[Advaita-l] ’upAsana' and 'bhakti'

[Ravisankar Mayavaram]

On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 10:19 AM, Anand Hudli <anandhudli at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> This is exactly my thought too. Let us start with Shankara's definition of
> upAsana:
>
> "upAsanaM nAma samAnapratyayapravAhakaraNam" (sUtra bhAShya 4.1.7)
>
> Making similar ideas flow continuously is called upAsana.
>
> Bhakti also involves this "making similar ideas flow continuously",

This definition of bhakti as flow of similar ideas, allows bhakti to
be even "parama dveSha ruupaa".  Can any flow of similar ideas be
called bhakti? Or  it has to be something like "sva svaruupa
anusandhana"  or something that has the form of prema?

>
> personal God may not involve these. For example, there is the shrI
> Yantra, there is a
> particular procedure of worshipping it, and there is a specific
> mantra, the ShoDashAkSharI or the PanchadashAkSharI. But Bhakti to a
> personal God is just emotional outbursts and lot of singing and
> dancing.
> However, I would ask: what is  purpose of these Yantras, tantras, and
> mantras? They serve the purpose of, again, making similar ideas flow
> continuously.

Not necessarily. They can be done with the desire for a specific phala
 as a goal. In that sense, a mantra, tantra, yantra prayoga can be
done accurately but without "prema" as (bhakti as parama prema
ruupaa).  They need not accompany or have the purpose of having flow
of similar ideas as it goal or even a by product. Depending on the
prayoga, performer may not  even desire for mental or physical
proximity with the devata. I think such prayogas are karma and not
upAsana.    Both upAsana and bhakti do not come under the category of
karma.

My 2c.
Ravi