The Sivasutra of Vasugupta is an aphoristic Agamic text of Kashmir Saivism, known as Trika. The tradition records that the Sutras were revealed to Vasugupta by Lord Siva himself through an inscription on a rock which is still found in Kashmir. The Sutras form the basic text of the school and they have come down in at least two recensions. They had been interpreted by a number of Acaryas, naturally in different ways, without interfering with thebasic tenets of the school. Most of the interpretations are now lost, owing to the influence of Abhinavagupta. It is believed on reasonable ground that Abhinavagupta’s interpretation of the Sivasutras have been preserved in the Commentary called Vimarsini by Ksemaraja, a direct disciple of the former. The purpose of the Sutras was not only to serve an intellectual basis of Advaita Saivism but to show men a practical way of realizing by experience that the fact that man is essentially no other than the Deity himself. The very purpose of the Sutras has been further served by the lucid and elaborate commentary of Ksemaraja. The present volume which is a reprint of the first volume of the Kashmir series of texts and studies, contains the well-edited texts of both the sutras and the commentary, the latter based on five manuscripts. The value of the edition has been further enhanced by several useful appendices and indexes. The present edition includes an exhaustive introduction in Sanskrit outlining the history of Kashmir Saivism and its texts, by a renowned scholar of Indian philosophy.
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