ABSTRACT.

The individual self is the Supreme Self or God Himself, but with the only difference of being enwrapped with the veil of ignorance resulting from Mala impurity (classified under three heads, namely: Ānava littleness or limitation regarding self-knowledge; Māyīya that caused by illusion; and Kārma the outcome of our deeds, good or ill).

That the individual self should realize himself as the Supreme Self, the All-powerful Lord (Parama Shiva Supreme Shiva), who is beyond time and space, dwelling in all beings but unaffected withal, like a crystal reflecting various hues, sets forth in Āgama Shāstras scriptural revelations or revelations of divine authorship what is called Jñāna knowledge or knowledge of oneself as the Supreme Self. With the obtainment of Jñāna, the trammels of Mala as alluded to above are cut asunder by the dawning of the divine light on the individual self.

Shaivāgama the Shaiva scriptures, coming under the category of Āgama Shāstras, forms a short cut towards the approach of Advaita Jñāna non-dual knowledge or knowledge of the Supreme Self (Parama Shiva) as identical with that of the individual self.

Just as the renaissance of the Vedānta a school of Indian philosophy system of Philosophy was brought about by the great expounder of the system, Shankara, generally known as Shankarāchārya, in exactly the same manner the exposition of the Advaita Shaivāgama owes all its credit to the great preceptor, Abhinava Gupta, who, following in every minute detail the principles as laid down in the Mālinīvijaya Tantra a leading Shaiva scripture, composed the voluminous work of Tantrāloka Light of the Tantras which, as the name implies, is a cyclopaedia of Shaivāgama.