THE WORD (VAC) IN THE COSMOLOGY AND SOTERIOLOGY OF KASHMIR SAIVISM

The article deals with the meaning of the Divine Word in the agamic Kashmiri Saiva tradition. At first, making a brief overwiev of the history of the sacred word in Indian culture, attention is drawn to the fact, that the function of word and oral language as an agent of transformation from the human realm to the divine has been perennial concern of Indian theological speculation, since language in Hinduism is nearly always identified with both human consciousness and the divine cosmos. It has been pointed out, that an elaborate mysticism of the word found in the Saiva Tantras has Vedic precendents and presupposes the philosophy of Bhartrhari. Tantra has the assumption that man and the universe correspond as microcosm and macrocosm and that both are subject to the mysterious power of words and letters. The Tantric Kashmiri tradition, while building upon the Saiva-Agamas and Grammarian tradition, formulates its own unique rational theology of traidic monism and of complex verbal cosmology, wherein sacred Verbum is fundamental to both the creation of the universe and to the reintegration of the soul into the cosmos. The climax of a hermeneutics of synthesis and the sacred word exegesis is represented in Abhinavagupta's works. Abhinavagupta's subtle speculation on the Word extends from its mystical dimension to the intricacies of Sanskrit alphabet and linguistic speculation, from psychological subtleties to philosophical reasoning*. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that

Indian tradition language is thought to be truly and most fully experienced in its oral form, the modern linguistic philosophy sees the word only as a carrier of information and tends to restrict language to the printed word and then analyse it for a one-to-one correspondence with objective reality.
While language in India was almost never conceived as separate from the oral word, the power of transformation inherent in sacred sound continued to operate in ways that were true to accept canons of execution yet remained mysterious in its inability to be described, classified, or defined by common consensus. According to Guy L. Beck, "Sacred sound, in theory and practice, indeed forms a 'central mystery' of the Hindu tradition and functions as a common thread connecting a number of outwardly different sectors within it. As the Hindu experience of the divine is shown to be fundamentally sonic, or oral/aural, the theological position of sacred sound constitutes a kind of mysterium magnum of Hinduism"2. What is essential is not what is physically pronounced, but what these sounds are taken as representing in terms of the phonological structure of our language. So, the actual teachings in Indian education are mainly phonetic rather than semantic and it makes clear the sense of the sacred words or mantras and gives meaning to what otherwise could appear as mindless repetition and recitation. Recently the oral dimension of language has been highlighted by Western scholars of Hinduism: "Holy words have been operative in human history .... The way that they have found their way into human lives is not through the eye, but through the ear; Hindus have affirmed that the holiness of the Word is intrinsic, and that one participates in it, not by understanding but by hearing and reciting it."3 Prajapati, the various female energies, or Saktis, included the metrical power of the mantras s . As W D. O'Flaherty suggests, Vak-as-women might have been treated mythically with the same ambivalence as was Vak-as-Ianguage. Whereas, mythically, she was the procreator who was potentially a destroyer, epistemologically she was the creator of name and form but thereby a seducerli.
Vak in the BrahmaIJas became identified with the evolving concept of Brahman (vag vai bralrman), the power of speech in the Vedic ritual. The role of sacred word in the Vedic period was bound up with the Vedic sacrifice. The notions of vak and Yak, the Goddess of Speech were among many implements to be coordinated in a rather complex ritual detail outlined in the Vedic texts. It is the emerging notion of 'speech as power' inherent in the pronunciation and metrical structure of mantras, or 'ritually applied Vak', which is striking. "The mantras became more powerful than the gods themselves, who were dependent on the sacrificial offerings, and invited access to the unseen world of supernatural forces and energies."7 In the ritual everything -the oral recitation of ritual language, the fires, the sacrificial plot, ritual action, and offerings of various kind -were woven together into an elaborate stucture that heavily depended on the mantras which established the basic identities and corespondences.
Vak in the Vedic ritual is not only the personification of incoherent external speech but a complete entity of creative speech energy holding together her subjective and objective aspects in perfect synthesis B • In the most famous verse of IJgveda is said: ''The wise Brahmanas know that the word consists of four parts of speech (vdk). The three parts are hidden and fourth is called the human speech'>9.
PataiijaLi, a Sanskrit grammarian who wrote the most authoritative commentary on the work of PiilJini, the Maltiibhii$ya (2-1 B.C.E.) argues, that the word catvari therein to mean not the four aspects of speech but four types of word: noun, verb, prefix and particle 10. However, Sayarza in his commentary on the IJgveda (14 CE) has refered to the existence of meaning, called the spiritual interpretation (tid/zytilmika art/la) of the Vedic mantras which was probably lost soon after the compilation of the mantras into Saronhita texts, but he has hinted at this meaning in his commentary at many places while giving the tid/lidaiJika artha and tid/Ilbaulika art/,a meanings S In the Taittinya-BriilI11Ul~Ul (5.1,7,2) various Vedic metters as Gdyatn, Anu~fubh, T~,"bh. Iagati are called as the 'wives of the gods' and represented living creative forces.), came to be associated with the name Vak. As Vdk is given a feminine personification as the goddesses of speech in the Vedas and Briihma!,as, it serv~s as a precursor for the Hindu theistic and Tantric speculations on the divine female power of language known as Saldi. (However, it seems that the earliest document of the personification of speech as a productive principle of energy is Atharvaveda ( 4.30.1-8). 6 Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1980, 430-431. 7 Guy L. Beck. Sonic Theology. Hinduism and Sacred Sound. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. 1995, 204. 8 1.164.45. According to the lexicon, vole is a feminine noun meaning "speech, voice. talk, language (also of animals), sounds (also of inanimate objects as of the stones used for pressing, of the drum), a word, saying, phrase, sentence, statement, and speech personified". Sir M. Monier-Williams,A SatlSkrit-English Dictionary, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,1993, 936. of the mantras which were traditionally available to him. The probable reason for the disappereance of the tradition of spiritual interpretation was, perhaps, that more attention was paid to the preservation of the purity and sanctity of the mantras rather than trying to understand their true meaning. Gradually, as the natural metaphors and powers associated with the Vedic mythological notion of vak became compacted into the metaphysical, seed-syllable Om or Awn of the Upani$ads, the notion of Sabda-Bralzman emerged. Upanisadic Sabda-Bralzman signifies the merging of Brahman with the mystic syllable Om (pra'.}ava), such that Om in triplicate asAum is the Sound Brahman. The Taittiriya-Upani$ad contains a short glorification of the sacred word Om: "Om is Brahman, Om is the whole world "11. Cltiilldogya-Upani$ad also declares: "all speech is held together by Om"12. And the Upani$adic mantra Om reveals us its increasingly important role in theistic meditation: to invoke or verbally ignite the inferior manifestation of God, or Brahman, in the human heart prior to the external, visual perception of the deity. The Vedic and Upani$adic notions of word and sound are forerunners of the many esoteric notions prevalent in the Yoga and Tantric methods for meditation on sacred sound, methods wherein Nada-Braltman has largely replaced Sabda-Bralzman as the Vedic vak as the essence of sound both in cosmos, (akiiSa), and within the human heart (IzrdayakiiSa).
Drawing his inspiration from this particular mantra, a celebrated grammarian philosopher Blzartritari (5 CE) built up his philosophy of Primordial Word, Vak. Bhartr/lari begins the Vakyapadiya by stating that the essence of Brahman is of the nature of the word (sabda) and the word is understood by Bltartr/lari to be synonymous with meaning. Although unitary in nature, this divine word-consciousness manifests itself in the diversity of words that make up speech13. Fundamental is the notion that language and consciousness are inextricably interwined. "There is no cognition in the world in which the world does not figure. All knowledge is, as it were, interwined with the world ... If the world were absent, everything would be insentient, like a piece ofwood"14. According to him, the four levels of speech in the descending order of grossness are Para, PaSyanti, Madhyama and Vaikl,ari. While Vaiklzari represents the vak in grossest form, the form we use for our communication in our daily life, the rest of the three forms are subtle, beyond the reach of mind, representing the potency underlying the gross form of words and which remains hidden to us. Thus, Blzartrlzari's describes the monistic Absolute as Sabda-Braltman.
