Theatre, Acting and the Image of the Actor in Abhinavagupta’s Tantric Sources In: Around Abhinavagupta: Aspects of the Intellectual History of Kashmir from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century Ed. E. Franco and I. Ratié, LIT Verlag, Berlin, 2016. p. 451-95. (original) (raw)

A considerable number of Sanskrit plays that depict śaiva tantric practitioners have been subject to detailed analysis to obtain more information about tantric currents in classical India. This is perhaps particularly true for kāpālikas, who figure conspicuously in several classical plays. This paper proposes to look at the question the other way round and show how śaiva tantric sources use theatrical terms and the image of the actor and how they incorporate theatre or some form of acting in their rituals. For, rather surprisingly, a number of śaiva tantric passages show awareness of the classical theatrical tradition and theory of drama. I shall focus on sources available to Abhinavagupta, whose major works treat theoretical questions concerning both tantra and drama. In fact, Abhinavagupta himself is the most important link between these two areas, for he is an exceptional author in that he produced original and influential works on both subjects. It is to be hoped that by studying points of contact between these fields we shall better understand the intellectual history of Kashmir in the early middle ages and the cultural background in which Abhinavagupta wrote his masterpieces.