Para-Trisika-Vivarana

The Secret of Tantric Mysticism

The Paratrisika is a short Tantra which has been held in the highest esteem by Kashmir Saivism or Trika. After Somananda, Abhinava Gupta has written two commentaries on it, a short one and an extensive one- the present Vivarana which is present in this book for the first time in an English translation.

The Paratrisika-Vivarana is one of the most fascinating but also most difficult texts of the Kashmir Saiva School, and of the mystical philosophical literature of India as a whole. It deals with Ultimate Reality and with the methods of realization, centered above all in the theory and practice of the mantra.

Abhinava Gupta displays here his great exegetical genius and presents a penetrating metaphysics of language, of the Word and its various stages in relation to consciousness. The present translation of Abhinava Gupta’s masterpiece will not only be a milestone in the study of Kashmir Saivism, but it also makes available one of the major mystical texts of the Indian tradition to readers interested in philosophy and spirituality.

Note : Paratrisika-Vivarana written by Abhinava Gupta. English translation with Notes and running exposition by Jaideva Singh.