The Grammarians developed the notion sp/rota to explain the mysterious manner by which meaning is conveyed in sentences. The Sp/ro!avada of the Grammarians holds that the meaning 11 01/1 iti bra/Il/la, 01/1 itidam smvam - Taillirlya of a sentence is conveyed in a 'flash' or 'burst' of cognition known as sp/zo/a 15 , which is objectively real, eternal and said to operate over and above the individual words. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The universal categories of meaning inhere in a Universal Absolute (Sabda-Bra/una1l), which is both material and efficient cause of creation and manifests itself in the form of sp/w/a, a kind of meaning-bearing sound revelation both in the cosmos and within human consciousness 16 .
Another, influential Mimalpsa school has argued, that the divine potencies of languages are compacted into the text of the Veda, that is, the syllables themselves (va'?,las) as the prime substance ofvak. This position is called Van,;zavada. The Van,;zavada doctrine maintains that the meaning of a sentence is conveyed by the sum total of the meanings of the individual letters (va'?,la). The whole results from the sum of its parts. That is, the main unite of language is the phoneme, or meaning bearing syllable, which is real and eternal. According to Mfmalpsa the Eternal Verbum exists only as the external text of the Veda and does not manifest in any other form apart from the specific linguistic constructions found there.
These two positions form the polemical substructure for the discussion of the Indian VarIJawida, though often tacitly accepted by theists, cannot be squared with Hindu theism in the strict sense either. Theists mostly acknowledge VarIJaviida on the basis of its emphasis on the power of individual letters or sylablles. Theistic Hinduism accepted that sarced potencies are indeed contained in the syllables of mantras, Vedic or otherwise, but that particular energies in particular syllables are mandated by a Supreme being for the purpose of bringing about salvation for human beings. VarIJaviida not only claims that the Veda is authorless (apalln1$eya), but also proscribes any arbitrary 'illumination' as bestowed by divine benefaction and represented by the interior notion of PaSyanti or Pratiblzii.
The theory of Spho!al'iida has been refuted by all the major Indian philosophical and religious schools:Advaita-Vediinta, Siilp.khya,Nyiiya,VaiSe$ika,nonmonisticPiiiicariitra texts,, Sail'a-SiddJriillta, some varieties of Kashmiri Sail'a and Sakta-Tantras. It is only the Yoga system of Pataiijali which has lent support to the sphota theory. The concept of VarIJaviida and the notion of the three internal speech levels are philosophically irreconcilable, at least without some outstanding feats of logic and sophistry by sectarian proponents. Most of the Hindu sectarian traditions overtly align themselves with the Mimiilp.sii standpoint of VarIJal'iida yet coopt the Blzar(rlzan·an speech levels in the explication of their particular salvic theories of mantra and Om recitation. The linguis tic monism of Bhart:rhari represents a philosophical development of ancient Indian understandings of sacred language articulated in the context of grammatical and linguistic speculations of the PiilJinian school. Bhart.,hari's concept of Sp1lOta as being identical with Brahman and Pra1,!ava 18 assures us to his ties to Vedic orthodoxy, yet the question of Blzartr/zaris indebtedness to Agamic or Tantric sources for other aspects is still unanswered l9 . Since the nature of Splzo/a is explained and understood by the Grammarians in reference to PaSyanti, Madlzyamii and Vaikharilevels of consciousness, the acceptance ofthe latter without the former by so many traditions is perplexing. Nevertheless, the study of Bhartr/zan· provides us with a kind of missing link between articulation of SpllOtaviida and the levels of language apprehension. A major contribution of Blzart.rlzari lies first in his providing fresh insight into the Vedic revelation of Divine Viik as an all-pervading feature of both human consciousness and the divine. Vedic Viik and ritual language as mantra are never meaninglesss or 'nonsnense', since each word of the Veda (sabda) has its corresponding meaning (artha) in the form of its object. Even as Vedic sound becomes unified and congealed in the Upani$ads as Sabda-Braizman and developed further in the Grammarian theories of Spizota and PaSyanti, artlla is still present because all language is attached to human consciousness. I t is only in the Yoga, Tantra and music tradition whereinSabda-Bralunan is recast as Niida-Bralzman that the idea of pure cosmic sound, detached from linguistic meaning emerges.
Unlike Mimiil[lSii, Siilpkhya, Nyiiya and Grammarians, the Yoga tradition has continually affirmed the existence of a personal Supreme Being, iflJara. This being, closer to a paradigmatic role model for other Yogis to emulate, is signified by the syllable OM, responds to devotion, or bhakti: 'The sacred word connotes him {ifJJaraj, its repetition and the understanding of its meaning should be done" 20. Pataiijali and the Yoga-Sittra commentarial tradition, including the work ofVyiisa, Viicaspati and Vij1iiina Bhik$ll, endorses the practice of Om meditation and provides a solid ground for the development of 1Vga techniques of Niida-Brahman meditation 21 . The terminology of Niida-Brahman is foreign to the Vedic and Upani$adic canon, appearing as it does only in Yogic and.Agamic (Tantric) sources. Niida-Yoga forms the basis for a large variety of sonic meditational techniques that are shared by many other tradition. As the classical Yoga school propounded the merit of Om meditation and seemed to accept the doctrine of Splzotal'iida, the tentative equation of: PraIJal'a = Splzota = Niida = Brahman = Tllnya = Pafyantl to designate the highest reality seemed virtually unavoidable. The texts and doctrines of the Goraklmiith Yogi tradition as the largest and most important 1Vga lineage disclosed a previously unrecognized fidelity to the principle of Niida Brahman, adopted the levels of Pafyanti and enlarged upon the physiological and sideral dimensions of sacred sound. An intriguing aspect of the Niith contribution to Indian linquistics is the addition of the fifth stage of language apprehension, which is called miitrlcii. Mii(rkii refers to the ultimate phonetic constituents of a certain number of ultimate verbal sounds of Vaikhan-Viik. These verbal sounds are represented by va17Ja or ak$ara (letters) and are the undivided units of vocal, articulate speech22. The three major Hatha-Yoga texts, Siva-Salplritii, Gltertzttr;f·a-Salfllritii and Hatlra-Yoga-Pradipikii also exhibited an overwhelming concern for meditation on niida by practitioners of 1Vga and, in fact, continue to form Niida-Yoga today. According to Guy L.Beck, "The extra-Vedic Niida-Brahman -Awn with its fourth (Iuriya) stage ofNiida-Bindu as Sound-Brahman -thus gradually overshadowed Sabda-Bralllnan and became the dominant cosmological and psychological characterization of sacred sound in the Hindu tradition, in which it is connected to either Siva, Vi.p}u, or the Goddess in a number ofways."23 The concept of Niida-Brahman seems to act as a kind of synthesis, fusing the basic ingredients of va17Ja, external Sabda-Bralrman, and sphota, internal Sabda-Brahman into one essential concept that forms a conspicuos bridge betweeen the sectarian movements, including the tradition of classical music. 20 tasyn viicnkn~1 pmllnl'ah! taj japns tad artha bhiivallnm -Yoga-SlUm 1.27-28. l-»iisa comments on the second verse and stresses the need for the practice of mantra meditation: "The Yogi who has come to know well the relation between word and meaning must constantly repeat it, and habituate the mind to the manifestation therein of its meaning. The constant repetition is to be of the pmlJava (OM) and the habitual mental manifestations is to be what it signifies.livam. The mind of the Yogi who constantly repeats pmlJava, and habituates the to the constant manifestation of the idea it carries, becomes one-pointed (elciigm

