page_title: Kashmir Shaivism
section_title: Theology of the Triad or Trika
hierarchical_section_title: Kashmir Shaivism / Philosophy / Metaphysics and theology / Theology of the Triad or Trika
caption_attribution_description: Kali is the ferocious form of Durga goddess in Hinduism
context_page_description: Kashmir Shaivism or more accurately Trika Shaivism refers to a nondualist tradition of Śaiva-Śakta Tantra which originated sometime after 850 CE. Though this tradition was very influential in Kashmir and is thus often called Kashmir Shaivism, it was actually a pan-Indian movement termed "Trika" by its great exegete Abhinavagupta, which also flourished in Oḍiśā and Mahārāṣṭra. Defining features of the Trika tradition is its idealistic and monistic Pratyabhijnā philosophical system, propounded by Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta, and the centrality of the three goddesses Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā.
  While Trika draws from numerous Śaiva texts, such as the Shaiva Agamas and the Śaiva and Śakta Tantras, its major scriptural authorities are the Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, the Siddhayogeśvarīmata and the Anāmaka-tantra. Its main exegetical works are those of Abhinavagupta, such as the Tantrāloka, Mālinīślokavārttika, and Tantrasāra which are formally an exegesis of the Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, although they also drew heavily on the Kali-based Krama subcategory of the Kulamārga.
context_section_description: An important element of Trika Shaivism's theology is the use of several triads (symbolized by the trident) in its theological explanation of the Absolute reality. There are several triads described in Trika theology of thinkers like Abhinavagupta, including:
  Three realities: Śiva (The Supreme Transcendent), Śakti (immanent in creation, the link between the macrocosm and the microcosm) and Aṇu (the limited atom or individual, a complete image of the ultimate, the microcosm of the macrocosm).
  Three powers: Icchā (will), Jñāna (knowledge), and Kriyā (action). Any action of any being, including God, is subject to these three fundamental energies. Iccha or Will is in the beginning of any action or process. Jnana by which the action is clearly expressed first in mind, before it is put into action. Then comes Kriyā, the energy of the action.
  Three entities: pati (Śiva), pāśa (bondage), paśu (soul)
  Shakti Triad or Three Goddesses: Parā (transcendence), Parāparā (transcendence and immanence) and Aparā śakti (immanence)
  Three aspects of knowledge: Pramatri (the subject), Pramana (the modalities of knowledge) and Prameya - the known object
  Three states of consciousness: jāgrat (waking), svapna (dreaming) and suṣupti (dreamless sleep)
  Three-fold spiritual path: Śāmbhavopāya, Śāktopāya and Āṇavopāya
  The transcendental triad: prakāśa (luminosity), vimarśa (dynamics),sāmarasya (homogeneous bliss)
  The three impurities: āṇavamala, māyā, karma.
caption: Kali, ca. 9th century, from Andhra Pradesh. The Trika synthesis of Abhinavagupta also adopted the doctrines of the Krama school of Shakta Tantra, whose main goddess was Kali.[2]
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