Avtar Bhat
Shiv Rishi, Dr Mark Dyczkowski who left his physical frame on February 2 inBanaras near the holy Ganga was a great scholar who has made tremendous contribution to Kashmiri Shaivism.
Disciple of great Shivacharya Swami Lakshman Joo who was also known as Abhinavgupta of the 20th century, Mark will be remembered for his work of translating Tantraloka, a masterly piece ofAcharya Abhinavgupt. It is considered a great contribution to Kashmiri Shaivism. The scholars all over world were waiting for the same for a pretty long time.
Dr Mark was a renowned scholar of Tantras and Kashmiri Shaivism. Born on August 29, 1951 he passed away on February 2 this year at Varanasi UP, leaving behind a profound legacy in the shape of studying of Indian philosophy and spirituality. His contribution to Tantras and Kashmir Shaivism are immense and his death is considered a great loss.
Dr Mark was known for his lectures, writings and translation that made complex concepts accessible to broader audiences across globe.His notable works include the Doctrine of Vibration and Sutras -The Yoga of Supreme Identity which have been instrumental in introducing Western audiences to the depth of Kashmir Shaivism.
The contributions of this great scholar extended beyond academics as he was also a passionate musician and an advocate for preserving the rich heritage of Indian spiritual practices.
Dr Dyczkowski’s teachings emphasised the importance of direct experience in understanding consciousness and reality making him a beloved figure among students and practitioners alike in recent years. He had been actively taking online classes through Zoom, sharing his wisdom on various aspects of Kashmiri Shaivism.
It is unfortunate that though successive Governments in J&K and at Centre failed to preserve this ancient philosophy, the proponents of which included from Vasav Gupta to Swami Lakshman Joo, some scholars in India including Kashmir and abroad did a tremendous work in propagation of this ancient tradition and philosophy across globe and Dr Dyczkowski was one among them.
Dr Dyczkowski who was born in London came to India in 1969 where he began his sadhna and study of Sanskrit and Sitar. In 1975 he returned to England for doctorate and completed his thesis in 1979. This thesis was published in doctrine of Vibration.
In the year 1976 m, Dr Dyczkowski went to Kashmir and visited Ishbar Ashram of Swami Lakshman Joo to receive initiation from him.
He was also disciple of Oxford Professor Saddan and Pandit Chakravarty. He worked on project for IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts) for 20 years up to 2007 to make an addition and extensive translation in 14 volumes of a section of the Mnthan Bhairav Tantra. He is author of several other books and numerous articles and his latest publication is an extensive annotated translation of Abhinavgupta’sTantatloka along with commentary which is considered his greatest contribution by scholars and students of Shaivism as well. The book is in eleven volumes, thirty chapters. Between 2007 he planned to supervise the production of over 350 texts of Tantric books and manuscripts of primary importance of Mukta Bhoodas online digital library.
During one of his lecturers on different schools of Shavi Aagma, that emerged in Kashmir around the ninth century, Dr Mark said he has worked on Tantra Loka of Swami Abhinav Gupta since 1975. Dr Mark says Abhinav Gupta has done tremendous work but some of his treatises are not available. In his lecture while referring to Trika philosophy, he says it existed in Kashmir. He said lot of work was done after Vasav Gupta a great proponent of Shaivism in Kashmir who is said have rediscovered Shiv Sutras after they were destroyed during invasion by outsiders. Many scholars later wrote on Sidhant Arguments. These scholars were before Abhinavgupta and all belonged to Kashmir, he further reveals.
He says there were two things in Kashmiri Shaivism, one is revealing and another is understanding. While highlighting the role of great Shivacharya Acharya Abhinavgupta, he describes him as modest commentator on Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta. Abhinav Gupta also writes on Shri PuravPanchika which has been lost now, he regrets.
Dr Mark says ”every verse written by Abhinavgupta was juicy and mind blowing”. While referring to his great masterpiece Tantraloka ,he says Abhinavgupta work is a tremendous stuff with lucidity.
The eleven volumes of translation of Tantraloka by Dr Mark contain a full , minutely accurate translation of both Abhinavgupta’s great work and commentary by Jayaratha that must be read together with it. Dr Mark has worked directly with manuscripts and so he made improvements in published edition in Sanskrit. The translation is furnished with extensive and very detailed notes drawn from the works of great Kashmiri masters. He has also drawn references from Swami Lakshman Joo’s teachings.
There have been several translations in English, Italian, French and Hindi of all or part of the Tantarloka, Dr Mark has consulted all of them.
Neeraj Santoshi, a senior journalist while commenting on the demise of Dr Mark says before leaving this world, he has given the most precious gift to followers of Shaivism in the form of translation of entire Tantraloka, a work of lifetime for which many across the world were waiting for many years.
Dr R L Bhat, also a scholar while commenting on Dr Mark said that in a meeting during a seminar on Kashmir Shaivism at Jammu, he got an opportunity to interact with this great scholar. He said Dr Mark was very candid in his approach to discuss the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism and he also made some good comments on his (Dr Bhat’s) paper read on Abhinavgupta’s commentary on Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta.
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