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During the first millenium of the Hindu religion evolution (between 600 BC and 400 AD) Saivism emerged as a popular, pan-Indian form of Hinduism drawing selectively upon the Veda as well as upon the uncodified ritual, social and iconic traditions of 'vilage India'. Central to the ritualism of the Saiviigamas was an implicitly theological preocupation with "the power of Speech. .. the power of the energy concealed in the Divine Word."24 The Saiviigamic tradition inherited and developed the conviction that mantras were soteriologically central. The sophisticated theological reflection sought to elucidate the sort of religious experience asssumed to be summum bonum in Saiva Tantra. Tantra has the assumption that man and the universe correspond as microcosm and macrocosm and that both are subject to the mysterious power of words and letters. The homology between the human and and the cosmic processes is especially visible, or audible, in the domain of sacred word. "From this central idea ensues the entire impresive development of the metaphysics of the Word,of the phonic and phonetic cosmogonies, and of the practices which are archieved through the use of speech or word, and more specifically trough its most efficacious and usable form. the mantras and bijas. That is essential to Tantrism"25 The non-dualist school of Kashmiri Saivism is the most important school of Saivism in north India, which includes the philosophy of Abhinavagupta, Krama Tantrism, Kashmiri~~-lVga, Spanda theory and Pratyabhijfiii philosophy. The main emphasis of this school is soteriology. The Religious philosophy of Kashmiri has been termed 'Trika', or 'Triadism' by Western scholars for various reasons having to do with there being a trinity, or triad of concepts, categories, scriptures, goddesses or sages26. One ofthe three categories is non-dualism (abheda), said to be a special revelation for this age. J. C. Chatterjee, refering to the account in Abhinavagupta's Talltriiloka, explains the advent of this 'new' Saivism as being due to the growing influence of the degenerate Kali age. As such, Siva took compassion on people and, appearing on the Kml.iisa mountain in the form of SrikmJ.llw, commanded the sage Dun'iisa to spread in the world the knowledge of the lost Siva-Agamas and Siva-Siistras again. Dwviisa then created three sons by the power of his mind -Tryambaka, Amardaka, and Srfniitlw. He entrusted them with the mission of teaching human beings over again the ancient and eternal Saiva faith and doctrine in the three aspects of Unity (abheda), Diversity (bheda) and Diversity-in-Unity (bhediibheda). Tryambaka was to teach the first, Amardaka the second, while Srfniitlw was to have the charge of the last. It is this nondual Ablzeda, or Adl'aya Saiva, teaching re taught to the world by Tryambaka. which is spoken of as the Trika Z7 • Trika accepts the authority of the traditional twenty-eight Sail'a-.Agamas, among them the most important treatises are: Sl'acc/zandra,M.rgendra,Netra,Rudrayiimala,Malallga,Vidyii11J.al'a 28 . In adition, it accepts the conclusion of its own Agama tradition as well as that of the SpaJzda and Pratyabhijft.ii philosophical doctrines, all three of which developed particularly in Kashmir during the ninth through eleventh centuries A. D. The general thrust of the outstanding scholars and yogis of this period -Vasugupla, Kallata, SomiillaJzda, Ulpaia, Ablzillal'agllpla, ~emariija, Yogarja, Jayarallzahad been to reinterpret the Sail'a-Agamas along their peculiar monistic tendency, a kind of triadic monism In the attempt to reinterpret the pluralistic.Agamas in the light of SaJikara's and Blzartrlzari's monism and idealism, Vasugupta (9 th century) is credited with the promulgation of the first uniquely Kashmiri Sail'ite.Agama, the SiJla-St7trawhich laid the foundation of Advaita Sail'ism. This nondualAgama was said to have been revealed by STiIauJ.!lza (Siva himself) to Vasugupta directly, therefore giving rise to the classification of agama (lit. 'coming near', 'appearing', 'handed down')29. Jan Gonda further explains these revelations as emanating fromSil'a himself through his energy, or Sakti: "The authoritative texts, having the Para-Yak as their source, flow out as spoken words from God's fIve faces, which represent his fIvefold Sakti. The five systems of revelation which owe their existence to this process, are traditionally held to constitute the Saivile schools or systems. These are divisible into three classes, viz., the Siva class (ten dualist systems), the Rudra class (eighteen duality-unity systems), and the Bhairava class (sixty-four monist systems)"30.
Very soon Saiva-Agamas of the variety of hindu sectarian developments became serious alternatives to the common assumption that "everything comes from the Vedas". Kashmiri Saivism, tending toward non-dualism, offers some interesting developments of vowel, or phoneme, mysticism as well as the novel theories of Para-Yak (Para-Nada) via Bhart-,ltari and Spanda, or cosmic vibration. The utilization of the Blzartrlzarian levels of language apprehension (Pafyallli), as well as the equation of Siva with either Ntida, Billdu or Pra!lava, is indisputable within nearly all of Saivism.
In the Kashmiri Saivism introduces the term and concept of Para-Yak, also refered to as Para-Nada, which is coterminous with.Agamas themselves and the original spoken Word of Siva. According to the greatest living exponent of Kasmiri Saivism, Saivaclzarya Swami Laksman Jee: "At the basis of these speculations is the conviction that the Highest or All-Transcending Word (Para-Vak), which is God's unspoken Thought, germinally contains all the Agamas in a supersensuous form It gradually materializes into a physical form as syllables and vocables so as to form the units of speech."31 Whereas in the first stage of development (Paiyallli) the 28 As is pointed out by Andre Padoux, concerning the term tigama some classification is needed in order to avoid confusion: "Usually the Agamas of Saivas are called Agama, those of the Stiktas are called Tantra. and those of the ~i.f1Javas are known as Samhitti". Andre Padoux. "Hindu Tantric  words and their meanings are not differentiated, in the last stage (Vaiklzan) it expresses itself through the audible words. In this final stage of its manifestation, speech/language is discerned as divided into syllables, words, and sentences, and its separation from its referents is complete. The Pratyablzijfiii represents the fullest expression of Saiva monism, systematically worked out into a rational theology of Siva and philosophy of absolute consciousness with which He is identified. The Pratyablzijnii takes its name from Ifvarapratyablzijnii-Kiirikii written by Utpaladeva towards the beginning of the tenth century32. Utpaladeva understood the ultimate experience of enlightenment to consist essentially of a profound and irreversible recognition that one's own authentic identity is Siva himself. According to him: "The man blinded by ignorance (miiyii) and bound by his actions (kanna) is fettered to the round of birth and death, but when knowledge inspires the recognition (pratyablzijnii) of his divine sovereignty and power (aisvarya) he, full of consciousness alone, is a liberated soul" 33.
Just as the philosophy of the Pratyablu)"fiti focuses on the liberating recognition of the soul's authentic identity as Siva, the Doctrine of Vibration (spanda) stresses instead the importance of experiencing Spanda, the vibration or pulse of consciousness. The mainstay of the Doctrine of vibration is the contemplative experience the awakened yogi has of his true nature as the universal perceiving and acting consciousness. Man can realise his true nature to be Siva by experiencing the dynamic, recurrent and creating activity of the absolute who is the pure conscious agent and perceiver. The Stanzas on Vibration (Spandaktirikii) are, according to some Kashrniri Saiva authors 34 , the work of Kalla{abiziitta who wrote them with the intention of summarizing the teachings of the Aphorisms of Siva (SiVaslttra) written in the first half of the ninth century by a Saiva ascetic called Vasugupta 35 . The quintessential nature of the Kashmiri Saiva Absolute consciousness is described in the Spanda-Kiirikii as a pulsating, dynamic, ecstatic, throbbing force called spanda or vibration. In the words of Jaidev Singh: "Spanda ... in the case of the Supreme is neither physical motion, nor psychological activity like pain and plesure, nor pranic activity like hunger or thirst. It is the throb of the ecstasy of the Divine I -consciousness (vimarsa). The Divine I -consciousness is a piritual dynamism. It is the Divine creative pulsation. It is the throb of Siva S sviitantrya or absolute freedom. "36 The process of self-manifestation of the Spanda begins with subtle vibrations of the vowels, followed by the remaining phonemes along with the thirty-six tattvas, and ends with the slowest and grossest vibrations of the inert 32 The best alllong the contemporary studies in the Pmtynbllijna philosophical speculations is that by David P. rock. Consciousness spontaneously evolves through a series of stages ranging from the most subjective or 'inner' states of Siva-consciousness to the most 'outer' or objective forms of awareness. The process of descending into matter is a progressive self-limitation (rodlrana) of consciousness.
