Welcome to the Tantrāloka Home Study Program course on:
The Sixteen Amritarudras by Abhinavagupta.
We are pleased to present Dr. Mark Dyczkowski’s exposition of the “The Sixteen Amritarudras” by Abhinavagupta.
The sixteen verses translated here were composed by Abhinavagupta to praise the sixteen Rudras who, according to the Mālinīvijayottara, govern the sixteen vowels. One by one in serial order, each serves as the customary verse praising the deity (maṅgalaśloka) that introduces his commentary (vimarśinī) on each of the sixteen chapters of Utpaladeva’s Īśvarapratyabhijnākārikā. A distinctive feature of these sixteen Rudras is that they are all intimately related to Nectar with which they are variously identified and flows forth from them. Abhinavagupta does not tell us directly why he has chosen to do this, but by a careful reading of the text we can understand that for ourselves. The key is the word for nectar, which is ‘amṛta’. The association with the sixteen phases of the Moon, each one dripping with lunar nectar is the most immediate association. The word also denotes the first vowel and letter of the alphabet which in the very first verse Abhinava tells us stands for Anuttara, the Absolute. This Nectar / Anuttara pervades and is the source and abode of all the sixteen vowels.
This course consists of six lectures with a total length of about 9 hours. Mark Dyczkowski goes through his own translation and exposition of “In Praise of the The Sixteen Amritarudras” by Abhinavagupta.
For the background on this text and its relationship to the larger topic of Kashmir Shaivism, please see the Program Overview on this site. You may also like to listen to the free course on Locating Trika, which provides historical overview.
Information on content and pricing:
| Content | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 6 lessons, approx. 9 hours in length, | 30$ |  |
Course materials:
- 1 PDF: “In Praise of the The Sixteen Amritarudras” by Abhinavagupta translated by Dr. Mark Dyczkowski.
- 6 Audio links — downloadable.
- Email support: If you have questions of a more personal or individualized nature, concerns about the course, or complex intellectual questions that go beyond the scope of the Facebook group, please email anuttaratrikakula3@gmail.com, and we will respond to your question confidentially and appropriately. For more advanced intellectual or content-related matters, we will forward your question to Dr. Dyckzowski to respond to you directly.
OM SAUḤ PARĀYAI NAMAḤ