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HOW IS VERBAL SIGNIFICATION POSSIBLE: UNDERSTANDING ABHINAVAGUPTAS REPLY1

We can nd, scattered in Abhinavaguptas works, a number of penetrating remarks on the nature of language. An overall assessment of his position in the Indian speculation on sabda has not yet been attempted, and certainly this is not an easy task due to the many components and the various sources of his eclectic teaching. Another reason for his absence from the general surveys of Indian linguistic studies may have been the implicit assumption that owing to his being a tantric master, and therefore above all a mystic, his philosophy is not to be taken seriously, an exception being made only for his well-known contribution to aesthetics. Be this as it may, the available studies on Abhinava as a philosopher of language end up by being either a chapter attached to specic tantric studies or just a paragraph when dealing with the doctrine of Bhartrhari, to which Abhinavaguptas . doctrine is considered an esoteric appendix.2 Now that it is becoming more and more apparent that Abhinavagupta is one of the great philosophers of traditional India, time has come for us to make an attempt to reconsider his ideas in broader perspective. The starting point of my enquiry was, in a sense, a negative one. At a certain point of my study of Abhinavaguptas work I was struck by the fact that he hardly ever mentions sphota. Acceptance of sphota would . . seem the natural outcome of the central place that Abhinavagupta assigns to the whole of Bhartrharian teaching in the Trika philosophy, since in . Bhartrharis conception the sphota theory plays an essential role. On the . . contrary, the rare occurrences of the term sphota in Abhinavaguptas works . all show that he considers this doctrine as belonging to others,3 that is, the Vaiy karanas towards whom he never fails to exhibit a certain colda .
1 Extended version of a paper presented at the XII World Sanskrit Conference,

Helsinki (July, 2003). Earlier drafts were read at La Sorbonne (May, 2002) and Berkeley (September, 2002). 2 Among the studies on linguistic speculation in Abhinavagupta, or more in general, in the so-called Kashmir Shaivism, see Gaurinath Shastri, 1959; Seyfort Ruegg, 1959: 101116; Padoux, 1990; Filliozat, 1994; Torella, 1998, 1999b, 2000. 3 E.g., IPVV vol. II, p. 188 ll.1213 tath ca vaiy karan air api v kyasphot asya pr yao a a a a s . . buddhinirgr hyataiva dar it . a s a Journal of Indian Philosophy 32: 173188, 2004. 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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ness.4 And, incidentally, this fact, too, deserves a closer investigation: how is it that Abhinavagupta is so often disparaging of the Vaiy karanas a . and at the same time so respectful and appreciative of their recognized leader. The next step in my enquiry has been to see what is, then, the meaning-bearer for Abhinavagupta, once he has decided not to take the Bhartrharian sphota into account. An answer to this question is to be . . sought, rst of all, in the Par trimsik tattvavivaran a (PTV), one of his a . a . most personal and fascinating works, and in the Tantr loka (TA). Useful a svarapratyabhij vivr tivimarin ( hints are also to be found in I a . s IPVV) and M linvijayav rttika. The picture which can be gathered from the full a a range of his texts is, if rather complex, nonetheless highly consistent. To this old problem what is the v caka? quite unexpectedly a Abhinavagupta furnishes the oldest of the solutions, that of the Mm ms :5 a. a Ultimately, the power of verbal signication, consisting in the identication with meaning, only pertains to phonemes.6 The phonemes have as their essential nature sonority (ruti; PTV p. 249 l.20), which s presupposes difference (without difference in sonority no articulation of phonemes is possible). For the difference to be possible an inner unity is necessary; however, this unity, represented by supreme Consciousness or Par V c, does not cancel difference, but acts as the inner background a a on which more and more interiorized forms of difference rest. For, as we shall see later, difference, multiplicity, are the very heart of phonemes. The fact that it is possible to speak inwardly implies that all the sources of differentiation of phonemes (place and organs of articulation, aspiration and so on) must also have some, so-to-speak, internal version (PTV p. 249 ll.24 antas tath samucitasvabh vah sy d eva). The status of the a a . a phonemes in Abhinavaguptas view seems to be very different from any other classical conception, including the Mm ms s. A telling evidence a. a may be represented by Abhinavaguptas paradoxical answer to the objection that not only the phonemes of language but many other sounds can express meanings, for example the sound of a drum or that of a bird (PTV p. 251 ll.1011). Only phonemes, Abhinavagupta says, have by themselves the power to express meanings (PTV p. 251 l.9 varnan m eva ca . a
4 PTV (Gnoli edition) p. 236 ll.2124 anyai caitat prayatnas dhitam iha ca s a et vadupadeadh r dhiayanaalin m aprayatna eva siddhyatty n sm bhir atra vrth a s aa s s a a a . a vaiy karanagurugr hagamane p taarrat viskriy m traphale nirbandho vihitah. a u s a . a a . . . IPVV vol. II, p. 194 ll.1721, p. 195 ll.1722, etc. 5 The rst to maintain the identication of the word with the phonemes that compose it is held to be the Mm msaka Upavarsa (S barabh s ya p. 54, ad Mm ms s tra I.1.5, atha a. a. a. a u . a gaur ity atra kah sabdah | gakarok ravisarjany iti bhagav n upavarsah) a a a . . . . 6 PTV p. 251 l.9 varnan m eva ca param rthato rthat d tmyalaks anam v cakatvam; a a a . a . . . a p. 241 ll.1314 evam ekaikasyaiva varnasya v stavam v cakatvam. a . . a

