The Heart of Recognition

प्रत्यभिज्ञाहृदयम्

Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam

by Kṣemarāja

The Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam ("Heart of Recognition") is a concise primer on the Pratyabhijñā (Recognition) school of Kashmir Śaivism composed by Kṣemarāja (c. 11th century CE), the principal disciple of Abhinavagupta. In twenty sūtras with the author's own auto-commentary (vṛtti), it distills the essential metaphysics, cosmology, and soteriology of non-dual Trika Śaivism for aspirants who lacked the capacity to study the larger works such as Utpaladeva's Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā. V1 ingests only the sūtras; Kṣemarāja's auto-commentary is treated as a sibling text (pratyabhijna-hrdayam-vrtti).