Abstract:
Śaivasampradāyaḥ or Śaivism is one of the largest and most significant Hindu denominations. The eminence of Śaivism as a sampradāya in the context of religion and philosophy is unparallel. The research highlights one of the significant schools which derives its teachings from the sixty-four monistic Tantras, known as the Bhairava Tantras, the essence of which is called ‘Trika Śaivism’ or ‘Trika school’. The Government of India, in the 19th Century, ordered a German Indophile, Georg Bühler, to lead a literary expedition in Kashmir. The vast literature on the indigenous religious philosophy of Śaivism was discovered in 1875. The study concentrates on one research gap, which is two-fold in nature. Firstly, the establishment of the Trika school as a philosophy with a Tantric foundation. Secondly, in establishing the latter, a philosophical comprehension of the practical ways of liberation is prescribed in the Trika philosophy. The Trika school represents a combination of monistic philosophy and tantric practices. But a comparative approach is applied to understand the Trika school as a philosophical school. The four selected Indian philosophical schools are Sāṅkhya, Advaita Vedānta, Yogācāra, and Sābdika philosophy. The research gap leads to two main research objectives. Firstly, to discuss the various facets that shaped Trika Philosophy which allowed other Philosophical schools to come within its ambit and enrich it. Secondly, to take into account the inclusive nature of Trika Philosophy to provide a comprehensive conceptualization of Parāsamvit or Consciousness. The research objectives further give rise to five conjectures for the present research.
Firstly, is it essential to name a school per its philosophy and traditional roots? Secondly, how is the ‘religio-philosophical’ emergence of the Trika school critical in propagating the unique absolutist philosophy? Thirdly, on the vast map of Indian philosophical schools, where does Trika philosophy stand? Fourthly, how did the philosophies propounded by the selected Indian philosophical school fall under the ambit of the 9th Century Trika school? Lastly, how is Pratyabhijñā the means and the end to achieve the Ultimate Reality? The three philosophical and qualitative research methodologies applied are Textual Analysis, Conceptual (Philosophical) Analysis and Critical Enquiry. In the present study, the translations of seven primary Trika texts - Śiva Sūtras, Spanda Kārikās, Śivadṛṣṭi, Vijñānabhairava, Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā, Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśini, and Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam are used.
The research enables to view Śiva or Parāsamvit not as a Vedic deity but a comprehensible, definable, and achievable Ultimate Reality. The philosophy put forth by the Trika school not only establishes Śiva or Parāsamvit as the Ultimate Reality but also the way to achieve Śiva. The misconception of the Trika philosophy being Tantric in nature is cleared. The understanding of the Trika school in terms of a complete philosophy with a traditional foundation is explored. This is also the main contribution of the present research work. The research contribution is also in the terms of the comprehension of Tantric epistemology in terms of Anugraha, Śaktipāta, Dīksā, and upāyas with Pratyabhijñā as the underlying factor. Pratyabhijñā according to the Trika philosophy is the means well as the end. The practical and achievable path of sādhāna is misinterpreted as peculiar or Tantric in nature. The general misinterpretation from the denomination of the Trika school to the portrayal of the Trika school as Tantric or religious in nature are clarified in the present research