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param rthato rthat d tmyalaks anam v cakatvam), so, if all sounds are a a a . . . a seen potentially to have this power, this simply means that all sounds, without distinction, must have phonemes as their ultimate stuff. Even when they are indistinct or not fully manifested or articulated, the various sounds cannot exceed the corpus of the phonemes (m trk ).7 Nor can one say that, a. a though being acknowledged as not going over the range of the m trk , the a. a indistinct/unmanifest sounds are not to be taken into account because they lack any efciency or practical application.8 In fact, they can for example generate pleasure and pain, as is the case with the sound of the ocean or the drum. Further, for the Saiva schools it is the avyaktadhvani unmanifest sonority itself to be described as being the very stuff of the mantra (PTV p. 250 ll.1920 mukhyatayaiva pr yao mantratvam), the powerful sound a s par excellence. An additional evidence for the ultimately phonemic nature of all sounds is to be found in the somewhat cryptic statement made by Patajali in the Yogas tra (III.17): There is an overlapping of word, object and concept u due to their being superimposed on each other. Thanks to directing [yogic] exercise on their differentiation one can obtain the knowledge of the sounds of all beings. If, as seems obvious, the knowledge of the sounds is to be understood as the knowledge of the meaning of the sounds, this means that all sounds are given the qualication of not exceeding the nature of unperceived phonemes,9 since only phonemes can indeed signify. Before attempting to nd a rationale for bold statements like these, let us broaden our perspective and see what is the place of phonemes in the theology of the Saiva advaita tradition which Abhinavagupta stems from. It is very high, indeed. The whole of reality, in Saiva ritual, can be traversed by six paths (adhvan). The guru has to resort to one of them, according to the circumstances and the leanings of the adept, particularly during the initiatory ceremony. These paths are divided by Abhinavagupta and his followers into two groups of three, called v caka (padas, mantras, a phonemes) and v cya (words, kal s, principles), respectively. In the Saiva a a advaita outlook, the linguistic paths hold an undiscussed ontological supremacy with respect to the realistic ones, while the opposite holds true in the dualist Saivasiddh nta.10 a
7 PTV p. 250 ll.1516 avyaktatve pi ta eva t vantah sabdatv t sabdasya ca a a . m trk tirekino bh v t. a. a a a . 8 PTV p. 250 ll.1617 m trk natireky (my emendation for m trk tireky in the edited a. a a. a text) api avyaktah sabdo nupayog n na samgrhta ity apy ayuktam. a . . . 9 PTV p. 251 ll.78 sa katham, asphutavarnar patv tirekivihag dik jitaj n ya a a u a a . . . u paryavasyet. 10 See Torella, 2001: 854855.

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The pada-adhvan (here pada refers to the parts of a long and composite mantra) corresponds to the level of ordinary language, with its putting together the various phonemes to form words and sentences, and constitutes the body itself of discursive thought. Within the v caka group the a phonemes stand rst as representing the essential components both of the padas and the mantras: phonemes do not depend on anything else, they are svanis. ha.11 But the very special, unique, rank of the phonemes .t can be well understood from a signicant detail found in the complicated picture of universal reality given by Abhinavagupta in the PTV. Here the phonemes and the ontological principles (tattva) are viewed according to the different planes of being, represented by the four levels of the Word. Par and Payant (or the goddesses Par and Par par ) are seen a s a a a as bimba and pratibimba, that is, as the reecting image and the reected image, respectively (PTV p. 234 ll.14 ff.). What is very revealing is that while in the mirror of Payant the tattvas of the manifested world appear s in reverse order (from bh mi to sakti instead of from sakti to bh mi; u u see table 5.1 in Padoux, 1990: 318319), just like any reected image, the consonantal phonemes (from K to Ks), which are their quintessen. tial nature, remain unchanged. Abhinavaguptas explanation is that the nature of phonemes does not tolerate alteration (PTV pp. 234 l.29235 l.1 svar p nyath tv sahis nuk dipar marananyath bh venaiva). They u a a a a s a a .. a are the par maras of the tattvas, i.e., the way in which consciousa s ness becomes aware of them. At the level of Par V c, the nature a a of the phonemes is beyond convention, eternal, spontaneous, made of consciousness.12 The above remarks clarify another signicant feature of Abhinavaguptas linguistic ideas: the division of the word into three or four levels, upheld by Bhartrhari and his followers and, among them, the Saiva . philosophers themselves , does not conict with the Saiva emphasis on the role of phonemes. Abhinavagupta is not willing to see any gap between consciousness and phonemes (this after all cannot be a matter of too much surprise as his ontology and gnoseology typically do not like gaps). Were it not premature with respect to the development of our presentation of his ideas, we could introduce right now the enigmatic expression found in the TA (XI.67b), in which the answer to the question we are dealing with here is implicitly fully contained: varnasamvit, probably a hapax in . .

11 pad ni mantr rabdh ni mantr varnaikavigrah h / varnah svanisth ity esam a a a a a. . . . .. a .. sth las ksmapar tmat //. Source unknown, quoted in Tantr loka-viveka (TAV) vol. IV, u u . a a a p. 34. 12 PTV p. 220 ll.2627 amsam varnan m par v gbh mir iyam iha nirnyate . . a a u . a. . yatraivesam as mayikam nityam akrtrimam samvinmayam eva r pam. a u . . . .