The fundamental concept of consciousness as a universally active and absolute principle is common to both Spanda and Pratyabhijiiii. I t is not just a consciousness which observes but one that actively perceives itself as its object through and as, each act of perception. Absolute consciousness understood as the unchanging ontological ground of all appearing is termed Prakiisa. As the creative awareness of its own being, the absolute is called Vimarsa. Prakiisa and Vimarsathe Divine Light of consciousness and the reflective awareness this light has of its own nature -together constitute the all-embracing fullness (pun.,tatii) of consciousness. Kashrniri Saivas view the universe as a phonic emanation, a sounding forth from original silence. "The non-dual Kashmiri Saivas view the process by which our daily reality is manifested from the infinite reality of Siva as a 'sounding' forth .... This power is the Visarga Sakti (expansive energy). "37 The process of the sounding forth of reality occurs on four levels, the latter three of which are indebted to Bhartrhari: Parii, the supreme level; PaSyantf, the first 'vision' of what is to come; Madlryamii, the intermediate stage; and Vaiklrari, the fully embodied stage of everyday speech. In consonance with the teachings of Siikta-Tantra reality and entire universe is described in Trika philosophy according to a system of letters (va11Jamiilii). In its role as the origin of both vowels ans consonants Niida-Brahman is described by the Kashmiri savant Abhinavagupta in the Tantriiloka as aniihata-niida -'unstruck sound'. He says: "There is only one va11Ja in the form of Niida (sound vibration) in which lie all the va11Jas (letters) latently in a undivided form.
As it is ceaseless, is it called l'a11Ja proleptically [eko niidiitmako va11Ja~l]" 38. Regarding the qualifying adjective aniihata attached to Niida, Pardoux explained that "only a sound that is not caused by a 'shock', that is to say a material means, can be everlasting" 39. There is however an important and often subtle difference between the Trika philosophy and that of Bhartr/lari regarding the status of Parii-Viik (Sabda-Brahman). Kashmiri Saivas place Parii-Viik as feminine Sakti just below the Parama-Siva. The Grammarians hold that Paiyantf is equivalent to Splzo!a and constitutes the Highest Reality. Both PaSyanti and Spho!a are admitted by the Grammarians as eternal (nityo) and display one and the same significance expressed by two different terms. According to the school of Bhartr/lari, Parii-Viik is the Supreme Reality, while in the opinion of the Trika philosophers, Parii-Viik is the power of Parama-Siva which is maintained to be the highest principle. As noted by Gaurinath Sastri: "It is of course true that the Trika philosophers entertain the view that Parama-Siva and his power known as Vimarsa are not different -the two are held to be identical in essence. Still, it cannot be denied that when the two are described as the powerful and power, they stand in the relation of the substantive and its attribute. "40 Consequently, the latter should be looked upon as subordinate to the former. Thus Vimarsa or Para-Vak cannot be viewed as an independent and self-subsistent principle in the same way in which it is conceived in the systems of the grammarian. More recently the same difference has been repeated by KSivaraman: "The difference in the conception of Para-Yak in the two systems is, briefly, that while in the Grammarian's system Para-Vak is Brahman, for the Sail'a philosopher it is the power of Parama-Sil'a .... In soteriological terms, it is the difference between achieving of transcendence 'in' language and achieving of transcendence 'of' language itself."41 The highest level of Paiyanti is an internal state of pure cognition and apprehension of Sabda-Brahman in which there is no necessity of sequence in language. "Paiyanti-Vak is that state where a person is experiencing, observing the world, but not seeing anything; it is only pure sensation without any differentiation (ninJikalpa), without any thought"42. In VarlJavada is no intuitive revelation of truth since the Veda is an external body of revelation dependent upon its unique sequence of syllables. A proper hermeneutic for the study of mantra recitation, as the flow of meaningful syllables, has to face this difference in any tradition, especially those that accept both Vart;,lavada and Paiyanti. The Grammarians never transcend language because Ultimate Reality is Sabda-Brahman itself. Though the dualistic, theistic sects of Hinduism also never advocate a transcendence of language resulting in a silent beatific vision of their respective deity: mantras and corresponding Nada-Brahman meditation are never given up or discarded even after liberation. I t is only with Kashmiri Saivas, along withAdvaita-Vedtinta and Buddhism, that language is ultimately replaced by silent contemplation, as chacterized by And re Pardoux: ''Thus moving from language to its original levels, one ultimately arrives at its source, at silence: Om merges into the resonance, Ntida, which in turn gradually dissolves in the pure light of consciousness, in the silence of the supreme and transcendent Godhead. "43 Despite the appropriation of technical terms fromBlrartr/lan", Kashrniri Saivism has rejected the linguistic Absolute of the Grammarians. The most poignant criticism of the Grammarian Sphotavada theory by Kashrniri is found in the Siva-D!$!i of Somtinanda (10 A 0.)44. Rather than a simple rejection of Bhartrhan"'s linguistic scheme, this work builds upon and modifies its structure in a way that suggests that the Grammarians theory presages and influences the Trika system. The originator of monistic Saiva philosophical apologetics, Somananda attempts to show that Paiyanti is not the Supreme Reality since it lacks certain qualities of Siva. "The doctrine of the Grammarians, according to which Paiyantf is the Supreme Cause of the universe, says Somananda, is acceptable to us if they attribute to it the powers of will (icchii), knowledge (jiiiina), and action (kn"yii) in subtle forms before it is materialized in the form of the actual creation. In this case it is identical with our Sil'a .... "But as long as they do not this, Sil'a and not 40  For the GrammarianParii-Viik is the same as PaSyanll, the Highest Truth, but in Somiinallda's view Parii-Viik, is a stage higher than Pafyantl and also represents vimarsa, or the self-reflective powerofParama-Siva. "For what reasons the grammarians holds thePaSyalltlto be the highest aspect of speech, the Saiva, thanks to the grammarian, can see it as but the power of knowledge which in his categorical scheme constitutes the Sadiisiva-tattva. For him, Parii as the highest aspect of speech beyond PaSyalltl, is the power of self-awareness or of consciousness being selfaware (vimarsa)."46 Despite the differences between the Grammarian and KashmiriSaivism is evident that the school of Bhartrhari has significantly influenced the Trika philosophy. "Bhartr/lari's work is evidently prior to those of the philosophical classics of the Saiva and Siikta schools and it is natural that they have been influenced by the former."47 I t can be said that the climax of a hermeneutics of synthesis and the sacred word exegesis of the Saiviigama initiated by the revelation of the Sillo-Siilro to Vasugupta represents Abhinavagupta's works. Abhinavagupta lived in Kashmir from about the middle of the tenth century into the eleventh. He was, without a doubt, the most brilliant of the Kashmiri Saiva teachers and one of the greatest spiritual and intellectual giants India has produced. He wrote more than sixty works in the wast fields of aesthetics, philosophy, poetry, tantric exegesis and developed Indian studies of literature, literary and linguistic theory. Some of his treatises are very extensive, and all remarkable for the beauty of their Sanskrit and profundity of thought 48 . In his the magnum opus, the Tantriiloka, Abhinavagupta critically structured the Trika in the light of Pratyablzijiiii philosophy and synthesized under its rubric an enormous range of symbolism and ritual which derive from diverse Tantric traditions. Actually, the Tantriiloka is an encyclopedia or 'systematic theology' of Hindu Tantric doctrines and gives the summary of contents ofAdvaita Tantras which existed in Kashmir in the author's time. His aim was to bring together the philosophy and tantric practice of major Saiviigama schools -Kula, Krama, Pratyblzijiiii, Spanda, -couched in the monistic philosophy of Trika Saivism 49 .
