 Acharya
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta
was a great scholar and Shaiva
teacher, who possessed knowledge
in all matters relating to Kashmir
Shaivism. The versatility of this
genius was recognised in his own
time. He was one of the best
authorities on Shaiva philosophy
and various branches of Sanskrit
literature.
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 Lal
Ded
In
Kashmir, some people consider her a poet, some consider her a
holywoman and some consider her a sufi, a yogi, or a devotee
of Shiva. Sume even consider her an avtar. But every Kashmiri
considers her a wise woman. Every Kashmiri has some sayings of
Lalla on the tip of his tongue. The Kashmiri language is full
of her sayings.
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Bilhana - The Minstrel
Kashmir of yore has been
the cradle of Sanskrit lore and learning. From 9th century A. D. to 12th century
A. D. brightest luminaries in Sanskrit literature have shone on its firmament.
These four hundred years, roughly speaking, form the crux and the culmination of
what may be called the creative and original literary activity of Kashmiris in
the realm of Sanskrit language and literature.
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Later Hindu
Period of Kashmir History (1148 A.D. to 1339 A.D.)
The Doyen of
Sanskrit chroniclers, Kashmirian Kalhana was
destined to write about the Hindu period of Kashmir
History only upto A.D. 1148. Therafter, being
inspired by overwhelming talent of his illustrious
predecessor, Jona Raja pieced together the reign of
subsequent Hindu Kings up to 1339 A. C. when the
Sultans appeared on the Kashmir-scene.
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Kalhana - The
Chronicler
Chronicle-writing is not foreign
to the imagination of the Kashmiri Brahmins. A
host of histories Charitas and Mahatmyas amply
testify to this assertion. However, the history as
it is taken in the modern parlance, is absent in
Sanskrit literature. History is not an account of
rise and fall of kings but should embrace in its
ambit the political, social and religious
attainments and aspirations of the people at
large.
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Ksemendra - The Peoples' Poet
Sankskrit poets and literary luminaries have been often
accused of oriental hyperbole. It may be conceded that by and large such
devotees of Muse did indulge in some kind of exaggeration which became
naseating at times; such kind of poetic fancy becomes pronounced when they
had to extol their patrons, heroes or even their beloveds.
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 Habba
Khatoon
Habba
at the very outset of her poetic career rebelled against the
prevalent standards of poetry-writing. Textbook idealism is
not found in the dictionary of her pulsating emotions. She did
not also try to bridge the distance between the ideal and the
real. Her substantial contribution in this domain is to
interpret her life as it was and not what it should be.
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Abdul
Ahad "Azad" - The Poet of Tomorrow
'Azad'
is inherently possessed of uncommon consciousness of head
and heart. He has never elected to go into the shell like
other Kashmiri Romanticists. Instead, he has tried to
analyse Man in every sense of the word, bereft of any curves
or blind alleys.
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Concept of
"Maya"
At
the very outset, it may be said without any fear
of contradiction, that in philosophy unalloyed
originality is a misnomer. It is actually the sum
total of the thinking on a particular subject,
collated, coordinated and brought up-to-date by the
stalwarts in this field. It would, therefore, be
in the fitness of things to give a bird's eye-view
of the philosophic content supposed to emanate
from the word 'Maya', as discussed in the various
schools of philosophy in India, which has rightly
been taken as the raw material on which the
Vedantins and Kashmiri shaivites built their lofty
edifices later on. >>>
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Panchastavi - A
Brief Study
The
compound word 'Panchastavi' in ordinary parlance
connotes a collection of devotional hymns divided
into five cantos. The very first verse of the
first canto remakes it abundantly clear that these
panegyrics are essentially meant for the
'Rainbow-hued' Divine Energy comprising the
'speech' and 'resplendence of symbols'. Moreover
the whole gamut of Alphabet from AA to Ksa is
presided over by this Transcendental Energy; and
to speak squarely, it is the progenitor of the
sound and sense. At times it has been equated with
super-knowledge, bliss and even this whole cosmic
world.
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Sanskrit
Chronicles and Sultans of Kashmir
The
history of Muslim period in Kashmir is as
intriguing as it is revealing. Though a sizeable
number of chronicles, both indigenous and foreign,
contemporary as well as remote, is available for
this phase of Kashmir history, yet the conclusions
arrived at and the facts enumerated are in no way
immaculately objective. These historians, barring
a few, have granted their personal dimensions into
these.
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The Serpentine
Vitasta
From
times immemorial rivers in India have been treated
as sacred. After the Aryan
occupation of the North when towns and cities
began to be built on the banks of rivers, their
utility could not be over looked. Hence by way of
gratitude the rivers were deified and varied
mythological background was woven around these to
justify their deification.
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 Master
Zinda Kaul
Mysticism is a continuous exercise in self- realization. It is an incessant
mental drill in which the self and the super-self are fully identified. In
Kashmir from the hoary times to the present day, this urge of the soul for
becoming one with the super-soul has been always emphasized. Monistic Shaivism,
as propounded in the 'Shiva Sutras' of Acharya Vasu Gupta, and later interpreted
profusely by Abhinava Gupta, is the first milestone of the human spirit on its
pilgrimage to self-consciousness in Kashmir.
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