Prachand Praveer
By Vishnu Makhijani
New Delhi– Indian mental programs have been enormously influenced by the historical Kashmiri centres for theological discourse and out of these debates emerged the “remarkable” Kashmir Shaivism that assimilates the ideas of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics right into a single entity, says techie-movie historian-writer Prachand Praveer, whose seminal ebook on world cinema has been basically influenced by 10th century Kashmiri thinker Abhinavagupta.
“If we take a look at any Indian classical philosophical system, usually it discusses 4 essential areas resembling metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. Kashmir Shaivism is outstanding in the sense that it assimilates the main philosophical debates resembling Santana vs Buddhist, Dualist vs Non-Dualist, Impact of Grammarians on epistemology, and a number of Bhakti traditions all into one coherent system.
“Unfortunately, Tantric systems are out of current mainstream intellectual and philosophical discourses, whereas Abhinava Gupta assimilates all walks of life including drama and music in his assimilation and formulation of various thoughts of Kashmir Shaivism. It is important to note that Kashmir Shaivism is considered as the fruit of Indian classical philosophical debates,” Praveer advised IANS in an interview.
How else did Kashmir contribute to the improvement of Indian classical philosophy?
“Indian intellectual systems have been greatly influenced by the Kashmiri mathikas (centres for discourses) and its numerous intellectual traditions. Great grammarians such as Panini (author of the “Astadhyayi”) and Pata�jali (writer of “Mahabhasya”), an historical treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics, and the compiler of the “Yoga sutras”, a textual content on Yoga principle and observe), had been Kashmiris,” Praveer defined.
He additionally pointed to a “long list of major contributors with a definite presence in Kashmir” resembling Bhamaha (seventh century), the writer of “Kavyalankara”; Shiv�nanda, Vasugupta (round 800); Anandavardhana (820-890), the writer of Dhvanyaloka; Kallata (round 825); Utpaladeva (900-950), the writer of “Isvara-pratyabhij�a-karika” (on Tantric metaphysics); and Abhinavagupta (950-1016), the writer of “Tantraloka” and “Abhinavabharati”.
Post-Abhinavagupta, there have been Kemendra (990-1070), and Mammata Bhatta (round 11th century).
“I believe even today any Indian literary criticism cannot be possible without describing or citing or subscribing to the views of one of these literary techniques such as “Alamkara” or poetic ornament (attributed to Bhamaha), “Dhavni” or aesthetics suggestion (attributed to Anandavardhan), “Vakrokti” or principle of indirect expression (attributed to Kuntaka), “Auchitya” or propriety (attributed to Kshemendra) or Mammata’s propounded principle of poetic creations,” Praveer stated.
He famous that an “important name” that each Indian scholar of music would know is Sarngadeva (1175-1247) who authored “Sangita Ratnakara”.
“He was born in a Brahmin family of Kashmir and was not living in Kashmir, but we do see the impact of Abhinavagupta and other Kashmiri traditions on his famous treatise of music. Needless to point out that his authoritative treatise on Indian classical music is revered by both the Hindustani music and the Carnatic music traditions,” Praveer stated.
Any different examples of how Kashmiri intellectuals have preserved Indian ideas?
“Well, India in its mental curiosity and self-discipline has preserved her heritage in lots of unusual methods. Abhinavagupta’s commentary on Natyashastra, the ‘Abhinavabharati’, was found in Kerala in the early 20th century. Without his commentary, our understanding of Natyashastra would have been very shallow.
“Indian classical traditions always include the additions in shlokas as “prakshipta” (projected addition) if discovered not matching with the present model. If you occur to learn the Valmiki Ramayana or Mahabharata in any genuine preserved model, you’ll encounter such additions with commentary that it has been added by some sources which isn’t permitted however but current for the sake of completeness.
The Bhagavad Gita occupies a singular place in the annals of Indian thought and tradition by way of the ages and on this sphere too, Kashmir claims its share of originality.
“The existence of Kashmir recension of Gita was first drawn by (German philologist) Dr (Friedrich) Schrader as back as 1930. The Kashmir recension of Gita contains 745 verses as against 700 verses of the popular recension adopted by Adi Shankaracharya. Abhinavagupta’s commentary, under the title ‘itaarthasangraha’, explains the fight between Kauravas and P�ndavas is symbolic of a war that is constantly raging between the lower and upper impulses of our personality,” Praveer defined.
Once upon a time, Buddhism was a significant philosophical motion in India. Was there any Buddhist connection to Kashmir mental traditions?
“Yes. Kashmir, from early occasions, has been a gathering floor of a range of faiths and divergent thought currents. Kashmir’s attachment to Buddhism dates again to the time of Ashoka (273-232 BC). N�gasena (150 BC), the writer of ‘Milind-Panho’, is claimed to be a Kashmiri. Kanishka (78-102) convened the 2nd Buddhist Council in Kashmir and introduced Ashvaghosha to behave as its Vice President.
“It has been noted that Kashmiri monks were active in medieval China from the early fourth century up to the 11th century. Kashmirians’ contribution, at large, includes translations into Chinese of Buddhist canons and ritualistic texts,” Praveer stated.
His ebook, “Cinema Through Rasa – A Tryst with Masterpieces in the Light of Rasa Siddhanta”, launched earlier this 12 months, unravels the nuances of world cinema by harkening again to Abhinavagupta because it pays tribute to his commentary on the “Natyashastra” and the ideas of “Rasa Siddhanta” (principle of aesthetic expertise) and “purusartha” (cultural worth system of life-pursuits). (IANS)
