---
type: Reference
bundle: shakta-darshana
bundle_version: "0.8.0"
id: tantraloka
title: "Tantrāloka — तन्त्रालोक (structural citation)"
iast: "Tantrāloka"
devanagari: "तन्त्रालोक"
description: "STRUCTURAL CITATION ONLY: Abhinavagupta's 'Light on the Tantras', the encyclopedic synthesis of Trika Śaivism (37 āhnikas covering doctrine, the 36 tattvas, śaktipāta, dīkṣā, ritual, and aesthetics), cited in this bundle at the level of its architecture and doctrinal positions; its ritual and upāsana content is deliberately not documented."
text_type: "Encyclopedic śāstra (37 āhnikas), with Jayaratha's Viveka commentary"
period: "Abhinavagupta, c. 975-1025 CE"
tags: [tantraloka, abhinavagupta, trika, kashmir-shaivism, reference, structural-only]
related:
  - /concepts/shaktipata.md
  - /concepts/shattrimshat-tattva.md
  - /concepts/tantra.md
  - /concepts/mantra-shastra.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Tantrāloka -- तन्त्रालोक (structural citation)

## Scope Note (read first)

Per the bundle's concept-lock, the Tantrāloka is cited STRUCTURALLY: for what the work is, how it organizes the tradition, and the doctrinal positions this bundle's concepts cite (the nine grades of śaktipāta in āhnika 13; the tattva analyses; the mantra and mātṛkā doctrine; the ācāra jurisprudence). Its ritual procedure and initiatory content are out of scope here, consistent with the bundle's adhikāra policy, and the full Trika system it expounds is reserved for a possible future bundle.

## Why This Text Is in the Bundle

Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka is the tradition's own synthesis: the point where the āgamic corpus, the Spanda and Pratyabhijñā doctrines, and the Kaula currents are integrated into one systematic whole. For this bundle it serves as the doctrinal source of record for [shaktipata.md](../concepts/shaktipata.md) (the nine grades), the 36-tattva architecture ([shattrimshat-tattva.md](../concepts/shattrimshat-tattva.md), [kanchuka.md](../concepts/kanchuka.md), [maya-shakta.md](../concepts/maya-shakta.md)), and the definitional material behind [tantra.md](../concepts/tantra.md) and [mantra-shastra.md](../concepts/mantra-shastra.md).

## Editions

Sanskrit with Jayaratha's Viveka in the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies; complete Italian translation (Gnoli); English translations of portions exist, with a complete critical English translation a known desideratum in the field.
