[Advaita-l] Was Madhusudana Sarswati influenced by Gaudiya Vaishnavas and position of bhakti in advaita

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

he also says that bhakti is the fruit of both jnana and karma. he is not 
deviating from the
tradition because he says that as his statement is based on nyaya. 

>  I dont know what nyAya shAstra says about bhakti and I donot know in 
what sense the term 'jnAna' used here to say 'bhakti' is the fruit of 
jnAna (jnAna phala is bhakti).  And I also feel that the word 'bhakti' 
used in this context needs more elaboration.  If the bhakti here means 
'Atmaikatva' jnAna then there is no dispute and we accept  that jnAna 
phala is 'nirvishesha' bhakti. The point to be noted here is, here jnAni 
does not keep his individuality intact and say 'I' am, a bhakta who is 
worshipping my swamy 'vAsudeva', this is duality or dvaita bhakti and I 
dont think this would be the result of jnAna!! OTOH, for the advaita 
bhakta everything is vAsudeva, this everything includes himself..I think 
this is what Sri Ananda Hudli prabhuji said in the statement "I am HE". 
This 'I am HE' jnAna is nothing but advaitic highest realization i.e. ahaM 
brahmAsmi. shankara says in geeta bhAshya : vAsudevaH sarvamiti sa mahAtmA 
sudurlabhaH ( it is very rare to see a mahAtma who sees everything as 
vAsudeva).  this type of bhakta is far more superior to ArtAdi bhakta-s, 
coz. the later type of bhakta-s maitain the duality between bhakta & 
bhagavanta whereas bhakta with advaita jnAna does not do that. tEshAm 
jnAni nityayukta ekabhaktirvishishyate says shankara.  Hence this type of 
bhAkta is nothing but Atma svarUpa of that vAsudeva (jnAni tvAtmaiva me 
mataM)there is no trace of duality whatsoever in this type of bhakti. 

in 12.5 that you quoted, he says that a devotee attains brahma jnanam even 
without the instruction of the teacher and  sravana, nidhidhyasa etc. by 
the grace of the lord. 

>  Yes, it is bhagavanta vAsudeva who bestows all 'phala-s' to sAdhaka-s. 
It is completely under HIS control.   madadhInaM karmiNAM karma phalaM, 
jnAninAM cha jnAna phalaM says lord in geeta. shankara also confirms this 
in sUtra bhAshya : IshvarAt tadanujnaya katrutva bhOktrutva lakshaNasya 
saMsAra siddhiH, 'tadanugraha hetukenaiva' cha vijnAnena 
mOkshasiddhirbhavitumarhati'.  Yes, parishuddha bhagavadbhakti leads to 
chitta shuddhi and through this chitta shuddhi sAdhaka gradually develops 
the vairAgya and once he becomes renunciate he can start shravaNAdi direct 
sAdhana-s for mOksha.  Order can be like this..bhakti-vairAgya-shravaNAdi 
sAdhana ---> mOksha.

this may seem to be at war with  the commonly held opinion but that does 
not mean he differs from what sankara said. 

>  I dont think so coz. bhakti mArga is not an exclusive mArga in mOksha 
sAdhana (this has been already clarified by Sri Ananda Hudli prabhuji) 
bhakti has an important role to play both in karma mArga & jnAna mArga.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar