philosophy by writing the text ʰٲⲹñ-Vimarśinī. Abhinavagupta, a true analyzer of the poetic secrets, has presented the core of the Nātyaśāstra in his treatise 󾱲Բī in front of the connoisseurs.ĀԲԻ岹󲹲Բ has made the doctrine of �rasa vai sa”perpetual by giving importance to the rasa-dhvani and Abhinavagupta has given it a perfect form in his commentary named Locana. In the īٳ󲹲ṅg we find a conglomeration of all these concluded ideas.

Abhinavagupta was well versed in the philosophy of mimāṃsā and others. He has nicely presented much mystical truth in a simple manner by citing examples. He has stated in respect of slaughtering of animal in the dzپṣṭdz sacrifice while discussing Karman and Akarman in the fouth chapter of the Śrimadbhagavadgītā that as killing of animals does not amount to acquire sin when it is for protection of the subjects form the attack of animals like lion etc., likewise slaughtering of animal in the jyotistoma sacrifice is also not an akarma[1]. We find here discussion regarding difficult action (duṣkarman) and non action (akarma) prescribed by the śٰ. The context of vidhi and ٳ󲹱岹 has also been discussed[2]. One of the characteristics of Abinavagupta’s writing is that he has cited śǰ첹 from his different own writings while explaining some mysterious truth. As for example, in the discussion about sacrifice in respect of spiritual performance, he cited an example from the վñԲ󲹾 to determine the nature of yogayajña and clarified the issues in a nutshell before the readers in the īٳ󲹲ṅg[3].

He has not commented all the śǰ첹 of that reading. In the īٳ󲹲ṅg Abhinavagupta has created an instance of describing the right to prayer to God by any person irrespective of caste, creed, colour or gender out of excessive devotion. In explaining a śǰ첹 in Ninth chapter he has mentioned about the females, Śܻ and ղśⲹ. This means all the creations of the God in the world are entitled to worship the ultimate reality. He said that among human beings the females are ignored which supposes that the women kind was deprived of education at that time. He has spoken about the emancipation of the females. In this respect Abhinavagupta has vindicated the opinions of other commentators after analyzing their views. It is the view of Abhinavagupta, thou who believe that the women and other castes are not eligible for emancipation; they in fact, negate the power of the God’s grace. But the ʲś is always compassionate. The power of grace is always inherent in the God and it is impossible to separate that power from Him. It is due to ignorance that they give such views by mistake. They are basically greedy and acquiring by the envious vice, they went to show the division in the undivided spiritual tattva. It is however, a fact that the non-dualism has been properly established earlier by many Ā. So, Abhinavagupta has antagonized by way of writing his explanation of the 󲹲岵ī the falsified preaching of the opponents whose statements were intended to create divisions in caste, creed, colour and gender. He has written commentary on some of the śǰ첹 with a view to unfolding the deeper meaning. Through the use of beautiful sentences influenced by the Vedic knowledge, can also be formed in the īٳ󲹲ṅg. Mahāmāheśvarācārya Abhinavagupta, an attempt on poetical art, who was also a topmost scholar of philosophy. With the help of his writing the ʰٲⲹñ philosophy could gain a firm ground as it were.

The īٳ󲹲ṅg of Abhinavagupta has clearly mentioned that all human beings, including the females and the śudras, have the right to worship God. This shows the way to social reformation. The doctrine of non-duality primarily makes the bond of unity. The concept of equality has been reflected in Abhinavagupta’s īٳ󲹲ṅg. In the thesis we have attempted to explain this socio-cultural aspect. Attempt has also been made to judge the statements of Abhinavagupta like the showering of rains and causing fertility of the land as made by him out of similitude.How the unification of the foreceptor and the disciple belonging to the mysterious Kashmir Ś and the flow of knowledge of their tradition of spiritual performances extended, can be perceived from the description of the word �� in the īٳ󲹲ṅg[4]. Here we can learn about the practical existence of the tradition of Kashmir Ś in the yogic practices with effusion (ū첹) and exhalation (recak). According to the doctrine of the Ś,, the realisation ‘Śivoham�, ‘I am Ś� is a correlation between my soul as �ٳ� and the Supreme soul. It is clearly mentioned by Abhinavagupta in the commentary of īٳ󲹲ṅg[5].Thus we have tried to analyze the explanation of Guptapāda from the standpoint of the then society and not by limiting it to the linguistic study. In this chapter, the literary and sociological study has been made to show how theory of manifestation of rasa is comparable with that of the doctrine of Śivābhibyakti.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

tathā ca vihitakarmaṇyapi madhye ṣṭ� 첹پ-Ծṣṭdz iva paśubadha� | viruddhe'pi te karmaṇi śubhamasti karma | tathāhi hiṃsraprāṇivadhe prajopatābhāva� | īٳ󲹲ṅg, 4/17.

[2]:

sa manmayatāmetīti vidhirevaiṣa nārthavāda�, īٳ󲹲ṅg, 18/67.

[3]:

bhāve'tyakte niruddhā cinnaiva 屹Գٲ� vrajet |
ٲ tanmayabhāvena vikasayatyati || V.B., 62,īٳ󲹲ṅg, 4/19.

[4]:

śiṣyٳā ca nayānayagrahaṇāya kecidasta� yāntamudīyamāne saṃveśya tadgīkāreṇāpavargadānāt ٳi śiṣyٳi ca śodhanabodhanapraveśanayojanarūpe ⲹyajñe svaparānandamaye pratiṣṭhitamanasa� | ata eva ū첹� prathamamukta�... ⲹyajñebhyo'nye jñānayajñā�, īٳ󲹲ṅg, 4/30.

[5]:

ٳi mayi matsvarupatā� prāpte, ٳi iti sāmānādhikaraṇyam | īٳ󲹲ṅg, 4/35.

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