The most effective instrument of release for Kaula Saivism, as in other Hindu traditions, is the linguistic device of a mantra. But just what are mantras and why do they have such an important function? In the words of Harvey P. Alper: "Indeed, the history of the religious life of the Indian people might plausibly be read as a history of mantras."50 Nowadays the term manlra is not printed in italics, it is a word in common use because the term is both impossible to translate and very difficult to define properly. The scholastic definition of mantra given by Jan Gonda reflects the complexity of the evolving concept of sacred word from the Vedas to Hindu theism and Tantrism He defines mantra as ''word(s) believed to be of 'superhuman origin' received, fashioned and spoken by the 'inspired' seers, poets and reciters in order to invoke divine power(s) and especially coceived as means of creating, conveying, concentrating and realizing intentional and efficient thought, and of coming into touch or identifying oneself with the essence of the divinity which is present in the mantra .... Mantra is a power (sakti) in the form of formulated and expressed thought"51. Both the real and the traditional etymology of the word man Ira focuses attention on its intellectual nature. According to the former, a mantra is an instrument (-Ira) of reflection (man-); according to the latter a mantra is a thought (manana) that saves (Ira-). In both cases allusion is made to the extraordinary intellectual objectivity attributed to mantras. That's why Harvey P. Alper discerns the chief three epistemological characteristics of mantric utterance: 1) mantras are tools of cognition; 2) mantras are elements in a system of discourse that depends upon certain root methapors; 3) mantric utterance is experienced as disclosive 52 .
From a scholastic point of view, probably the most interesting example of the association of Sanskrit alphabet (van.,tamala) with the cosmology and activity of consciousness is Abhinava's esoteric exegesis of the symbolic significance of the mantraA "a 'll, which in Sanskrit means 'I' and symbolises by its form the dynamic nature of the Self. The objective world of perceptions is essentially a chain of thought -constructs (prapaflca) closely linked to one another and woven into the fabric of diversity (vicilrala). This thought (vikalpa) is a form of speech (vak) uttered internally by the mind (cilia), which is itself an outpouring of consciousness. Consciousness also, in its turn, resounds with the silent, supreme form of speech (para vak) which is the reflective awareness through which it expresses itself to itself. Consequently, the fifty letters of Sanskrit alphabet, which are the smallest phonemic units into which speech can be analysed, are symbolic of the principal elements of the activity of consciousness 53 . Letters come together SI Jan Gonda, The Indian Man/ra, Oriens, 1963.16:249, 272. 11lis essay remains the single most important contribution to the study of the subject. One of the most comprehensive and concise description of mantra is given by Mircea Eliade: "l1le practical value and philosophical implications of mantras rest upon two orders of facts: first. the yogic function of the phonemes used as 'supports' for concentration; second -and this is the peculiarly tantric contributionthe eloboration of a gnostic system and an interiorized liturgy through revalorization of the archic traditions concerning 'mystical sound." (Mircea Eliade. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. tr. from French by W R. Trask. Princeton University Press, 1971. 212-213). Agehananda Bharati offers his own more linguistic definition of mantra: "A mantra is a quasimorpheme or a series of quasi-morphemes. or a series of mixed genuine and quasi-morphemes aranged in conventional patterns. based on codified esoteric traditions. and passed on from one preceptor to one disciple in the course of a prescribed initiation". (Agehananda Bharati, The Tan/lie Tradition. New York: Doubleday/Anchor. 1970. 111.) 52 Harvey P. Alper. "TIle Cosmos as Siva's Language-Game: 'Mantra' According to Ksemaraja's Sivasiitravimarsini", Undc~/anding Man/ras. ed. Harvey P. Alper, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass. 1991. 268. Of immeasurable worth for the study of mantrasastras is the comprehensive bibliographical and methodological essay and list contributed by Professor Harvey P. Alper in that book and covering more than 1600 items and Situating mantra contextually in Indian history. society. and culture. 53 Although it is conventional to speak in this context of an 'alphabet'. this somewhat misleading. Rather. one has the primal matrix. an ordered coslllogonic procession of phonemes understood to be the eternal. primordial sounds that are the building blocks of the cosmos in its entirety. For this purpose Iq is considered an independent alqaro rather than a conjunct of k and I. yielding fifty rather than forty-nine van.ms. See below.
to generate words and words go on to form sentences. In the same way: "the fifty phases in the cycle of consciousness represent, in the realms of denoted meaning (vacya), the sum total of its universal activity (kriya) corresponding to the principal forces (kala) which come together to form the metaphysical categories of experience, which in their turn appear in the grossest, most explicitly 'articulate' form as the one hundred and eighteen world-systems (bIUlIJana)."S4 'A', the first letter of both A Iz a l]l and the Sanskrit alphabet, is the point of departure or initial emergence of all other letters and hence denotes Anllttara -the highest principle, Absolute. 'Ha', is the final letter of the alphabet and represents the point of completion when all the letters have emerged and is called AnuttarQ5s. It represents the state in which all the elements of experience, in the domains of both inner consciousness and outer unconsciousness, are fully displayed. It is also the generative, emission (visarga) which like the breath, casts the inner into outer, and draws what is outside inward. The two letters 'Pi. and 'Ha' thus represent Siva, the transcendental source and Sakti, His cosmic outpouring that flows back to him. The combined ~-Ha' contains within itself all the letters of the alphabet -every phase of consciousness, both transcendental and universal.
'M', the fmalletter of A Iz a f]l, is written as a dot placed above the letter which precedes it. I t comes at the end of the vowel series and before the consonants and so is called anusvara (lit. 'that which follows the vowels') and also bindu (lit. 'dot', 'drop', 'point', 'zero'). While the . consonant 'M' symbolises the individual soul (punl$a), bindu represents the subtle vibration of 'I', which is the life force (jivakala) and essence of the soul's subjectivity manifest at the transcendental, supramental level (unmana)S6. Bindu, as a point without area, symbolises the non-finite nature of the pure awareness (pramitibhiiva) of A Iz a l]l. It is the pivot around which the cycle of energies from 'Pi. to 'Ha' rotates, the Void in the centre from which all powers emanate (prasara) and into which they collapse. Each letter of the alphabet stands for an aspect or phase in the cycle of cosmic manifestation and withdrawal. As such, it, according to the text of the Sakta SrividyalSricakra tradition Kiimakaliivilasa, symbolises the union of Siva and Sakli (sivasaktimilhunapi1Jda)S7 in a state of heightened potency in which this divine couple (yamalanlpa) is united by their passion (kama) in the totality of A Iz a f]l and have not yet divided to generate the world of diversityS8. When Siva and Sakti unite, the universe, formerly experienced as a reality set apart from consciousness, ceases to exist. manifestation (visarga) pours out between these two poles. When outer objectivity is reabsorbed into its transcendent source, bindu is the point into which all the manifest powers of consciousness are gathered and fused together. The universal potency of all the letters is thus contained in bindu which, as the reflective awareness of supreme'!' consciousness (parii-viik), gives them alllife 59 • Thus all the cycles of creation and destruction are contained within A Iz a '[I. through which they are experienced simultaneously as the spontaneous play of (/mda) the absolute. As K$emariija, underscoring the esoteric and soteric value of this malziimantra of Saiva Tantra, puts it: "All embracing I-ness (pil11Jiilzantii) is the mistress of all the letters from 'A' to 'K$a' which, as the absolute (anuttara) power of unstruck sound (aniihata), it contains and encapsulates. Thus it is a pure immutable awareness even though it has absorbed into itself every cycle of creation and destruction in the play of the Wheel of Energies constituting the unfolding cosmic order ($ar/adlzvan) of countless words and all that they denote. It is the Parii-Viik, the great unspoken mantra which, eternally manifested, is the life of all beings." 60 Of all mantras Abhinavagupta recommends the Heart-Mantra, S a u ~l, which contains the Visarga (:) and accomplishes the task of liberation by focusing the attention of the aspirant on the expansive aspect of his own heart. The mantra he recites is the eternal resonance of the awareness which is the pulsation of the Heart of his own consciousness 61 . The Heart-Mantra connects the soul with the 'flow' of universal processes and thus liberates the individual. "He alone truly knows the emergence of the mantra who, in this very resonance (Niida), with a wish to obtain such fruits of emergence, remains absorbed in his own mantra."62 In accordance with the teaching of one's guru, the continuous practice of mantra repetition,japa is then advised in order to sustain the Niida within the flow of sound (dhvani).