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Sanskrit vocabulary, in front of which Jayaratha himself (the TAs learned commentator) remains silent. But let us apparently abandon the main track and allow ourselves a short digression, which, however, will prove to be not devoid of interest. The more distinction dims, says Abhinavagupta at a certain point of his magnum opus, the more aesthetic pleasure, relishing, rejoicing, come to the fore: everybody enjoys intense satisfaction at hearing a music made a s of unmanifest sounds.13 Vaikhar, Madhyam , and Payant are to be seen as ontologically higher and higher planes precisely due to differentiation progressively diminishing in them (also within each of them there is an inner gradation towards non-difference, each of them showing a gross, subtle, and supreme level). From the linguistic point of view, this can be seen as the v cya component losing prominence in favour of the v caka a a component. The tantric Abhinavagupta comes here to the foreground: the presence of the v cya is always a sign of non-fullness,14 at the mantra a level it is precisely due to the lack of a v cya and to the total absence a of conventionality that the bjapindas agglomerates of seed-mantras, i.e., .. of mantras consisting of a single syllable can cause consciousness to vibrate (spandayanti).15 Starting from everyday reality, in which we have the proliferation of the multiplicity of discursive thought and of the
13 TA III.243cd244ab avibh go hi nirvrtyai drsyat m t lap thatah // kil vyak a a . . a . a a. .

tadhvanau tasmin v dane paritusyati /. a . 14 This may be connected with the old question, rst mentioned as early as at the times of Y skas Nirukta (I.15), whether the vedic mantras are to be assumed as having a a meaning or not. The meaninglessness of the mantras was upheld by Kautsa, whose position is recorded and criticised by Y ska (I.16). The question is taken up again by a the Mm ms s tra (I.2.3139) and its commentators, who all endorse the meaningful a. a u ness option (for obvious reasons; the s tras 3139 give voice to a p rvapaksa); cf. Staal, u u . 1967: 2426, 4547. A Buddhist Mah y na text raises the question from a different a a perspective (cf. Dasgupta, 19693 [1946]: 2022; see also Gonda, 1975 [1963]: 299 300, totally depending on the latter without clearly acknowledging it). There are four kinds of dh rans according to the Bodhisattvabh mi: dharma , artha , mantra and a . u dh rans serving for obtaining the forbearance (ksanti) of the bodhisattva. The latter, a . . considered to be the highest, is made of totally meaningless syllables. But it is precisely such meaninglessness that is said to constitute their meaning (Bodhisattvabh mi p. 185 u l.25 ayam eva caisam artho yad uta nirarthat ). Through meditating on their meaningless a . meaning, one can attain by himself the realization of the ineffable nature of all dharmas (ibid., p. 186 ll.14 sa tesam mantrapad n m artham samyak pratividhya tenaiv nus ren a a a a a . .. . sarvadharm n am apy artham samyak pratividhyati svayam ev srutv [. . .] sarv bhil paih a. a a a a . . sarvadharm n am svabh v rth parinis pattih | y punar esam nirabhil pyasvabh vat a. . a a a a a a a . . .. ayam evaisam svabh v rthah . a a . . . 15 TA V.140141 kim punah samay peksam vin ye bjapindak h / samvidam a .. a . . . . a. . . spandayanty ete neyuh samvidup yat m // v cy bh v d ud snasamvitspand t a a a a a a a a . . . svadh matah / pr noll sanirodh bhy m bjapindesu p rnat //. Cf. also ibid., VII.2cd a a. a a a. . .. . u . a 3ab bjapindatmakam sarvam samvidah spandan tmat m // vidadhat parasamvitt v a a a .. . . . . .

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language which makes it possible a language made of fully developed words and sentences endowed with fully dened objects , we arrive, at end of a long journey, close to the very roof of being (however, it is always to be borne in mind that in the Saiva advaita outlook there is no real vertical division and the highest plane is already present in the very heart of the lowest). This top reality is constituted by the plane of Sakti, or, from a linguistic viewpoint, by the M trk , whose body is articua. a lated in nine and fty forms. The former are the alphabetic classes of the Sanskrit language, while the latter are the single phonemes. But M trk , a. a in which a shadow of objectivity ( mrsya) is still present,16 is not the last a . step, which is instead represented by Bhairava, in the form of Sabdar si a mass of sounds. In it, all objectivity and multiplicity are totally absent, it is only a single and unitary amara.17 At this point we are legitimately s curious to see what happened to the fty phonemes in what is the very core of non-differentiated universal consciousness. Will they too be reduced to an undifferentiated unity, just like amara? Not at all. Even in Bhairavas Sabdar si the phonemes keep their multiplicity, only they are so-to-speak a compressed (samkal-), hence the denomination itself of Sabdar si.18 a . Now it is high time that we put all the pieces together and attempt an explanation. The phonemes are the only reality which is not swallowed by supreme consciousness; they never lose their own essential identity and nature regardless of the ontological level in which they act; they freely run through Vaikhar, Madhyam , Payant and Par . Why is this? a s a Simply because they are not a content of consciousness but consciousness itself, amounting to its energetic, cognitive aspect. Thanks to this germ of multiplicity alone, which they constitute, consciousness can be alive, can
up yah iti varnitam /. As Jayaratha claries, it is not the v cya in itself that is altogether a . a . absent, but the v cya as distinct from the v caka, since they shine in perfect unity a a with consciousness (TAV vol. III, p. 455 samvidaik tmyena sphuranat vyatiriktasya a . . v cyasy bh v t . . .). In the case of mantras (and their varieties, like mantrevaras, a a a a s mantramahevaras etc.), the Saiva theology distinguishes a v caka component (the s a mantra proper in its linguistic nature) and the v cya, i.e., the devat signied by it a a (Brunner, 2001: 184). 16 TA III.198cd amrsyacch yay yog t saiva sakti ca m trk //. . a a a s a. a 17 TA III.198ab ek mar asvabh vatve sabdar sih sa bhairavah /. From the union of a s a a . . Bhairava-Sabdar si with M trk arises another alphabet goddess, M lin the Garlanda a. a a bearing One, characterized by an apparently chaotic mixture of the phonemes (from N to Ph) and specially connected with power. 18 Jayaratha thereon (vol. II, p. 191) ekah amrsya unyatv n nihsah yah, amaranam a a . s . . s . amarah par marakah pram t , tatsvabh vatve pac sato pi varnan m samkalanay s . a s . aa a a a . a. . abdar sir iti, bhairava iti vyapadeah . In other traditions sabdar si may also be simply s a s . a a synonim of m trk (e.g., Par khya VI.34; apparently also in Siddhayogevar patala a. a a s . XVI).

