Abhinavagupta, one of the greatest exponents of the Śaiva Tantric tradition identifies himself with the terrifying Bhairava, the supreme transgressor of Vedic norms, as the fullest expression of the Absolute (Anuttara).
Abhinvagupta’s nondual doctrine of recognition (Pratyabhijñā) is based instead on the realization of one’s complete identity with Śiva as supreme Consciousness. In the Kaula practice presided over by Bhairava, this involves the obligatory transgression of brahmanical rules of purity as described in chapter 29 of his Tantrāloka.
In the Puranic account of Śiva’s manifestation as the Cosmic Pillar we see that Bhairava cuts off the fifth head of Brahmā; bearing the skull Bhairava roams the earth for twelve years before arriving in Varanasi to plunge into the waters of the Gaṅgā, thereby freeing himself from the crime. He is then promoted as a policeman-magistrate (kotwal) and confers liberation (mokṣa) to all who die at Varanasi.
In the lecture Abhinavagupta’s elevation of this Bhairava to the ultimate principle will be explained taking into account the fundamental and dialectical opposition—between ‘ascending’ (purificatory) and ‘descending’ (transgressive) modes of self-realization with a fresh perspective on the relations between Brahmā and Bhairava, Veda and Tantra, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, cultural conservatism and radical reform.