While the Vedic mantras are comprised of complete sentences, the Tantric mantras are in the form of monosyllabic vocables only, technically called the bijamantras, in theory, are sonic manifestations of basic cosmic powers; literally, seeds of the fundamental constituents of the universe 63 . The tantric bijamantras are collection of certain speech sounds coalesced together and put in the encased form, sa~npu'ita. Most of them are found listed in the Mantriibhidlziinako$as, dictionaries or other digests of Tantric mantras 64 • According to the Saiva Tantric tradition, the bijamantras consist of certain speech sounds which are actually miitrkii v011Jas, 59   Spalldallin}aya by /4emariija, ed. with English translation by M. S. Kaul, Kasmir Series of Texts and Studies, No. 43,1925,66. 61 Talltrii{okn -1Y.181-182. 6Z Talltrii{okn -XXIlI.149.ln the Pariilriii!ai-Vivanu,1a (P.203) mantra S a It ~I is also called amrlabija -'the seed of immoratality'. 6l The bijas used in the in the Tantric bl"UaSlU[IIi piijti (ritual of purification of the elements) are formed from the series of four semivowels in the Sanskrit alphabet, each standing for one of the four basic cosmic elements. Thus, one repeats (or mediates) onym/I, the bija of wind, and visualizes the desiccation of the body, followed bynlllltiple repetition of mIl', standing for fire, then (in some cases) {m/I, the earth-bija. and finally repetition of vm/,. bringing forth the refreshing cosmic waters. This correlation is discussed by A. Avalon, The Garlalld of Letters, Madras: Ganesh and Co. 4th edition, 1963,43. 64 See, for instance, a sixteenth century synthetic treatise on Malllmitislm called Malllmmallodadlli of Mallidllam wit" commelllary Na/lkn, eng. tr. by a board of scholars, Sri Satguru Publications. 1984. letters symbolising the consciousness power or the spiritual energy and is a very compact, condenced form of god or power that it 'is ' in essence. In St"I'a-Siilra, the bija is portrayed as the womb of the multiplicity (allekadlui) of the Sakiic universe 65 . The origin of the bijamalltras is not known but can be likened to the seed which, when implanted in the pure iidhiira of the spiritual adept, is sure to produce in the tantric mode of piijii the desired results.
While refering to the first iilmika of Abhinavagupta's Talltriiioka, Debabrata Sen Sharma has suggested, that the mantras originated from safzjalpa, sounds escaping involuntarily from the lips of a yogin during the transition period from the state of samiidlzi trance to normal state of consciousness or awareness 66 . The yogin then is in a state of half samiidlzi and half waking state having no conscious control over his faculties. It is believed that during sal'ikalpa samiidhi yogin has wonderful experiences or visions which he is not able to communicate in verbal form. He only mutters something which apparently does not appear to convey any meaning but reveals energy of the divine pure consciousness (cti ananda iaktt) corresponding to Parii-Viik level. These apparently meaningless, spontaneus sounds are condensed or coalesced one over the other later by himself or by those who happen to be near him and hear them During the initiation, though the guru utters the mantra using the Vaikhari, the audible form of speech, he awakens the mantra with the help of Parii-Viik ascending to the level of Siva-Tattva; he arouses the power, sakii lying latent in the mantra by peeling off, as it were, the 'shells' covering it. As a result ofthis exercise, he makes the mantra 'alive', otherwise the mantras in Vaikhari-Viik are incapable of producing any result, they are simply 'dead'. In Sivasiitravimarsilli ~emariija it is clearly described what a disciple obtains through a guru: "From a guru who is favorably disposed (prasalllliit) a disciple gains perfect understanding of the circle of powers that emerges from Miitrkii (miitrkiicakrasambodha~z)" 67.
Is said that when the yogin utters mantra in audible form, so called sasabdajapa, the mantras then are in the form of Vaiklzari-Viik. The silent repetition, low intonation of mantra, called upiilpSujapa is performed on Madlzyamii-Viik level. In the miillasajapa, silent, mental repetition, mantra is repeated effortessly and spontaneously68. At this stage the japa begins to coalesce with the subtle plane of speech, the Pafyallti-Viik. Hence it represents the fusion of word and its meaning and is devoid of every kind of differentation. Andre Padoux summarizes this presupposition clearly: ''Two powers are associated with every mantra: one power (l'iicakafakti) , which 'expresess' or 'signifies', is the mantra itself. [The other] (viicyasakti), which is 'to be expressed' or 'signified', is the devatii [the god or object of the mantra]. Here as elsewhere the second aspect follows from the first, for it is the Word which is primal, the fecundator who precedes herobject."69 It follows, that the right mantra used in the proper way by the qualified person is believed to be a key that unlocks the Saktic structure of the cosmos. It means also that the practice of a Tantric discipline in a cosmos believed to be Saktic turns the syllables of a mantra into a subtle, linguistic tool for apprehending that the cosmos is nothing but Siva's language game or a playful verbal His self-expression. "He, who has this undersanding (viz., that the universe is identical with the Self), regards the whole world as a play (kridatvena) of the Divine, and thus being ever united with the universal consciuosness is, without doubt, liberated while alive" 70.
Under the spell of the metaphor of 'World as Word' both the organic unity and the diversity of the world are understood as the articulation, the expression (varya), of Sil'a-who-is-Transcendental-Speech (Para-Vak). In his capacity to speak transcendentally Siva is the one, who articulates, expreses (vacaka), the world. Mantric utterance gets singled out as the one form of discource that enables a human being to assert, to recognize (pratyabhijiia) his freedom within the cosmic process by identifying himself with Siva. ''The vitality of mantra (mantravfrya) is Siva's power, the undivided reality of mantra and mind (cetas) both when they arise and when they fall away. It emerges from Siva both as mantra and as adept's mind (citta) in the form of phonemes and thought-constructs (sankalpa). The mantric power manifest [this way] is capable of producing only limited (niyala) results for those yogis who have not come in contact with the power of their own nature."71 Sankara's Advaita-Vedanta tradition also recognises the necessity of uttering by the guru mahiivakya, which is called upadesavakya -tal tvam asi and that produces the realisation that the aspirant is the Brahman himself (aham bra/una asmi). This realisation is called anubhavaviikya because the guru's utterance of mantra contains the potency which is released just by hearing the upadesa. So, the important steps of Advaitic sad/zana, like manana and nididhyiisana, can follow only after atmadarsana on hearing the upadesavakya. But it its true that Advaita-vedanta tradition does not directly talk about sakti of mantra lying latent in the upadesavakya because the Sankara's Advaita does not admit the existence of Sakli on the transcendental plane, and because they look upon spiritual discipline, sadhana to be an exercise in the acquisition of knowledge (jiiana), and not action (kriya).
