[Advaita-l] Examples of bhakti rasa realization by Advaitins

[Kathirasan K]

Namaste Rajaramji,

The closest thing to advaita among bhakti texts is the svapneshvara
bhashya on Shandilya Bhakti sutras. Do see if that helps you.

Kathirasan

On 29 October 2011 02:14, Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
> Is there any response to the following? Let me explain the context of this
> question. According to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Buddhism and Jainism teach
> people to reject this material world which is full of sorrow as the limited
> happiness is also temporary. But they take the follower only to state of
> emptiness. Advaitam gives the follower a experience of being the experiencer
> (*kaivalya* *and santa rasa*) but ultimately denies the experience of
> Ishwara. All the monotheistic world religions such as Christianity, Islam,
> Judaism, Shaivam, Saktam, Sauram etc. allow one to experience an aspect of
> Ishwara in *dasya bhava. *Even vaishanava sects such as that of Ramanuja,
> Madhwa, Vallabha and Nimbharka give *dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and to a
> limited extent madhurya bhavas*. They limit madhurya bhava to within the
> confines of marriage or *svakiya madhurya bhava*. The speciality of gaudiya
> vaishnavam is that it gives all others from *santa to madhurya bhava *but
> most importantly gives the experience of *parakiya madhurya bhava, *which is
> possible only in the worship of Lord Krishna in the mood of Gopis of
> Vrindavana. Their condemnation of other schools of thought is on the basis
> that the followers are denied the experience of *parakiya madhurya
> bhava, *which
> is the purpose of
> brahman or pure consciousness. I would like to know if there are any
> references to advaitins experiencing madhurya rasa. Madhusudana is said to
> have experienced dasya and vatsalya rasas. And Bhakta Meera is said to have
> experienced Madhurya Rasa. But both of them can be said to be influenced by
> Gaudiya Vaishnavam. As Hari Vamsa and Bhagavatam were both well known to
> many advaita acharyas, I would be surprised if they did not experience these
> rasas. However, I have not seen evidence thereof. Can someone please point
> to one?
> On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 6:21 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
> rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If we see the legends of vaishnavas, shaivas and saktas, we see that they
>> experience direct relationship with the Lord in different bhakti rasas such
>> as madhurya, vatsalya, sakhya, dasya etc. Does advaita tradition record
>> anything similar more than bhagavat sakshatkaram?
>>
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