66. 72 CHAPTER 1

72 CHAPTER 1

background. Even reason was given only a secondary place as the basis of a theory. What more, even metaphy- sical conclusions were based upon the same psychological analysis of human experience. In fact, the chief charac- teristic of the 'Trika' school of Saiva philosophy is that its metaphysics, in marked constrast with that of the Vedanta and other schools of Indian philosophy, is based, not upon an ancient authority, but on a very accute psychological analysis of the same human experience. Utpalacarya's Īśvara Pratyabhijnā Kārikā is an unmistakable proof of it : for, in this he declares and proves that without All inclusive universal consciousness, technically called Mahesvara, neither perceptual experience nor remembrance is possible. This school gave a new point of view, viz., the phenomenological, that of Abhasa, for studying the outstanding problems of experience. Utpalacarya is primarily responsible for it. Utpalacarya's method and point of view was followed by the next generation not only in the sphere of philosophy as did Lakșmanagupta, Abhinava's teacher in philosophy, but also in the sphere of poetics, when any problem relating to human experience had to be attempted, as did Bhatța Induraja and Bhatța Tauta, Abhinava's teachers in Dhvani and Nātya Sāstra, respectively. No doubt, we have not got any literary record of the views of these scholars, but Abhinava's own statements in the introduc- tions to his three works, (i) Isvara Pratyabhijna Vimar- śinī (ii) Abhinava Bhāratī (iii) Dhvanyāloka Locana, make it perfectly clear that much of what he gives there, is what came to him as literary inheritance from his teachers. At this time in the literary history came Abhinava- gupta, with a rare combination of gifts of both poet and philosopher and with no other interest in the world but the literary. He specialised in three branches of learning,