Abstract
The Īśvarapratyabhijñā treatise—an important philosophical text composed in Kashmir in the 10th century CE by the Śaiva nondualist Utpaladeva—remains partly unavailable to date: a crucial component of this work, namely the detailed commentary (Vivṛti or Ṭīkā) in which Utpaladeva explained his own verses, is considered as almost entirely lost, since only a small part of it has been preserved in a single, very incomplete manuscript remarkably edited and translated by Raffaele Torella. However, our knowledge of the Vivṛti is quickly expanding: many additional fragments have recently come to light. The article gives an overview of these new findings while highlighting the most interesting of them, i.e. the discovery of the lengthiest Vivṛti fragment known to date in the margins of a manuscript containing Abhinavagupta’s Vivṛtivimarśinī. It also provides an edition and translation of the beginning of this fragment.
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References
(a) Manuscripts
[D] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvivṛti, Delhi, National Archives of India (Manuscripts belonging to the Archaeology and Research Department, Jammu and Kashmir Government, Srinagar, in “List of Gilgit Manuscripts and Sanskrit Mss”), no. 30, vol. IX [paper, śāradā script].
[D2] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī manuscript, Delhi, National Archives of India (Manuscripts belonging to the Acheology and Research Department, Jammu and Kashmir Government, Srinagar, in “List of Gilgit Manuscripts and Sanskrit Mss”), no. 5, vol. II [paper, śāradā script].
[JR] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī, Jammu, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, no. 47 (formerly no. 52A) and no. 70 (formerly no. 52B) [paper, śāradā script, incomplete].
[J11] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvivṛtivimarśinī (“Pratyabhijñāvṛttī īśvarapratyabhijñāvivṛti”), no. 5077, Jammu, Sri Ranbir Institute, Raghunath Mandir Library [paper, devanāgarī script, complete].
[S2] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī, Śrinagar, Oriental Research Library, no. 1035 [paper, śāradā script].
[S3] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī (catalogued as Īśvarapratyabhijñākaumudī) Śrinagar, Oriental Research Library, no. 838 [paper, śāradā script].
[S5] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī (catalogued as Sāṃkhyatattvakaumudī by Vācaspati Miśra; Abhinavagupta’s ĪPV is copied after the latter), Śrinagar, Oriental Research Library, no. 1212 [paper, śāradā script].
[S7] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī manuscript, Śrinagar, Oriental Research Library, no. 2250 [paper, devanāgarī script].
[S9] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī, Śrinagar, Oriental Research Library, no. 1161 [paper, śāradā script].
[SOAS] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī manuscript, London, School of Oriental and African Studies Library, no. 207 in R.C Dogra, A Handlist of the Manuscripts in South Asian Languages in the Library [of SOAS], London: SOAS, 1978/ no. 44255 [paper, śāradā script].
(b) Editions
[Bhāskarī] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī of Abhinavagupta, Doctrine of Divine Recognition, vols. I-II: Sanskrit Text with the Commentary Bhāskarī, ed. K.A.S. Iyer & K.C. Pandey, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, [1938] 1986.
[ĪPK] Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā—See Torella (2002).
[ĪPV] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī, ed. M.R. Shāstrī/M.K. Shāstrī, 2 vols., Srinagar: Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies 22 & 33, 1918–1921.
[ĪPVV] Īśvarapratyabhijñāvivṛtivimarśinī by Abhinavagupta, 3 vols., ed. M.K. Shāstrī, Srinagar: Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies 60, 62 & 65, 1938–1943.
[ŚDV = Śivadṛṣṭivṛtti] Śivadṛṣṭi of Śrīsomānandanātha with the Vṛtti by Utpaladeva, ed. M.K. Shastri, Srinagar: Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies 54, 1934.
[Vṛtti] See Torella (2002).
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Many thanks are due to Chetan Pandey, whose commendable endeavour to make photographs of various manuscripts preserved in Jammu and Kashmir and whose generosity in sharing these photographs with the scholarly community have led to the most interesting discovery mentioned in this article (see below, fn. 21); to Alexis Sanderson, among countless reasons for helping me identify the scribe of a manuscript (see below, fn. 12); and to Vincent Eltschinger, for carefully reading a previous version of this paper and for providing insightful remarks.
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Ratié, I. In Search of Utpaladeva’s Lost Vivṛti on the Pratyabhijñā Treatise: A Report on the Latest Discoveries (with the Vivṛti on the End of Chapter 1.8). J Indian Philos 45, 163–189 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-016-9302-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-016-9302-2