Essay name: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
Author: William James Arraj
The essay represents a study and partial English translation of the Svacchandatantra and its commentary, 鈥淯ddyota鈥�, by Kshemaraja. The text, attributed to the deity Svacchanda-bhairava, has various names and demonstrates a complex history of transmission through diverse manuscript traditions in North India, Nepal, and beyond.
Page 100 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
100 (of 511)
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liberation by visualizing this triple bondage as localized on cords,
which he severs and destroys. The later sectarian 艢aiva schools,
however, arguing from mature theological and philosophical
positions, retrospectively qualified the exclusive claims made for
this ritual and selectively emphasized aspects of its symbolism to
support their own viewpoint. Since both the dualistic Saiva-
siddh膩ntins and the non-dualists such as K峁mar膩ja岣� acknowledged
the Saiva scriptures as revelation, they could not directly reject
the inherited ritual of initation. Instead they sought to temper the
exclusive views of the Saiva ritualists by reinterpreting the ritual
and including it as one means in a hierarchy of means (up膩y膩岣�)
with knowledge (j帽膩nam), which, as in most schools, was
accorded the top position. 1
While emphasizing knowledge and devotion (bhakti岣�) as the
highest means, the later Saiva-siddh膩ntins through their dualistic
philosophy could better tolerate the causal mediation of grace
1 On the different means and preeminence of knowledge in
later 艢aiva-siddh膩nta, v. Schomerus, Arunantis Sivaj帽膩nasiddhiy膩r
1: 312ff. Here in the fundamental systematic work of Tamil 艢aiva-
siddh膩ntins composed c.1250 A.D., the traditional four topics of the
膩gam膩岣�, are ranked in the ascending order of importance, carya,
kriy膩, yoga岣�, j帽膩nam. Only the last conveys true liberation: "Die
endg眉ltige, in der unzertrennlichen Gemeinschaft mit Siva in seiner
Transzendenz bestehende und un眉bertreffliche Seligkeit is die durch
j帽膩na- oder sanm膩rga erlangte Seligkeit.鈥�
On the hierarchy of means in monistic 艢aivism, v. Bettina
Baumer, "Die Unvermittelheit der h枚chsten Erfahrung bei
Abhinavagupta,鈥� in Transzendenzerfahrung, Vollzugshorizont des
Heils, hrsg. Gerhard Oberhammer, Publications of the de Nobili
Research Library 5 (Wien: Institut f眉r Indologie der Universit盲t
Wien, 1978), pp. 61-79. Here the means, all undertood as ways of
knowing, in ascending order are a峁嘺va-, s膩kta-, sambhava-, and an-
up膩ya岣�. As Abhinavagupta岣� explains (M.K. Shastri, ed.,
Tantr膩loka岣�, 1, vs.245) this schema consitutes the organizing theme
of his entire presentation of the Saiva scriptures.
