Abhinavagupta, a leading figure in Kashmir Saivism, is increasingly being recognized as one of the chief contributors to the evolution of Indian thought. In his encyclopaedia work, the Tantraloka, ‘Light on the Tantras, he describes the various tantras of his day and places at their apex the most extreme of them, the Kula ritual. This work is a translation of the Trantraloka of abhinavagupta’s version of the Kula ritual. It also provides a translation of Jayaratha’s indispensable commentary. It shows the structure of the text, which is not a confused the structure of the text, which is not a confused mass of codes and activities but is articulated as finely as an Indian temple. The translation is accompanied by a commentary, the appendices, including glossary and index of words. The Kula ritual leads the practitioner to ever more exalted stages of the mantra finally to reach the highest level of consciousness, the experience of mantravyapti, the ‘pervasion of the mantra.’ The person who knows this pervasion knows that he is Bhairava. The supreme mantra of consciousness is none other than the mantra Sauh, the supreme goddess Para, which expresses the supreme reality. In this way Abhinavagupta breaks down the dualism between sacred and profane, ritual and ordinary life so that the Kula practitioner is liberated while alive, his every act is worshipped and his every word is mantra.
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