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elude the impasse of the ved ntin sat-cid- nanda, and perform its cosmic a a function, or, to use Abhinavaguptas words, it can allow the successive to enter into itself and transform it into the non-successive.19 Language is precisely the device by means of which succession (krama) is introduced into consciousness so that consciousness can dissolve it into pure reective awareness, in an eternal pay.20 The phonemes support, feed authentic consciousness (TA XI.65cd varnaugh s te pram r p m saty m bibhrati a a u a. a. . samvidam //; Jayaratha thereon, bibhrati pusnanti), enable it to approach . .. objects in terms of this. While remaining at same time in the plane of overowing consciousness, they can designate, know everything.21 Signication by words and sentences, on which the articulation of thought and ultimately knowledge itself depend, is made possible by the fact that they are made of phonemes, constituting the very cognitive and active structure of consciousness. All words and objects (and their knowledge) rest on this language-principle, which Abhinavagupta calls the supreme mantra, but its supremely undifferentiated nature, its greatness has in any case to contain within itself the differentiation of the various phonemes; for without this inner distinction it would be impossible to distinguish the various avikalpa experiences from which the various discursive articulations will then arise, and everything would be the same.22 Human language is, of course, based on conventions.23 But conventions in order
19 Only the successive can enter into consciousness, then to be transformed into non-

successive (PTV p. 243 ll.1920 akramasya tat [i.e., krama] p rvakatvena samvidy eva u bh v t). a a 20 PTV p. 243 ll.2123 tath ca sarva evayam v gr pah par mar ah kramika a a s . . a u . eva, antahsamvinmayas tv akrama eveti sadaiveyam evamvidhaiva evam eva vicitr a . . p ramevar par bhat.tarik . a s a . a 21 TA XI.63cd65 ucchalatsam vid m travi r nty sv dayoginah // sarv bhidh na a a sa a a a a . . s marthy d aniyantritaaktayah / srs.tah sv tmasahotthe rthe dhar paryantabh gini // a a s a a .. . a . amrsantah svacidbh mau t vato rth n abhedatah / varnaughas te pram r p m saty m . u a a a u a. a. . . . bibhrati samvidam //. . 22 PTV p. 251 ll.2629 tac ca paramantramahah prthivy dau suddhavy mi r dia a sa . . p ram rthikabjapin dar pak divarn atmakam eva, anyath merubadarajalajvalanaba a a .. u a . h v bh vaghat asukhanirvikalpaj n nty ekam sarvam sy t. a a a a a . . . a 23 Signicantly different from the status of ordinary language is that of mantras as they keep a more direct contact with consciousness. Ordinary words have come down to us through the usage of the elders from which they are to be learnt. Their ultimate rooting in par mara takes place through intermediate steps and gradual renements, whereas the a s mantras are transmitted through a chain of gurus, starting with Siva himself, just as they are, that is, with their innate and unlimited nature as consciousness absolutely intact: TAV vol. X, p. 107 (on XVI.265cd267ab), mantr nam punar an diguroh prabhrty ady pi a. . a a . . anavacchinnasahajapar maratmakatvam avi is.tam eveti. It is precisely due to this pecua s s. liarity of the mantras that the supreme Lord is so highly careful about them (ibid., p. 106 yena tatra paramevarasy darah ). s a .

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to be effective and not simply depend in turn on other conventions with a regressus ad innitum must have their roots in the universal consciousness in its phonemical nature, the varnasamvit we mentioned above . (akrtrim nantavarn asamvidi r dhat m samket y nti; see below note 24). a u. a . . . . . a a The status of v caka is nothing but this: the becoming a-conventional of a conventions through their having an ultimate resting place in varnasamvit . . or mah mantra.24 All levels of verbal usage must have as their basis the a limitless body of non-mayic phonemes which are intrinsically associated with the cognitive power of consciousness (samvidvimarasacivah ; see s . . below note 25) and make it possible.25 The non-mayic phonemes give rise to the phonemes of worldy language and are described in the revealed texts as being their strength (vrya).26 If their strength is covered, they are like impotent written letters with respect to the mantra.27 At this point we are in a position fully to understand what a passage of the M linvijayottara28 meant to say: Once fully awakened by her, the Lord, a
24 TA XI.67cd69 (vv.67cd69ab asy m c krtrim nanta-varnasamvidi r dhat m // a. a . a u. a . . samket y nti cet te pi y nty asamketavrttit m / anay tu vin sarve samket bahuah a a a a a s . . . . a . a krt h // avir ntatay kuryur anavasth m duruttar m /). See also PTV p. 252 ll.36. a. sa a a. a . 25 TA XI.71 ten nanto hy am yyo yo varnagr ma drsah / samvidvimar asacivah a a a . . s . . . sadaiva sa hi jrmbhate //. Jayaratha adds a further elucidation: sadaiveti, . krtrimam yyavarnavyavah ran avasare pty arthah | iha hi y k cana pram samullasati a a . a a a . . . tatr vayam idam iti varnasambhedena bh vyam iti bh vah. a s a a . . . 26 TA XI.72 ata eva ca m yy varnah s tim vitenire / ye ca m yyavarnesu vryatvena a a a . . u . . . nir pit h //. The same vrya is what makes mantras effective (cf. the passage from the u a. Siddhayogevar, quoted in TAV vol. VII (part II), p. 65 [. . .] sarvesam eva mantr nam s a. . ato vryam pragopitam / tena guptena te gupt h sesa varnas tu keval h // [. . .] (almost a. . a. . . identical passage from the Tantrasadbh va quoted by Ksemar ja in Sivas travimar in a a u s . p. 25, Torella, 1999a: 8889). The passage comes from Siddhayogevar I.13, according s to J. Trzsks edition, who also refers to another parallel passage in the Kubjik mata a (Trzsk, 1999: 1). An interesting passage of the Siddhayogevar (XXXI.211) presents s the matter in a very peculiar way. While Dev is asking him a further question, Bhairava bursts into a wild laughter which makes her tremble and shakes the whole universe; this laughter, Bhairava then explains to his frightened consort, has as result the awakening of mantras (10a mantr vabodham tu krtam). a . . 27 TAV vol. VII (part II), p. 64 anyath hi te lipyaksarasamnive akalp na k mcana a s a a. . . siddhim vidadhyuh; cf. also TA XXVI.22 lipisthitas tu yo mantro nirvryah so tra . . . kalpitah / samketabalato n sya pustak t prathate mahah //. However, Abhinavagupta adds a a . . . that in some cases, due to a very special grace of the Lord, a fully effective apprehension of mantras from books is also possible (ibid., 23cd24ab). 28 III.2728. The full passage reads: sa tay samprabuddhah san yonim viksobhya a . . . . saktibhih / tatsam narutn varnams tatsamkhy n asrjat prabhuh // te [var.tair] a s a . . .. . . tair ali git h santah sarvak maphalaprad h / bhavanti s dhakendr n am n nyath n a. a a. a a. . a a . vravandite //. Interestingly, the M linvijayottara sees a sound nature also in the divine a counterparts of human phonemes, while Abhinavagupta, for his part, speaks of the former as arauta (PTV p. 235 l.13). s

