Philosophy of God in Kashmir Saiva Dualism
Abstract
Scholars know a good deal about Kashmir Saivism. Beginning in the teens of our century the works of Abhinavagupta and others were edited, translated and studied both by Indian and Western students. The philosophy of non-dualism or absolute monism that characterized the thought of Abhinavagupta and the Trika or Pratyabhijha school of which he was representative has come to be identified with the name Kashmir Saivism.
Yet a Saiva school teaching philosophical dualism existed in Kashmir during the same period. The only early writer of this school whose writings have survived is Sadyojyoti (9th. C). It is the writings of this author, along with their commentaries by Ramakantha (12th. C) and Aghorasiva (12th. C) which form the main textual basis for this study. This essay also includes a study of Aghorasiva's commentary on King Shoja's (11th. C) Tattvaprakasika.
The first two chapters give a detailed exposition of the philosophy of God in Sadyajyoti's Tattvatravanirnaya (with aghorasiva's commentary). The first chapter, on the Tattvatrayanirnaya, includes a complete translation of this work and its commentary into English for the first time. This is followed by a study on the same theme in Bhoja's Tattvaprakasika and Aghorasiva's commentary thereon. These three chapters are followed by a summary of the findings concerning the positive teachings on God put fourth in these texts. Chapter four is a study of the polemics in the second chapter of the Naresvarapartksa of Sadyojyoti with a commentary by Ramakantha. It is here that the defence of the philosophy of God is effected against other schools of Indian Philosophy. Chapter five is a study of Abhinavagupya's polemic in the Tantraloka against Sadyojyoti's dualism and conception of God. This is followed by a summary and conclusion.
In brief, the findings are that, Sadyojyoti's system of though resembles what one might think of as theistic Samkhya. The metaphysics is similiar with the only significant difference being that Sadyojyoti finds a place for God (Siva) largly, so the thesis argues, due to the presence of mala in Saivism, which is absent in Samkhya. The argument for the existence of God is similiar to the Myaya syllogism (ie, is a combiation of the cosmological and design argumental. The main opponents to this attempted proof of the existence of God are the Buddhist, Dharmakirti, and the Mimamsaka Kumarila.
In general, Sadyojyoti's philosophy of God and his doctrine of philosophical dualism are as successful as any thought system in terms of power and explicability and internal coherence.
The final part of the conclusion argues that the type of philosophy espoused by Sadyojyoti and his commentators cannot really speak to the modern western world since the premises of the former are those which the letter sees itself as having outgrown