The Self's Awareness of Itself

The central debate between Buddhism and the Brahmanical schools is that concerning the existence or non-existence of a 'Self' (atman). The possibility of attaining liberation (moksa, nirvana), the highest aim of Indian soteriologies, is said by both sides to depend on the stance one takes on this question. This book introduces scholars and students of Indian Philosophy to the Saiva Siddhanta voice in this debate. It presents the arguments of Bhatta Ramakantha (c. 950_1000 AD, from Kashmir), the principal exegete of early Saiva Siddhanta, for the existence of the Self. Of his eight surviving texts only the first chapters of his commentary on the Kiranatantra have been translated from the Sanskrit, or begun to be studied seriously. That commentary expounds one of the scriptures of the tradition primarily for the benefit of those within it; whereas the writings of his examined in this book look without to the wider philosophical discourse of the time, in which Saiva Siddhanta was only a marginal voice. They attempt to locate Saiva Siddhanta within that discourse by taking on in debate a series of interlocutors from other traditions, in particular Buddhism, Nyaya, Vaisesika and Sankhya. The text on which this book draws most is the Naresvarapariksprakasa (NPP), followed by the Matangavtti and the Paramoksanirasakarikavtti. Sanskrit passages from these texts are here edited, annotated with variant readings and parallel passages, and translated. Watson then gives a thorough commentary that seeks both to alert the reader to what would not necessarily be clear from the translation alone, and to relate the particular point being made to Ramakantha's wider system and to the earlier history of Indian philosophy. The Introduction describes the different Buddhist and Brahmanical positions in the Buddhist-Brahmanical atman debate; the relationship of the Naresvarapariksprakasa to earlier Saiva Siddhanta texts; and the relationship of Rama¬kan¬tha's views to those of other philosophical traditions, with particular focus on Nyaya, Vaisesika and Sankhya. Next a synopsis of the first chapter of the Naresvarapariksprakasa is given. Three of the four main chapters present Ra¬ma¬kantha's answers to the following questions: Can we infer the exitence of the Self? Can We Know the Self Through Self-Awareness (svasamvedana)? Can We Perceive the Self Through I-Cognition (ahampratyaya)? The fourth examines Ramakantha's account of the relationship between Self and cognition. Watson demonstrates how, as a strategy to undermine Buddhist arguments, a Saiva Siddhantin author creatively assimilated certain features of Buddhism, thereby strengthening his own armoury, and then used these to overcome those other features of Buddhism that conflicted with the core essentials of his own tradition. This is perhaps the first detailed study of the philosophy of early Saiva Siddhanta, and it shows that this tradition contains many original and sophisticated arguments.