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after perturbing the matrix with the powers, has created [in the phenomenic world] the phonemes having the same sound and the same number as those [phonemes: i.e., those forming the body itself of the Sakti]. It is only when they are embraced ( li gita) by the latter that they can fulll all a n wishes. Without this embrace by the archetypical phonemes, the human phonemes cannot have access to their special powers (rst of all, that of signifying), and knowledge (pram ) could not arise; as a consequence, a the world would be dumb, as it were.29 It is because of their effectiveness in bringing the power of v c to perfection Abhinavagupta notes in a the TA, having in mind another passage of the M linvijayottara that a phonemes are to be worshipped.30 The par mara of the word cow, which is in itself the result of a s convention and has been established and used by people before us from whom we have learnt it, and the par mara of the corresponding idea a s cow associated with it at the time of convention, fall (nipatati) into the plane of a par mara beyond m y and convention (PTV p. 252 ll.6 a s a a 9). The power of denotation pertains, strictly speaking (v stavam), to the a single phonemes, that is why certain specially gifted persons are able to understand the meaning of a word from a single phoneme of it (cf. PTV p. 268 ll.1114).31 Moreover, we can point out the example of particles made of a single syllable, like a- or ca, which possess a power of signication less dependent on m y : their meanings are, so-to-speak, not reied a a (asattvabh tam), naturally oriented towards the knowing subject and away u from objectivity (ibid., ll.1720). The phonemes, for their part, do not all share exactly the same status, the status of the vowels, for example, being higher than consonants. The vowels in fact are viewed as being closer to consciousness and, consequently, as being able to manifest the various movements of the soul more directly and independently from conventions; in fact, they are the rst to be pronounced by newly born babies and are also spontaneously present in animals. Following the lead of the tantric scriptures, here particularly the M linvijayottara, it becomes even a possible to introduce a further v cya-v caka differentiation between the a a phonemes: v caka proper are the vowels, linked to Siva as pure knowing a
29 TAV vol. VII (part II), p. 58 anyath hi pr guktavad anavasthopanip t t pramotp da a a aa a eva na sy t, ity anena m kapr yam vivam bhaved iti bh vah. a u a . s . a . 30 TA XI.80cd ata eva hi v ksiddhau varnan m samup syat //. a a a . a. 31 Abhinavagupta is reminiscent here of Bhartrhari, for whom the rst dhvani (here . phoneme) is sufcient to manifest the indivisible sphota (cf. VP I.82 and vrtti; Paddhati . . thereon, p. 148 l.22 ekaiko dhvanih krtsnam sphotam abhivyanakti); Sphotasiddhi v. 18 . . . . pratyekam api te vikalam sphotatm nam abhivyajanti. Cf. also VP II.2ab, quoted by . . a . Abhinavagupta in PTV p. 268 l.22, where Bhartrhari mentions the thesis, upheld by some, . that the rst word contains in itself the meaning of the entire sentence.

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subject, while v cya are the consonants, linked to Sakti as disclosing a herself to the world of objectivity; the M linvijayottara calls them bja a seed and yoni matrix.32 But the Saivas are not afraid of all these diversications including the very diversication of phonemes, whose standard number is fty but which can be seen as sixty-four33 or even as potentially innite.34 For them, differentiation does not affect the essential unity of the language principle (the word-consciousness), which, on the contrary, manifests itself precisely through this multiplicity, also at the level of the fully differentiated linguistic usage of ordinary reality.35 How may we dene Abhinavaguptas position in the context of Indian linguistic speculation? His reference point is clearly Bhartrharis teaching, . particularly in recognizing the interpenetration of reective awareness and language, or, in other words, the inner linguistic nature of the process of knowledge. From Utpaladeva onwards, this constitutes the very hinge of the Pratyabhij philosophy.36 But there is something that keeps a Abhinavagupta away from a whole-hearted acceptance of the whole of Bhartrharis conception: rst of all, Bhartrharis dismissal of the phonemes . . and his considering them as pure abstractions. This must have seemed unacceptable to Abhinavagupta, in his position as a tantric master. He cannot ignore that practically any tantra belonging to the Saiva tradition deals with the phonemes, assigning them a central place both in ritual and speculation. What he says in the IPVV, precisely addressing the Vaiy karanas, sounds like a proud vindication: For us, the totality of a . sounds is the supreme Lord himself, the goddess M trk [or the alphabet a. a in the usual sequence] both distinct and not distinct [from Him] is His Power, the eight alphabetic classes are the eight Powers of the Rudras, the fty phonemes are the fty Powers of the Rudras.37 If Abhinavagupta intends to give space to the role of phonemes, this cannot but take place at
32 PTV p. 236 ll.411. 33 PTV p. 251 ll.1420. 34 Ivarapratyabhij k rik -vr tti p. 77 l.8 tattatkak r di at nantagan an . On the other s a a a . aa s a . a hand, the Saivas also conceive of a single phoneme, undividedly present in all the others: TA VI.217 eko n d tmako varnah sarvavarnavibh gav n / so nastamitar patv d an hata a a a a u a a . . . ihoditah //. . 35 PTV p. 236 ll.18 n sm n akulayet ye vayam ek m t vad anantacitrat a a a. a a garbhinm t m samvid tmik m giram samgir mahe | m yye pi vyavah rapade . a. a a. a a a . . . laukikakramikavarn apadasphut at may ekapar marasvabh vaiva pratyavamarak rin a s a s a . . . a prak sar p v c. a u a a 36 I need not repeat here what I have already treated in detail in former studies (Torella, 2001: 857; Torella, 2002: XXVXXVII). 37 Vol. II, pp. 195 l.24196 l.3 iha t vat parame varah sabdar sih, saktir a s a . . asya bhinn bhinnar p m trk dev, varg s.takam rudraaktyas. akam pac sad varnah a u a a. a a. s a . .t . . . pac sad rudraaktayah . a s .

