Abhinavagupta Life History

Abhinavagupta was a famous Indian philosopher and mystic. He impressed the next generation with music, poetry and Indian culture. He was born in 950 AD in Kashmir; his father’s name was Narasimha Gupta, and his mother was Vimala. Vimala died when Abhinavagupta was just two years old, and then Narasimha Gupta fell into deep sorrow and preferred to follow the ascetic lifestyle. This made a lot of impact on the boy Abhinavagupta. Narasimha Gupta taught him literature, logic, and grammar. His father himself guided him to focus on the spiritual endeavour.

At an early age, he joined various schools to learn philosophy and art. He learned under fifteen teachers and gurus to learn the entire philosophy of the Hindu concept. He has a brother named Manoratha, a great devotee of Lord Shiva. His younger sister’s name was Amba, and he was also a great devotee. Karna was a great devotee of Saivism and led a detached world. He had a son called Yogesvaridatta, who had a great talented yogi in Yoga.

He wrote 35 philosophical works and Trika and Kaula, now called Kashmir Shaivism, in India. He also wrote the commentary of Natyasastra of Bharata Muni. His aspect of Tantraloka is still a path to the present philosophical practisers.

He described many sacred texts and meanings of mantras. His poetic creativity was tremendous, and he had intuitive knowledge. Gupta songs all were written by praising Lord Shiva. His philosophical works and ritual practice are widely discussed.

As an author, he is considered a systematizer of philosophical thought. He reconstructed, rationalized and orchestrated the intellectual knowledge into a more coherent form assessing all the available sources of his time, not unlike a modern scientific researcher of Ideology. He succeeded in bringing collaboration between the philosophical branches of the triad, will, knowledge and action.

Many scholars admired him as a brilliant scholar, saint and great devotee of Lord Shiva. He was the cause of the development of Kasmir Saivism. His great work Tantraloka was translated into various languages of the world.

Abhinavagupta lived as a writer and philosopher and didn’t marry his entire life. There are many legends about the famous figure. Here is a code: before his death, he marched to a cave with 1200 disciples. The cave is now called Bhairava Cave. All the disciples and including him, also never again appeared. At present, the place is also a tremendous devotional centre in India.