In his Paratrisika Vivara!la, one of the most fascinating but also most difficult mystical texts of the Kashmir Saiva philosophy dealing with the theory and practice of mantra, Abhinavagupta presents a penetrating metaphysics of language and its various stages in relation to consciousness. Metaphysically speaking, the ParatriSika Vivara!la explains and illustrates the Tantric principle or dictum: "everything is related to everything else" (san'Q1[1 san,atmakal[l). Abhinava has equated the Supreme consciousness with the Para-Yak, Logos and has shown the correspondence between the involution of the Supreme Lord Parama-Siva in the form of 70 Spnlldn·Ktirilai 1I.5. Compare it with Johan Huizinga: "Behind every abstract expression there [lies] the boldest of metaphors. and every metaphor is a play on words. Thus giving expression to life man creates a second. poetic world alongside the world of nature." (Johan Huizinga. Homo Ludens: The Play Element in Culture. New York. Beacon Press. 1955.4). 71 Spnlldnlairilaivivrti by Riijiillnkn Riimn. ed. by J. C. Chaterjee. Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies. No. 6. 1916. 83-84. SadiiSil'a, iS1!ara and Suddlza-Vidyii during the creation. According to him, Piin.za/zQl[Zta is the natural mantra revealed on the level of Sil'a tattva which corresponds to the Parii-Vak. This level is described as a pure subject' allalJl 'having no external object of knowledge and is identical to the pure, Absolute consciousness in the form of unity of Sil'a and Sakti. Accordingly, there is no distinction between the word (sabda) and its object (artlla) and there is rooted the spiritual seed of scriptures, iigamas 72 . When Sadii-Siva taUva emerges from the Supreme Lord in the course of involution, then Parii-Viik is revealed in the form of Pafyallti. The icella-sakti is dominant on that level. When the Supreme Lord appears as the ifvara taUva on the succeding level, then the Parii-Viik is revealed in the form of Mad/zyama-Viik and the jfliilla-sakti is said to be dominant sakti. The difference between the word and its referent is, in the stage of Madlzyamii, only in a subtle mental state or the inner psychic apparatus (allta~lkara~za), it has not yet been externalized. Again, when the Parama-Sil'a assumes grosser form below the level of Mayii, the Viik is revealed in the Vaiklzari form which is the differentiated gross form of the speech. The VaikJlari-Viik is characterised by experience of duality and there is a clear difference betwen the word and its referent, and the kriyii-sakti is said to be dominant sakti.
Beyond the realms of language, it is the transcendental consciousness (Parii-Viik) in which all language is rooted and pervades all that language denotes as its essential being. This unity on the highest level of Viik and consciousness explains why the Siva-Sutra describes the mantra as consciousness 73 . As Utpaladeva writes: "The Supreme Word is consciousness. It is selfawareness spontaneusly arisen, the highest freedom and sovereignty of the Supreme lord Siva.
That pulsing radiance (sp/zurauii) is pure Being, unqualified by time and space. As the essence [of all things I it is said to be the heart of the Supreme Lord. "74 When the intention arises within consciousness to discern its own brilliance manifest in the world of denotations and denoted meanings of language, speech turns from the supreme transcendental level to that of immanence and assumes the form of a pure intuitive awareness (pratibhii) which perceives and comprehends its universal manifestation. This is the voice of intuition (pafyanti), which grasps the meaning inherent inwardly in all words and externally in all that they denote. I t is pure generic perception in an indeterminate form (nirvika/pa) and not yet formed into language in which the act of denotation, its object and what which denotes it are indistinguishable. On this stage of manifestation the nondual divine I-consciousness does differentiate itself by the power of knowledge Uflana sakti) into the questioner and answerer: "The Self, who is the natural state of all existents, who is Self-luminous, amusing Himself with question-answer which is yet not different from Himself, and in which both the questioner (as Devi) and the answerer ( 5.13-14. 75 Parillriiikii.Vivaml}o, 15. This explains us why the all Tantric treatises are writen in the form of discussion between Siva and Devi: 'The God Sadiliiva Himself. assuming the position of both teacher and pupil. revealed the Tantra by means of fornIer and later sentences. i.e. by means of question and answer". Svacchalldabhaiml/a-Talllm wilh Uddyola by K$emartija. ed. by M. S. Kaul, 1921-1955. Kashmir Series of Texts andStudies. Vol. IV. 20. It reminds a dialogue between Arjulla and Kr51}a in the Bhagavad-GlliI. The third level of manifestation is the outer corporal speech (l'aiklzari) and the fourth, the subtler, inner discourse (anta~lsQ111jalpa) of thought that forms at the intermediate level (madhyamii) where the ratiocinating mind stands between the higher levels of intuition and its outer verbal expression in determinate form (sal'ikalpa). Outer, articulate speech consists, of a series of ordered phonemic elements (miilinf), produced and combined by the vocal organs to form meaningful miiyiya letters, words and sentences. In order for this to be possible, these elements must also be grounded in consciousness (pramii). The articulated phonemes are merely outer, gross manifestations of the phonemic energies (va11Jagriima) held in a potential state within consciousness. In the words of Mark S. G. Dyczkowski: "This 'mass of sounds' (sabdariiSi) is the light of consciousness (prakiisa) which makes the universe manifest and contain all things within itself. I t is the totality of consciousness expressed as the collective awareness symbolised by all the letters corresponding to the introverted subjectivity of Siva Himself. "76 The power through which this potential actualises itself into speech and the word of denotation is technically called Miif.rkii. Miif.rkiicakra is the theory of Sanskrit alphabet, reflecting the parallelism between the processes of creation of the universe and the structure of the thirty-six elements or tattvas. The last major Kashmiri Saiva author ~emariija in his commentary Vimarsinf on Siva Sutra n explains that all mantras consist ofletters (va11Jas) which are regarded as miitrka (lit. 'little mother'). The matrkas embody the creative energy (virya) of the lord Siva manifested in the form of the mass of speech sounds (sabdariiSi). In supporting his view he quotes from a now lost text called Sritantrasadbhiiva where is said that the letters constituting mantra are not ordinary alphabets forming word, used by us, they symbolise the divine energy or divine Sakti inherent in the pure consciousness. According to ~emariija, it is the reflective awareness (vimarsa) and radiance (spllllratta) of the supreme subject -the 'mass of sound' (Sabdarasi) -and the undivided wonder (camatkiira) Siva experiences when He contemplates the universe He gathers up into Himself in the form of countless words (viicaka) and their meanings (viiryaf9. Matrka, as Para-vak-sakti that generates the world, contains within itself the various aspects of objectivity that, although not yet manifest, are ready to issue forth. Thus this power, at one with Siva, is called Matrkii because she is the mother of the universe that she contains within herself as, in the words of Abhinavagupta, does a pregnant woman her child 79 • The circle of the powers Matrka (matrkacakra) consists of the phonemic energies contained inA h a 'll, the universal Self. When grasped in its entirety at its source, these energies elevate the consciousness of the enlightened, but when split up and dispersed give rise to the obscuring forces (kala) which lead the ignorant away from realisation. Thought constructions (11ikalpa) are the play of miit.rkiis which go on creating thoughts or concepts that are ever engaged in veiling the real nature of being: "He who is deprived of his power by the forces of obscuration (kalii) and a victim of the powers arising from the mass of sounds (sabdartiSi) is called the fettered soul. The powers [of speech] are always ready to obscure his true nature as no mental representation can arise that is not penetrated by Viik"Bo. The rays of phonemic energies emanate from the light of Siva, the 'mass of sounds' in eight groups. From Saiviigamic perspective, the entire cosmos may be experienced through ritual and in meditation exactly as it is envisioned metaphorically, as animated by circles upon circles of goddesses. They constitute the powers of the inner mental organ (anla~lkara!lQ) and the five senses, figuratively arranged in a circle around the sacred shrine (pi!ha) of Miilrkiicakra who manifests externally as the body. The eight classes and the names of the goddesses presiding over them are as followS B1 :

Malziilak$mi or Yogisl'ariSmell
Another important symbolical understanding of the letters is that the vowels are called bija (seed) and are identified with Sil'a (Sil'alattva), while the consonants are yoni (womb) and are identified withSakti which is called 'the Divine Freedom' (sviitanlrya). This implies inseparability of Siva and Sakti, of vowels and consonants in language B2 • Vowels as expressions of Parii-Sakti are identified with the five main Saklis of Sil'a: Cil or Anuttara, Ananda, /Cclzii, iniina and Kriya Sakti in the following way: aT a denotes Cit-sakti or consciousness, aTT a -denotesAnanda-sakti or bliss, ~ i-denotes /ce/lii-sakli or will to manifest, but still unaffected by objectivity, ~ i-denotes isami or mastery where ice/la-sakli is colored by objectivity,  -denotes Asphu!a kriya-sakti or indistinct power of activity, -denotes Sphu!a kriya-sakti or dictinct power of activity, -denotes SplUl!atara kriya-sakti or more dictinct power of activity, -denotes Sphu!atama kriya-sakti or most dictinct power of activity, -denotes Siva bindu (anusvara) or undivided knowledge of the universe, -denotes Visarga, where the lower dot, symbolizing Sakti means that there is an expansion, of an objective world. The upper dot, symbolizing Siva, means that the entire universe rests in the I-consciousness of Siva.
