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Utpaladeva (c. 900–950 CE) was a Shaivism tantrik philosopher, theologian and poet from Kashmir. He belonged to the Kashmir Shaivism tradition and is a thinker of the Pratyabhijna school of Monism idealism.Torella, Raffaele (2021), Utpaladeva: Philosopher of Recognition, pp. 1-3. DK Printworld (P) Ltd, His Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā (IPK, Verses on the Recognition of the Lord) is a central text for the Pratyabhijna school of Shaiva Hindu philosophy. Utpaladeva was also a tantrik guru and a religious bhakti poet, having authored the influential Śivastotrāvalī (A Garland of Hymns to Śiva), a collection of Shaiva hymns that remain popular with Kashmiri Shaivas.Lakshmanjoo. Festival of Devotion and Praise, Śivastotrāvalī by Utpaladeva: Hymns to Shiva, Universal Shaiva Fellowship, Delhi, Ishwar Ashram Trust, 2014.
Utpaladeva was a student of Somananda (875–925 CE) and an influence on the exegete Abhinavagupta, whose works later overshadowed those of Utpaladeva. However, according to the Indology Raffaele Torella "most of Abhinavagupta’s ideas are just the development of what Utpaladeva had already expounded."Torella, Raffaele (2021), Utpaladeva: Philosopher of Recognition, p. 4. DK Printworld (P) Ltd,
In the chapter "Jñānādhikāra" of the Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Kārikā, Utpaladeva aims to establish the existence of a self by emphasizing one's capacity of being a knowing subject. Utpaladeva points to memory, which is a cognitive event that takes place over an extended period of time. An element of current self-awareness is present at the moment of original cognition. The element at both points is a manifestation of a single consciousness and so have the same nature. Utpaladeva opposes a Buddhist explanation of memory that rejects a self. Buddhists explain memory without a permanent knowing self because past cognitions leave latent impressions ( saṃskāras) on later cognitions. However, Utpaladeva counters that the original cognition is restricted to itself.
Utpaladeva's view of God is stated in the Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Kārikā:
There is only one Great Divinity, and it is the very inner Self of all creatures. It embodies itself as all things, full of unbroken awareness of three kinds: “I”, “this”, and “I am this.”Wallis, Christopher (2013). Tantra Illuminated, pp. 283-292.According to Torella, another important and original contribution of Utpaladeva is his doctrine of "abhasas" (light, radiance, manifestations), which sees everything as radiant manifestations of the consciousness of Shiva which is their necessary foundation. Each "manifestation" is a kind of universal and is connected with a specific Sanskrit word. Torella also notes however that the term abhasa was not a new term "but was commonly used in the Vedantic and Buddhist schools."Torella, Raffaelle (1994). The Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti: Critical edition and annotated translation. p. xxvii. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente Serie.
Torella explains Utpaladeva's view of God as follows:Torella, Raffaelle (1994). The Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti: Critical edition and annotated translation. p. xxix-xxx. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente Serie.
This I or Consciousness is, on the religious plane, Siva. In his highest form, the supreme divine personality is solely 'I' - consisting of consciousness and beatitude - in whom all the principles are contained though in a state of complete dissolution. He is present throughout the IPK as the ultimate essence of every reality and is also directly mentioned here and there, even if the stage is generally occupied by a less extreme form of him, which balances between transcendence and immanence. In fact, being an expository work, which requires an object to teach and a recipient of this teaching; it cannot but deal with that form of the God which is open to the world of manifestation, whilst firmly remaining its sovereign. On the supreme plane there is only the I resting in his fullness and no trace of the knowable remains...this more accessible form of the God is connected with the second level. It is mainly indicated as Mahesvara, Isvara, Isa, Prabhu, whereas the supreme form is often given the name of Siva or Paramesvara, but there certainly are exchanges between these two series - which indirectly points out the fact that it is a question of a sole reality and that every distinction of degree and figure is purely instrumental to the expository requirements.This supreme reality expresses itself through a scale of tattvas (reality) in a manner similar to that of Shaivasiddhanta philosophy (all the while remaining thoroughly monistic in character).Torella, Raffaelle (1994). The Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti: Critical edition and annotated translation. p. xxxi. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente Serie.
Utpaladeva also provided an argument for the existence of God (Ishvara) which was at least partly drawn on Nyaya sources. According to Isabelle Ratie, this argument states that "the universe is an effect consisting of a specific arrangement that must have been created by an intelligent agent considered as its efficient cause." Furthermore, for Utpaladeva, given the complexity and harmony of the universe, this creator must be Omniscience and Omnipotence. Isabelle Ratié, “ Utpaladeva's Proof of God: on the Purpose of the Īśvarasiddhi”, in B. Bäumer & R. Torella (eds.), Utpaladeva, Philosopher of Recognition.
merely the triggering in the devout of an act of identification, which does not reveal anything new but only rends the veils that hid the I from himself; a cognition is not created but only the blur that prevented its use, its entering into life, is instantly removed. The way by which the master creates the premises for this to occur may, on the contrary, be gradual: this is what Utp. does with his work, which aims through a series of arguments at bringing to light the powers of the I and those of the Lord, until identification is triggered. The practice of such a linear (avakra) path is enough to enter into the nature of Siva and achieve the condition of liberated in life, which may also be accompanied by the extraordinary powers...This occurs within everyday reality just as it is. The light of liberation does not cause its colours to fade, does not cover them but brightens them, performing the miracle of eliminating otherness whilst maintaining the richness of individual flavours.Torella, Raffaelle (1994). The Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti: Critical edition and annotated translation. p. xxxv. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente Serie.
Torella writes that Utpaladeva's examination and criticism of the Dignaga-Dharmakirti school of Buddhism "resulted in, or at least was accompanied by, the peculiar phenomenon of a more or less conscious absorption of their doctrines and their terminology, that was to leave substantial traces in the structure of the Pratyabhijñá."Torella, Raffaelle (1994). The Ishvarapratyabhijnakarika of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti: Critical edition and annotated translation. p. xxii. Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed Estremo Oriente Serie. This may have also been a way for Utpaladeva to increase the prestige of his school by adopting some of the ways of a respected opponent. Some of the Buddhist ideas which are borrowed and developed by Utpaladeva are the theories of anupalabdhi and apoha.“Studies in Utpaladeva’s Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti. Part I. Apoha and anupalabdhi in a Śaiva garb”. In: K. Preisendanz (ed.), Expanding and Merging Horizons. Contributions to South Asian and Cross-Cultural Studies in Commemoration of Wilhelm Halbfass, Vienna 2007, pp. 473-490.
As Utpaladeva states in some of the most famous verses of his Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Kārikā:Torella, Raffaele (2021), Utpaladeva: Philosopher of Recognition, p. 7. DK Printworld (P) Ltd
The essential nature of light is reflective awareness; otherwise light, though ‘coloured’ by objects, would be similar to an insentient reality, such as the crystal and so on. - I.V.11
Consciousness has as its essential nature reflective awareness; it is the supreme Word that arises freely. It is freedom in the absolute sense, the sovereignty of the supreme Self. - I.V.13
Utpaladeva also wrote on aesthetics. According to Torella, "Precisely to Utpaladeva we do owe the entrance of aesthetics into philosophical–religious speculation. His concept of camatkāra (wondrous enjoyment) marks a higher level of experience, which leaves the reality and beauty of the manifested world intact, but at same time projects it into a totality whose centre is Supreme Consciousness."
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