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Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati

(Study and translation of first chapter)

by Lance Edward Nelson | 2021 | 139,165 words

Hinduism Hindu Philosophy Vedanta Vaishnavism

Summary: This is a study and English translation of the Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati (16th century)鈥攐ne of the greatest and most vigorous exponents of Advaita after Shankara-Acharya who was also a great devotee of Krishna. The Bhaktirasayana attempts to merge non-dualist metaphysics with the ecstatic devotion of the Bhagavata Purana, by asserting that Bhakti is the highest goal of life and by arguinng that Bhakti embodies God within the devotee's mind.

The Bhakti-rasayana (rasayan) is known as: Bhaktiras膩yana (啶啷嵿い啶苦ぐ啶膏ぞ啶え), Bhakti-ras膩yana (啶啷嵿い啶�-啶班じ啶距く啶�).

Source 1:
Source 2:

Contents of this online book ( + / - )

The full text of the Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati in English is available here and publically accesible (free to read online). Of course, I would always recommend buying the book so you get the latest edition. You can see all this book鈥檚 content by visiting the pages in the below index:

Warning! This document has not been proofread. However, for each page you can (and should) verify the text with the original source PDF file.

Acknowledgements

Introduction鈥擜dvaita, Bhakti, and Madhusudana

+ Chapter 1 - Devotional trends and impersonalism in the early scriptures

. 1 Bhakti, Personalism, and Impersonalism

. Part 1 - Bhakti, Personalism, and Impersonalism

. Part 2 - Devotional and Impersonalist Aspects of Vedic Religion

. Part 3 - Devotional Trends and Impersonalism in the Major Upanisads

. Part 4 - Bhakti and Advaita in the Bhagavad Gita

. Notes for chapter 1

+ Chapter 2 - Bhakti in the writings of Samkara

. Part 1 - Introduction: Samkara as a Devotee?

. Part 2 - Shamkara鈥檚 Authentic Works

. Part 3 - Levels of Being and Religious Structures

. Part 4 - Structures in Place: Jiva and Ishvara

. Part 5 - Sankara's Devaluation of Devotion

. Part 6 - Social Dimensions

. Part 7 - Advaita Exclusivism and the Ethos of Bhakti

. Notes for chapter 2

+ Chapter 3 - Bhakti and Advaita in the Bhagavata Purana

. Part 1 - The Scripture of Krishna-bhakti

. Part 2 - Devotion as the Supreme Path and One Goal

. Part 3 - Devotion as Practice and Devotion as Goal

. Part 4 - Ecstatic Devotion

. Part 5 - Metaphysical Non-dualism

. Part 6 - Social Teaching

. Notes for chapter 3

+ Chapter 4 - Bengal Vaishnava concept of Bhakti

. Part 1 - The Flowering of Ecstatic Bhakti in Bengal

. Part 2 - Chaitanya and Shridhara

. Part 3 - The Theology of the Gosvamins鈥擨ntroduction

. Part 3.1 - The Three-fold Deity and His Three-fold Energy

. Part 3.2 - Bhakti as the Fifth and Highest Goal of Life

. Part 3.3 - The Definition of Bhakti

. Part 3.4 - The Stages of Devotion

. Part 3.5 - The Levels of Ecstatic Love

. Part 3.6 - Bhakti Given Ontic Status as Krsna's Highest Power

. Part 4 - Bengal Vaisnava Social Practice

. Notes for chapter 4

+ Chapter 5 - Madhusudana on Advaita-Bhakti

. Part 1 - Approaching the Bhakti-rasayana

. Part 2 - Bhakti as an Independent Path

. Part 3 - The Highest Goal of Life

. Part 4 - Bhakti as a Modality of the Mind

. Part 5 - Bhakti as Bhagavat

. Part 6 - The Nature of Bhagavat

. Part 7 - Bhakti and Knowledge of Brahman

. Part 8 - Bhakti and Moksa

. Part 9 - Bhakti Superior to Moksha

. Notes for chapter 5

+ Chapter 6 - Bhakti and Sanskrit aesthetics

. Part 1 - Bhakti, Myth, and Imagination

. Part 2 - The Theory of Rasa

. Part 3 - Religious Application of the Rasa Theory

. Part 4 - Bhaktirasa in the Theology of the Bengal School

. Part 5 - Madhusudana on Bhaktirasa

. Notes for chapter 6

+ Chapter 7 - First chapter of Bhakti-rasayana鈥擡nglish translation

. Part 1 - Opening Prayer and Introduction to Stanza One

. Part 2 - The Four Types of Yoga

. Part 3 - Preliminary Purification of the Mind through the Yoga of Action

. Part 4 - The Approach to Devotion through the Yoga of Knowledge

. Part 5 - Devotion Is The Supreme Goal Of Life

. Part 6 - The Goal of Life is Bliss Only

. Part 7 - Devotion is the Highest Goal of Life Because it is Pure Bliss

. Part 8 - Other Terms in the First Stanza Explained

. Part 9 - Scriptural Support for Devotion as the Goal of Life

. Part 10 - Devotion as Means and Devotion as End

. Part 11 - Devotion Distinguished from Knowledge of Brahman

. Part 12 - The Characteristics of Devotion

. Part 13 - The Mind in Devotion

. Part 14 - The Three Levels of Devotees

. Part 15 - Other Designations of the Melting State

. Part 16 - The Three Levels of Advanced Devotees

. Part 17 - The Definition Of Permanent Emotion And Sentiment

. Part 18 - The Permanent Emotion Becomes a Sentiment Because it is Blissful

. Part 19 - The Explanation According to Samkhya

. Part 20 - Objections Based on Other Theories of Mind

. Part 21 - The Final Position on Mind

. Part 22 - The Form of the Lord in the Melted Mind

. Part 23 - The Possession of the Lord's Form is Natural

. Part 24 - The Levels of Non-Attachment

. Part 25 - The Relation of Knowledge, Non-Attachment, and Devotion

. Part 26 - The Nature of Knowledge

. Part 27 - The Nature of the Higher Non-Attachment

. Part 28 - The Nature of Devotion

. Part 29 - The Eleven Stages of Devotion

. Notes for chapter 7

+ Chapter 8 - Theoretical difficulties

. Part 1 - Is Madhusudana's Presentation Convincing?

. Part 2 - The Eternality of Devotion

. Part 3 - Bhagavat as the Eternal Experiencer of Devotion

. Part 4 - Bhagavat Still Ontologically Less Than Brahman

. Part 5 - A Suggestive Metaphysical Vagueness

. Notes for chapter 8

+ Chapter 9 - The continuity of Madhusudana鈥檚 thought on Bhakti

. Part 1 - Possible Purposes of the Bhakti-rasayana

. Part 2 - Softening the Exclusivism of Orthodox Advaita

. Part 3 - Bhakti in the Gudharthadipika鈥擨ntroduction

. Part 3.1 - The Devotional Flavor Of The Gudhartha-Dipika

. Part 3.2 - Surrender to God the Gita's Key Teaching

. Part 3.3 - The Resurgence of Advaitic Exclusivism

. Part 3.4 - Modi's Understanding of the Gudhartha-dipika

. Part 3.5 - Devotion for the Renunciate

. Part 7 - Madhusudana's Final Intention

. Notes for chapter 9

Chapter 10 - Concluding remarks

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Last Updated: 11 January, 2025

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