The Vijñānabhairava Tantra. Translation, exegetical notes. Part 1

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Abstract

This publication presents a translation of the first part (the opening 64 stanzas) of the Vijñānabhairava Tantra, one of the most important sources on the Indian practice of tantric yoga in the tradition of monistic Kashmir Śaivism. This text contains a summary of practical methods to achieve the ultimate goal of tantra practice—the realization of unity with the absolute, all-pervasive divine consciousness, personified in tantra by the figure of Śiva-Bhairava. This text can be considered an encyclopaedia of tantra-yogic methods presented in their essential form, abstracted from the ritual context. The translation is provided with exegetical notes necessary for understanding the text, based on traditional Sanskrit commentaries by Kṣemarāja, Shivopadhyāya and a number of other texts.

About the authors

Vladimir P. Ivanov

Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: lokeshvara@inbox.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6293-2837

Cand. Sci. (Philology), Senior Researcher, the South Asian Section of the Department of Central Asian and South Asian Studies, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

References

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