This book is the first consistent theological treatment of the subject of Hindu thought known to itself as Trika or Triadism, and popularly as Kashmir Saivism. Few Indic theologies equal it in architectonic power and mystical profundity. Its highest category and goal is Consciousness or Light ( cit, prakasa), whose foremost characteristic is Freedom (svatantrya). This goal can be attained through four ways (upayas). The theology of these ways pertains to Gnostic or knowledge-oriented Triadism, whose prime theologian is Abhinavagupta, the "emperor of Indic speculation. The book also discusses the other, and lesser known Devotional or emotion-oriented Triadism, whose chief exponent is the poetess Lalla. The author has endeavoured to make the thought of this complex system intelligible to educated readers innocent of Sanskrit, through a consistent use of English equivalents of Triadic terminology, listed in the Appendix. He has also attempted to sound the depths of the Triadic system through the use of the comparative method, by instituting parallels with the theologies of two religions, Islam and Catholicism. The latter religion, Murphy believes, offers, the greatest number of such parallels with Triadism, and so is compared with it in greater detail. Murphy’s book is truly a model of inter-theological comparison.
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