Twenty-five consonants of the Sanskrit alphabetical system from gutturals (ka-varga) up to labials (pa-varga) represent twenty-five categories (tattvas) of Salpkltya system: The last nine letters of the Sanskrit alphabetical system from semivowels (ya-varga) upto sybilants (sa-varga) represents the particular categories of Saiva Trika philosophy, namely, five coverings or limitations (kancukas) of maya and four tattvas of the level of universal experience: -Raga (limitation of desire), -Vidya (limitation in regard of knowledge), -Kala (limitation as regards agency) and kala (limitation of time), -Niyati (limitation in regard to space), -Mahiimaya (differentiating and self-forgetting power), -Suddha vidya ('true knowledge', the Principle of correlation in the universal experience between experiencer and experienced), -iSl'ara (,lordliness', the Principle of identification in hte universal experience between what are thus correlated), -Sadasiva (the Principle of Being, from which the experience of Being begins), -Sakt; (the Principle of potentialisation of the universal experience )83, As we see, of all letters 'A', the representative of allllttara sakti, is the most important and is constituent of all letter. As Jayaratha puts it in his commentary Vil'eka on Talltrtiloka: '~resides in all the letters as their inner controller (alltarytimitayii)". Hence mtilrkti refers at once to a mythic figure, the mother of the constellation of potencies (saktis) that are understood to be the hidden controllers (adhi$!htitr) of the cosmos, and to the linguisticality of the experienced cosmos as such. The secret of mantras (malltraralzasyam) is unfolded, as Ksemaraja quotes us from the Tantrosodblltil'a: "All mantras consist of Transcendental Phonemes (va'!1as) and [thus], my dear, they are really Sakti. However, Sakti should be known as the mother (mtilrkal [of the cosmos] and she should be known as really Sil'a."84 The alphabetic form of Saktis, her mantric form is conceived of as the womb of cosmic multiplicity (allekadhti). That's why the Saktic Ktili-Talltra literary corpus iconografically desribes Mother Ktili with the garland (ak$aramtilii) of fifthy human heads denoting the fifty Sanskrit letters and she is called 'the Mother of the universe'85. Such mantra is a path of return to the cosmic unity through the maze of the Saktic world. Mantras are simply something 'given', after all, they are Siva-who-becomes-the-cosmos and possess the characteristic of being Sil'a (sil'adlzarmill). Abbinavagupta points out, that the yogi who grasps the true nature of the power of Mtitrkii and its phonemic forces is hberated by the recognising that the activity of the senses and the discursive representations of the mind are in fact emanations of universal consciousness 86 • Although mantras may convey an intelligible meaning, they are not bound to a convention (sallketa) as is common speech. In the Buddhist tradition Vasubandhu even states that meaningiesness is the real meaning of the mantra 87 . Mantra has meaning and serves a purpose to the degree in which it is possible to intuit through it the power of consciousness which gives it, and all things, being. Serving as a means to concentration, they free the mind of discursive representations 88 . The outer forms of mantra are expressions of the powers experienced inwardly. Mantras are charged with the vibration (spallda) of consciousness and in their turn, make consciousness vibrate. "Mantras are pure in the sense that they are not tained by a conventionally accepted meaning (vtirya) and transcends the usual form of awareness created by reflection on the phonemes" -writes Rtijtillaka Rtima 89 . At root the mantra represents the pure significance of all possible sentences and words relating to the world of particulars. Mantric energy is not to be sought in the actual sound or form of the mantra directly. The ordering of its phonemic constituent (l'a17}asa1l1zivefa) is a merely a channel through which the yogi can tap the energy of his own consciousness. But the mantra and the reciter must be rooted in the one conscious reality, otherwise mantra will be a mere flux of powerless phonemic sounds. As Abhinavagupta explains: "0 beloved, the mantras whose seed phonemic power (bfja) lie dormant will bear no fruit, while those mantras which are filled with consciousness are said to accomplish all things. "90 We must remmember also that mantras, even in their higher, supposedly redemptive forms, are always part of a precise and compulsory ritual context, outside which they are useless and powerless. A mantra may be a liberating word but only in accordance to precise and binding rules 91 .

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Thus, as we have seen, elaborate mysticism of the word found in the Saiva Tantras has Vedic precendents and presupposes the philosophy of Blzartr/zari. Extending Blzartrlzari:Sapproach to the new problematics, representatives of Saivism explained their cosmogonic myth of Siva emanating the universe throughSakti as His self-recognition. Abhinavagupta's subtle speculation on the Word extends from its mystical dimension to the intricacies of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic speculation, from psychological subtleties to philosophical reasoning. The Tantric Kashmiri tradition, while building upon the Saiva-Agamas and Grammarian tradition, formulates its own unique rational theology of traidic monism and of complex verbal cosmology, wherein sacred Verbum is fundamental to both the creation of the universe and to the reintegration of the soul or heart into the cosmos.
We may best understand the Saiva concept of the Word in making a brief comparisons between the notion of Word of God for Christianity and for Hinduism. According to H. Coward: "The scholarly study of scriptures of the various religions will remain seriosly limited and onesided if it does not become more sensitive to the fundamental oral character of scriptures such as the Veda, the Qur'an, and even the Gospels. "92 Just a few points of distinction there need to be made. Whereas in Hinduism language and sacred sound are intimately bound up with the divine, in Christianity any special kind of sacred language or sacred sound is ultimately suspect, since only the person of Jesus Christ is defined precisely as the Word of God, "not the words of Jesus but he himself is the 'Word of God'''93. The striving to reach an ultimate truth beyond language is an implicit factor of Christian practice, which separates it from most Hindu aspirations wherein language or the name of the deity as a verbal formula, or mantra, being identical with the deity itself, is never 'shaken off' or discarded and the devotee remains enveloped in sacred sound and the deity's holy name. Contrary to the Vedic revelation, in which sound or language is the revealed and thus dvine, or Hindu theism, in which sound or language is the revealed feminine energy of God, in Christianity something 'wholly other' which is nonlinguistic or nonsonic appears to quicken ordinary language at will in order to make it sacred.
It seems, that if hermeneutics is based originally on the principle that the Word is what opens up and mediates understanding, then the oral world itself has a hermeneutical function. The hermeneutic aid can only consist in removing hindrances in order to let the word perform its own hermeneutic function. In the words of Gerhard Ebeling: "For hermeneutics is of course not a departure from the linguistic realm in order to understand by means of language ... The primary phenomenon in the realm of understanding is not understanding of language, but understanding through language the word is what opens up and mediates understanding, i.e., brings something to understanding. The word has a hermeneutic function."94 SANSKRIT SOURCES: