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

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 10:12 AM, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:

> 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


RV: cause - effect nyaya is used to establish identity of bhakti and jnana.
but there are complex nyayas used by madhusudana - quoted the excerpts in my
previous post.

> 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.
> RV: both sankara and madhusudana comment on "jnAni nityakta ..." as one who
> "glorifes" or "loves" lord vasudeva. madhusudana does not take non-dual
> bhakti as devoid of glorification of super-excellent qualifications of hari.
> arjuna is a student and krishna the teacher but they are one as krishna says
> in Ch.10 and bhagavatham in "nara narayano hari:". madhusudana gives the
> example of gopis, narada, sanat kumara etc. it is too detailed to capture in
> this post.
> 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.
>
> RV: according to you bhakti is a mano-vrtti that produces citta suddhi. as
i posted in the other topic madhusudana does not say so. he uses nyaya and
sastras to establishes that bhakti is not only a parama purushartha but also
svayam isvara.

> 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.
>
> RV: bhakti as a marga is well known. but bhakti as a goal is not, which is
what is highlighted in 12.6, 18.66 and more so in bhaktirasayana.

> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
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