La Mémoire et le Soi dans l’Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī d’Abhinavagupta

International audienceThe first chapters of the Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā of the Kashmirian Utpaladeva (fl. c. 925-950 AD) and its commentary, the Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī, composed by his fellow countryman Abhinavagupta (fl. c. 975-1025 AD), are devoted to an analysis of memory (smr̥ti). This analysis is of the greatest importance to our authors, since through it they aim to establish the existence of a permanent subject of experience, the Self (ātman), conceived as a single dynamic consciousness containing all that exists, so providing a rational foundation independent of scripture for the non-dualistic doctrine of the Trika, the Śākta Śaiva religious current to which they belong. This article aims to bring out the dialectical structure of these chapters by taking into account their context, namely the controversy between Buddhist and Brahmanical thinkers concerning the existence of a Self as the basis of the continuum of mental states, the former denying it, the latter affirming it. Recognizing inadequacies and strengths on both sides of the argument, the non-dualistic Śaivas elaborate a fundamentally new position that draws on both the opposed traditions and claims to transcend their limitations, one that sees the Self as the dynamic unity of all cognitions.https://www.academia.edu/12662991/La_M%C3%A9moire_et_le_Soi_dans_lIPV_dAbhinavagupt