Transmitting Awareness (saṅkrānti): A Point of Contact in Abhinavagupta’s Śaiva Aesthetics
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- Catalogue identifier
- klm000036
- Alternate titles and import identifiers
- KLM000036
- Author or attribution
- James D. Reich; Ben Williams
- Record type
- Article
- Language
- English
- Date / edition
- 2024-03-04 (online); 2024 journal volume
- Source / repository
- Brill, Indo-Iranian Journal; complete copy hosted by Naropa University
- Access
- Open access
- Subjects
- KLM Research Sources — 5 November 2026; Tantras and Esoteric Literature; Philosophy, Theology, and Comparative Religion; Academic Research and Peer-Reviewed Articles
Description and curator notes
Reich and Williams examine transmission in Abhinavagupta’s accounts of religious knowledge and aesthetic experience. Their argument connects passages about readers and audiences with Kaula and Krama models of initiation and lineage. The substantial discussion of Kālī traditions identifies relevant scriptures, translates a passage describing the transmission of Kālī’s Krama, and distinguishes ritual, oral teaching, and direct transmission. The authors then show how these ideas inform an account of texts preserving a teacher’s awareness beyond the teacher’s lifetime. This is especially useful for the library’s coverage of Kālīkula philosophy and guru-disciple authority. It is not an edition of a complete Kālī scripture or a general introduction to modern goddess worship. Its claims about shared awareness describe theological models and the authors’ historical interpretation, not independently demonstrated experiences.
Research source KLM000036. Source export dated 5 November 2026.
The evidence, access and licence assessments below are supplied by the curator document, not a new independent verification by this library.
Transmitting Awareness (saṅkrānti): A Point of Contact in Abhinavagupta’s Śaiva Aesthetics
Author / attribution: James D. Reich and Ben Williams
Publication: Brill, Indo-Iranian Journal; complete copy hosted by Naropa University. Indo-Iranian Journal 67 (2024), pp. 155–190; 36-page complete article
Date: 2024-03-04 (online); 2024 journal volume
Type / language: Scholarly journal article; English with Sanskrit citations and translations
Complete text: https://www.naropa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Transmitting_Awareness_Sa%E1%B9%85kranti-IIJ-2024.pdf
Identifier: 10.1163/15728536-06702005
Reich and Williams examine transmission in Abhinavagupta’s accounts of religious knowledge and aesthetic experience. Their argument connects passages about readers and audiences with Kaula and Krama models of initiation and lineage. The substantial discussion of Kālī traditions identifies relevant scriptures, translates a passage describing the transmission of Kālī’s Krama, and distinguishes ritual, oral teaching, and direct transmission. The authors then show how these ideas inform an account of texts preserving a teacher’s awareness beyond the teacher’s lifetime. This is especially useful for the library’s coverage of Kālīkula philosophy and guru-disciple authority. It is not an edition of a complete Kālī scripture or a general introduction to modern goddess worship. Its claims about shared awareness describe theological models and the authors’ historical interpretation, not independently demonstrated experiences.
Subjects: Tantras and Esoteric Literature; Philosophy, Theology, and Comparative Religion; Academic Research and Peer-Reviewed Articles
Historical context: Medieval Kashmir and Kaula/Krama intellectual traditions; comparative interpretation of aesthetics and tantric authority.
Composition / witness: Modern scholarship; received 4 August 2023, accepted 24 January 2024. Discusses medieval Sanskrit traditions. Not applicable to article. Manuscript witnesses cited in its bibliography were not independently inspected.
Rights: Copyright James D. Reich and Ben Williams 2024; published with license by Brill. Institutional hosting by coauthor’s university supports legitimate access. No open reuse license found in inspected PDF; link rather than reproduce.
Evidence / reading limits: Selective reading of argument and Kālī-related material, not a full critical reading or independent verification of every Sanskrit quotation.
Access verified: 5 November 2026. Complete text checked in the research catalog; full-text access rechecked for this export. Absent from the 401-record site comparison at 02:48–02:49 UTC.
Source access
Rights and reading conditions
Copyright James D. Reich and Ben Williams 2024; published with license by Brill. Institutional hosting by coauthor’s university supports legitimate access. No open reuse license found in inspected PDF; link rather than reproduce.
Citation
James D. Reich and Ben Williams. Transmitting Awareness (saṅkrānti): A Point of Contact in Abhinavagupta’s Śaiva Aesthetics. Brill, Indo-Iranian Journal; complete copy hosted by Naropa University. Indo-Iranian Journal 67 (2024), pp. 155–190; 36-page complete article 2024-03-04 (online); 2024 journal volume. 10.1163/15728536-06702005.
This page supplies catalogue metadata and links. It does not reproduce the underlying source text. Historical, religious, healing and interpretive claims belong to the cited sources, not to an independent verification by this catalogue.