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the expense of the sphota doctrine, which in fact he totally ignores. Will . this result in going closer and closer to the Mm ms ? Why not? After all, a. a both the Mm msakas and the Saivas feel as their primary duty the defence a. and exegesis of the Sruti, as embodied in the Vedas for the former, in the Tantras for the latter. This is, however, only a prima-facie answer. On a closer examination, it becomes clear that Abhinavaguptas position is the result of cooking, as it were, Mm ms elements in a Bhartrharian sauce. a. a . He can easily do without the sphota because a strong unity characterizes . his conception of language, which makes the linking/unifying role of the sphota unnecessary. Also the usual argument used by the sphotav dins . . a against the varnav dins (the varnas, discrete as they are, are unt to a . . account for the unity of the word, hence the necessity of the sphota) . loses force in front of the intrinsic unity of the phonemes-structure. The phonemes, says Abhinavagupta (PTV p. 253 ll.2023), imply each other, otherwise they could not aggregate in a word. Precisely because they imply each other, the phonemes must exist inside the speaker as an internal nondiscursive structure. Likewise, all the devat s are present in each cognitive a act simultaneously and by aggregating themselves they bring about the wonderfully variegated activity of consciousness. We have the phonemes at both ends of the language and knowledge process. The phonemes as acting in ordinary language already possess, besides a sound nature (which meets the rst general requirement of a word, that is, of being something to be heard38 ), a cognitive and grasping nature, which can be seen at its height in their archetypes, the divine phonemes, which constitute the very core of Consciousness, a germ of quintessential multiplicity inside the absolute unity of Consciousness. If Consciousness is an active power and not a lifeless mirror this is due rst of all to its phonemic nature, which alone enables it to have access to, and assimilate to itself, the (apparently) other. To the many merits of this extraordinary thinker we can add also this: to have created a bridge between the two main schools of Indian linguistics, nding an apparently impossible madhyam pratipad between a Mm msakas and Vaiy karanas. a. a .

sabdasabdah prasiddhah | te [i.e., varnah] ca srotragrahan ah; Slokav rttika, Sphotav da a . . . . . . . a v. 5 tasm c chrotraparicchinno yady artham gamayen na v / sarvath tasya a a a . sabdatvam lokasiddham na hyate; Ny yamajar vol. II, p. 144 ta [i.e., varnah] a . . . . eva ca sravanakaranak vagamagocaratay sabdavyapadeabh jah N gea (Uddyota a a s a . a s . . ad Mah bh sya I.l.1, pp. 1415, loke vyavahartrsu pad rthabodhakatvena prasiddhah a a. a .. . srotrendriyagr hyatv d varnar padhvanisam ha eva sabda ity arthah. a a u . u .

38 Cf. S barabh s ya p. 54, ad Mm ms s tra I.l.5, srotragrahane hy arthe loke a a. a. a u .

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Appendix: The position of the dualistic Saivasiddh nta. a A detailed treatment of the linguistic doctrines elaborated in the Saiddh ntika tantras and in the works of the Saiddh ntika authors would a a require a separate study. I will limit myself here to some observations on particular aspects that can contribute, by contrast, to a better under standing of the Saiva advaita position as elaborated by Abhinavagupta. To begin with, it should be pointed out that the Saiddh ntikas too a reject sphota, the only exception known to me being the south-Indian . Pauskaratantra, which is, however, undoubtedly a very late and eclectic . text. The implicit rejection of the sphota doctrine has a signicant . place in a well-known treatise of R makantha (approximately contema .. porary to Abhinavagupta), the N dak rik , originally included in his a a a commentary on the S rdhatriati-K lottara (pp. 912, on I.5ab). Unlike a s a Abhinavagupta, R makantha does not subscribe to the phoneme option a .. either, but presents yet another solution to the question at issue. The v caka a is the n da, a subtle entity made of inner discourse (antahsamjalpa), a . . by virtue of which the objects such as forms/colours, tastes, smells, sounds etc. are made into objects of reective awareness (v. 11ac r parasagandha abd dyarth yen mrsyat m nt h / so ntahsamjalp tm u s a a a . a . a. a a . . n dah). This n da is in turn the product of Mah m y , the so-called a . a a a a Pure Matter, also called Bindu. As R makantha immediately points out, a .. n da, though representing the highest manifestation of the language prina ciple, and the ultimate source and background of all human linguistic activities, belongs to a totally different sphere from Consciousness, is not a form of Kriy sakti (as some knowers of the words maintain) a and is not integrally connected with the conscious soul (v. 18 seyam avasth kaicit padavidbhir varnyate kriy sakteh / iha punar anyaivokt a s a a . . purusasamav yin ca v g yasm t). If we examine his short treatise in a a a . some detail, we see that he has in mind two main opponents: overtly, the Mm msakas, against whom he uses the standard Vaiy karana (or a. a . better, sphotav din, like Mandana Miras) arguments, and, implicitly, the a s . Vaiy karanas, whose sphota he does not mention but for which he tacitly a . . a attempts to nd a saiva substitute.39 In front of R makanthas straight .. forward dismissal of the phoneme option the commentator Aghoraiva s
39 One may suppose that R makantha might have felt embarrassed at mentioning and a .. then attacking a thesis, which is not so distant from his own: the reasons that he could have brought forward against the sphota might have been easily used against the n da as well. It a . is the commentator Aghoraiva who, in the only long excursus of his succinct commentary s (pp. 240241, on v. 7), feels the need to make up for the puzzling silence of R makantha a ..

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feels compelled to explain away an apparent contradiction with regard to a Saiddh ntika scripture, the Par khya, which instead endorses it (p. 242, a a on v. 12, katham punah srmatpar khye p rvavarn ajasamsk rayukto a u . . . . a ntyo rno bhidh yakah ity uktam). Aghoraivas explanation is far from a s .. . convincing (n d bhivyajakatvenopac r d ity adosa), but has the merit a a aa . to focus our attention on this relatively early and important agama. The Par khya, which until recently was deemed to be completely lost, a is currently being edited by D. Goodall, who has discovered the only extant manuscript. The above quotation, which looked a bit suspicious owing to its repeating almost verbatim the well-known passage a of the S barabh s ya a fact quite unexpected in a revealed text , a. does indeed occur in the VI chapter of the Par khya (v. 14ab), a portion a of which (128) has been edited and translated in a very recent article (Goodall, 2001). Interestingly, the Par khya starts with a bold afrmation about the a status of abhidh yaka (i.e., v caka) having to be assigned rst of all a a to the phonemes (secondly, to the words and sentences made out of them). While doing so, the text also presents and easily dismisses a sphotav din opponent. However, in the latter part of the chapter the . a original Mm ms -like thesis gradually makes way for a Naiy yika-like a. a a one, with an increasing emphasis on the role of convention (samketa). . In the attempt to make sense of these scattered remarks, we may say that both R makantha and the Par khya ultimately view the phonemes, as a a .. presented in the Saivasiddh nta tradition, as too weak candidates for the a role of v caka. Being made of a material stuff, however rened,40 their a nature is not so intrinsically dynamic and creative as to enable them to perform this high task. Particularly interesting, if a bit enigmatic, is the solution proposed by R makantha. After taking into account and rejecting a .. several alternative possibilities, he arrives at a solution which, if nominally inspired by a famous passage of S rdhatriati-K lottara,41 verily has much a s a in common with that of his concealed adversaries, the Vaiy karanas (cf. a . for example the concluding verse 25: sth laih sabdair vyakt h s ksm u . a. u . a n d tmak s tato dhvanayah / v cyavibhinnam buddhim kurvanto vara a a a . . .
and takes on himself the task of openly criticizing the sphota theory. He does so by using . the standard Mm msaka and Naiy yika arguments. a. a 40 The Par khya (VI.26) refers to their having bindu as material cause and svara as a I efcient cause. In sum, the phonemes are only secondary realities; they are products and, as such, devoid of consciousness. 41 Vidy p da I.58 n d khyam yat param bjam sarvabh tes v avasthitam [. . .] sth lam a a a a u . u . . . . sabda itit proktam s ksmam cint mayam bhavet / cintay rahitam yat tu tat param u . a a . . . . . parikrtitam //. We can say that this scriptural passage is read by R makantha at the light a .. of the sphota doctrine. .

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dhayanty janay tr m //).42 More exible than the stiff phonemes of a a the Saivasiddh nta tradition and also authorized by the sacred scriptures a is in fact the n da. In keeping his distance from the sphota, which in a . the Vaiy karanas conception ranks very high in the ontological-spiritual a . hierarchy, R makantha seems driven by the aim to stress the ultimately a .. instrumental nature of language, which does condition human knowledge but is cut off from the very core of divine, and also human, consciousness (cit). As we have seen, Abhinavaguptas position is precisely diametrically opposed to this.

