Isabelle Ratié – författare

The Recognition of the Lord (Īśvarapratyabhijñā) by the Kashmirian Utpaladeva (c. 925–975) is a landmark in the history of nondual Śaivism, and one of the masterpieces of Indian philosophy. The detailed commentary (Vivṛti) on it by the author himself was so far considered almost entirely lost, but three chapters of this major work were recently recovered from marginal annotations in manuscripts of other commentaries on Utpaladeva’s treatise. The book provides the first critical edition, annotated translation and study of one of these chapters, which endeavours to justify a fundamental paradox of the system—namely, the idea that Śiva (understood as an infinite, omniscient, and omnipotent consciousness) has a dynamic essence since the core of consciousness is a subtle form of action, and yet is by no means limited by the temporal and spatial sequence that affects all ordinary acts and agents.

Recent scholarship on Śaivism has significantly expanded our knowledge of the religious dimensions of Medieval Śaiva movements. However, the philosophical aspects displayed by some of the texts produced in these milieux remain largely unrecognized. The present study helps fill this lacuna by exploring the sophisticated and original philosophical system elaborated by the Kashmiri Śaiva nondualists Utpaladeva (fl. c. 925-975) and Abhinavagupta (fl. c. 975-1025). The book shows that this system cannot be reduced to a mere scriptural exegesis and examines the genesis of the main concepts found in the Pratyabhijñā (“Recognition”) philosophy while taking into account the complexity of the philosophical field (already occupied by various currents, Buddhist as well as Brahmanical) in which Utpaladeva’s thought was developed.Si les récents travaux de recherche consacrés au śivaïsme ont permis de mieux comprendre les dimensions religieuses des mouvements śivaïtes médiévaux, les aspects proprements philosophiques de certains des textes produits dans ces milieux demeurent largement méconnus. La présenté étude se propose de contribuer à combler cette lacune en explorant le système philosophique complexe et original élaboré par les śivaïtes non dualistes cachemiriens Utpaladeva (925-975) et Abhinavagupta (975-1025). Montrant que ce système ne se réduit pas à une exégèse scripturaire, l’ouvrage examine la genèse des concepts de la philosophie de la Pratyabhijñā ou “Reconnaissance” en prenant en compte la complexité du champ philosophique (déjà investi par divers courants aussi bien bouddhiques que brahmaniques) dans lequel la pensée d’Utpaladeva s’est développée.