Parasamvit and Pratyabhijna an Onto Epistemic enquiry in Trika PhilosophyPHY

Abstract

Shaivism is one of the largest and most significant Hindu denominations. The eminence of Shaivism as a sampradand#257;ya in the context of religion and philosophy is unparallel. The research highlights one of the significant schools within Shaivism which derives its teachings from the sixty-four monistic Tantras, popularly known as Trika Shaivism or Trika school . The Government of India, in the 19th Century, ordered a German Indophile, Georg Buhler, to lead a literary expedition in Kashmir. The vast literature on the indigenous religious philosophy of Shaivism was discovered in 1875. The study of the Trika system has its prominence in the fields of History, Indology, Linguistics, Sanskrit, and philosophy flourished since the 20th Century. The study concentrates on a specific research gap, which is two-fold in nature. Firstly, establishing the Trika school as a philosophy with a Tantric foundation. Secondly, in establishing the former, a philosophical comprehension of the practical ways of liberation is prescribed in the Trika philosophy. The Trika school represents a combination of monistic philosophy and tantric practices. But a comparative approach (sattarka) is applied to understand the Trika school as a philosophical school. newline newlineThe four selected Indian philosophical schools are Sankhya, Advaita Vedanta, Yogacara, and Sabdika philosophy. The research gap leads to two main research objectives. Firstly, to discuss the various facets that shaped Trika Philosophy which allowed other Philosophical schools to come within its ambit and enrich it. Secondly, to take into account the inclusive nature of Trika Philosophy to provide a comprehensive conceptualisation of Parasamvit or Consciousness. The three philosophical and qualitative research methodologies applied in the research are Textual Analysis, Conceptual (Philosophical) Analysis and Critical Enquiry. In the present study, the translations of seven primary Trika texts - Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Shivadrishthi, Vijnanabhairava, Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika, Ishvar