REFERENCES
Texts As.taprakaranam, edited by Vrajavallabha Dvived, Yogatantra-Grantham l 12, Varanasi, aa . . 1988. s Abhinavagupta, Ivarapratyabhij vivrtivimarin, edited by Madhusudan Kaul Shastri, a . s vols. IIII, KSTS LX LXII LXV, Bombay, 19381943. Abhinavagupta, Par timsik tattvavivarana (see Gnoli, 1985). a . a . Abhinavagupta, Tantr loka with Commentary by R j naka Jayaratha, edited with notes by a aa Madhusudan Kaul Shastri, vols. IXII, KSTS XXIII, XXVIII, XXX, XXXVI, XXXV, XXIX, XLI, XLVII, LIX, LII, LVII, LVIII, Allahbad-Srinagar-Bombay, 19181938. Bhartrhari, V kyapadya (m lak rik s), Bhartrharis V kyapadya, edited by W. Rau, a u a a a . . Abhandlungen fr die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 42, Wiesbaden, 1977. Bhartrhari, V kyapadya with the Commentaries Vrtti and Paddhati of Vrsabhadeva, a . .. . K nda I, edited by K.A.S. Iyer, Deccan College, Poona, 1966. a. . Bodhisattvabh mi [being the XVth Section of Asa gap das Yog c rabh mi], edited by u n a a a u Nalinaksha Dutt, Tibetan Sanskrit Works Series Vol. VII, Patna, 1966. Jayanta Bhatta, Ny yamajar [. . .], edited by K.S. Varadacharya, 2 vols., Oriental a .. Research Institute Series No. 139, Mysore, 1983. Ksemar ja, Sivas travimar in, edited by J.C. Chatterji, KSTS I, Srinagar, 1911. a u s . a Kum rila, Slokav rttikam with the commentary Ny yaratn kara of Sr P rthas ratimira, a a a a a s edited and revised by Swami Dwarikadas Shastri, Pr cyabh rati Series-10, Varanasi, a a 1978. M linvijayottaratantram, edited by Pt. Madhus dan Kaul Shastri, KSTS No. 37, Bombay, a u 1922. Mandana Mira, Sphotasiddhi with Gopalik commentary, edited by S.K. R man tha s a a a . Sastri, Madras University Sanskrit Series No. 6, Madras, 1931. Par khyatantra (see Goodall, 2001). a
42 See also Aghora ivas remarks p. 242 (on v. 11) katham punar vaktrgato s . . n dah pratipattur v cyabuddhim janayati iti cet, taduccaritasth laabd bhivyaktah a . a u s a . . pratipattrgato n das tasy pi v cyabuddhim janayati. At Goodall notes (2001: 344 n.84), a a a . . later Saiddh ntika authors like J naprak sa and Um patiiv c rya will tend to consider a a a a s a a n da and sphota as interchangeable terms. a .

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Patajali, Vy karana-Mah bh s ya with the commentaries Bhat. oji Dksitas Sabdakausa a a. . . .t tubha, N gojibhat. as Uddyota and Kaiyatas Pradpa [. . .], edited with footnotes [. . .] a t . . by Bal Shastri, vol. I, Varanasi, 1988. R makantha, N dak rik with Aghoraivas commentary (see As.taprakaran am, also a a a a s .. . . Filliozat, 1984). Siddhayogevarmatatantra (see Trzsk, 1999). s S rdhatriatik lottar gama, avec le commentaire de Bhat. a R makan. ha, dition critique a s a a .t a .t par N.R. Bhatt, Publications de lInstitut Franais dIndologie No. 61, Pondichry, 1979. a S barabh s ya. In: Mm ms darana [. . .], vols. I-7, Anandashram Sanskrit Series No. 97, a. a. a s repr. Pune, 1994 (I Ed. 19291943). s Utpaladeva, Ivarapratyabhij k rik with vrtti (see Torella, 2002). a a a . Y ska, Niruktam nighan. hup.thasamupetam durg ch ryakr ta-rjvarth khyavrtty a a a a . . . a .t a . samavetam, edited by R.G. Bhadkamkar, vols. III, Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series Nos. LXXIII, LXXXV, Bombay, 19181942.

Translations and studies Brunner, H. (2001). Mantras et mantras dans le tantras sivates. In R. Torella (ed.), Le Parole e i Marmi, Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70 compleanno (pp. 183 212), 2 vols. IsIAO, Roma: Serie Orientale Roma. Dasgupta, Sh. (19693 ). Obscure Religious Cults. Calcutta (I Ed. 1946). Filliozat, P.-S. (1984). Les N dak rik de R makantha. Bulletin de lcole Franaise a a a a .. dExtrme Orient LXXIII, 223255. Filliozat, P.-S. (1994). Bhartrhari and tantra. In P-S. Filliozat, C.P. Bhatta and S.P. Narang . (eds), Pandit N.R. Bhatt Felicitation Volume (pp. 463480). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Gaurinath, Sastri (1959). The Philosophy of Word and Meaning. Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series 5, Calcutta. Gonda, J. (1975). The Indian mantra. In Selected Studies [. . .] (pp. 248301), vol. IV. Leiden (originally published: Oriens, 16, pp. 244297). Goodall, D. (2001). The Saiddh ntika Par khyatantra, its account of language, and the a a interpolation of the eighth chapter of the published Pauskar gama. In R. Torella (ed.), . a Le Parole e i Marmi, Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70 compleanno (pp. 327 350), 2 vols. IsIAO, Roma: Serie Orientale Roma. Padoux, A. (1990). V c. The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras. Albany. a Seyfort Ruegg, D. (1959). Contributions lhistoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne. Paris. Staal, F. (1967). Word Order in Sanskrit and Universal Grammar. Foundations of Language, Supplementary Series 5, Dordrecht. Torella, R. (1998). The kacukas in the Shaiva and Vaishnava tantric tradition: A few considerations between theology and grammar. In G. Oberhammer (ed.), Studies in Hinduism, II, Miscellanea to the Phenomenon of Tantras (pp. 5586). sterreichisce Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Sitzungsberichte, 662. Band, Wien. Torella, R. (1999a). Gli Aforismi di Shiva con il commento di Ksemar ja (Sivas travia u . mar in). Milano. s Torella, R. (1999b). Dev uv ca, or the theology of the prefect tense. Journal of Indian a Philosophy (Special Issue in Honor of Prof. Kamaleshvar Bhattacharya) 16, 129138.

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Torella, R. (2001). The Word in Abhinavaguptas Brhadvimar in. In R. Torella (ed.), Le s . Parole e i Marmi, Studi in onore di Raniero Gnoli nel suo 70 compleanno, 2 vols. IsIAO, Roma: Serie Orientale Roma. Torella, R. (2002). The svarapratyabhij k rik of Utpaladeva with the Authors Vrtti. I a a a . Critical Edition and Annotated Translation, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (I Ed. Serie Orientale Roma LXXI, IsMEO, Roma, 1994). Trzsk, J. (1999). The Doctrine of Magic Female Spirits: A Critical Edition of Selected Chapters of the Siddhayogevarmata(tantra) with Annotated Translation and Analysis, s D. Phil. Thesis, Merton College, Oxford.

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