HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ABHINAVAGUPTA
c. 950 CE
Poets & Artists know their classics.
Study the Natyashastra. This may take many, many returns but will surely yield divine results.
The archetypal poet polymath, ABHINAVAGUPTA was a philosopher, a metaphysician, a musician and a grammarian. He authored many poems, and a precious commentary on the Natyasastra, a treatise of dramaturgy, aesthetics, and poetry considered the fifth Veda.
Despite the opacity of this Sanskrit text, the Natyasastra is a source of inspiration for any maturing poet reflecting on the purpose of creativity and striving for the poetic absolute: Harmony.
Abhinavagupta was also a yogi, a tantric exegete, and an eminent thinker and practitioner of Kashmiri Shaivism, the humane philosophy at the root of Yoga.
Revue {R} will feature essential works of Abhinavagupta in our issue #7 (2025) consecrated to the history, mythology, and philosophy of Yoga, and its connection with Norse mythology.
The Master's voice, once audible, now falls silent;
Yet his immortal work endures:
Happy Birthday, divine Father of poets!
Illustration from the book Gurunath-Paramarsa, a poetic tribute from a pupil of Madurai, 1960, published by Pushp
The archetypal poet polymath, ABHINAVAGUPTA was a philosopher, a metaphysician, a musician and a grammarian. He authored many poems, and a precious commentary on the Natyasastra, a treatise of dramaturgy, aesthetics, and poetry considered the fifth Veda.
Despite the opacity of this Sanskrit text, the Natyasastra is a source of inspiration for any maturing poet reflecting on the purpose of creativity and striving for the poetic absolute: Harmony.
Abhinavagupta was also a yogi, a tantric exegete, and an eminent thinker and practitioner of Kashmiri Shaivism, the humane philosophy at the root of Yoga.
Revue {R} will feature Abhinavagupta in our issue #5 on the history, mythology, and philosophy of Yoga.
As the voice of a master falls silent, his works become eternal: Happy Birthday, Father-poet.
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