Knowra Abhinavagupta Abhinavagupta Abhinavagupta was an eleventh-century Kashmiri philosopher, mystic, and literary theorist who systematized Trika Shaivism and developed influential accounts of aesthetic experience.
Trika Shaivism : A nondual Kashmiri Shaiva tradition centered on the triad of Śiva, Śakti, and the individual. This is the tradition Abhinavagupta organized into a comprehensive philosophical and ritual system.
Tantrāloka : Abhinavagupta’s encyclopedic work on Trika Shaiva theology, ritual, yoga, and metaphysics. This is his most extensive presentation of how Trika teachings fit together.
Abhinavabhāratī : Abhinavagupta’s commentary on Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra, a foundational treatise on drama and performance. It is where he develops his most influential account of theatrical experience.
Utpaladeva : A Kashmiri Shaiva philosopher whose works established key doctrines of the Pratyabhijna school. Abhinavagupta’s philosophy develops and defends doctrines that Utpaladeva had formulated.
Kāvyaprakāśa : A Sanskrit handbook of poetics by Mammaṭa that brings together major theories of poetry and literary meaning. It helped carry ideas shaped by Abhinavagupta into later systems of literary criticism.
Kashmir Shaivism : A family of nondual Shaiva traditions that developed in medieval Kashmir. Abhinavagupta’s work became one of this broader tradition’s most influential formulations.
Śiva Sūtras : A foundational aphoristic text of Kashmir Shaivism concerning consciousness, bondage, and liberation. Abhinavagupta interprets this text within the philosophical framework he systematized.
Nāṭyaśāstra : An ancient Sanskrit treatise on drama, dance, music, and theatrical performance attributed to Bharata. Abhinavagupta’s commentary gives this treatise a major interpretation of rasa and spectatorship.
Somānanda : A Kashmiri Shaiva philosopher traditionally regarded as the founder of the Pratyabhijna school. His Śivadṛṣṭi begins the philosophical lineage that Abhinavagupta later systematized.
Sanskrit poetics : The critical traditions that analyze Sanskrit poetry through theories of language, meaning, emotion, and form. Abhinavagupta’s work became a major source for its accounts of suggestion and aesthetic response.
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