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If bhakti is similar to the akhandakaracittavrtti in structure, it is also similar in at least some of its results. In section XI, as we have seen, Madhusudana states that one of the important features which distinguishes knowledge of Brahman from bhakti is that the goal of the former is the destruction of Ignorance. This at first seems to imply that bhakti does not have this particular virtue.

186 Yet we read later that the manifestation of God in bhakti brings about what amounts to the same result: it puts an end to the experience of all other objects. Madhusudana says: Because the numberless forms of objects (visayakara) that have entered the mind since beginningless time are destroyed by such a mental form of the Lord, and He alone shines forth, the purpose of life is accomplished. 65 But the form of the Lord that is generated by scripture, though appearing as if remote at the beginning of practice, gradually removes the forms of objects from the mind and, when lead through the advanced levels of practice to immediacy, completely destroys them. 66 There follows a typically Advaitic discussion of the process in which external objects are falsely superimposed on Consciousness, with the differences that bhagavat takes the place normally occupied by Brahman, and the manifestation of God in bhakti is equated with knowledge. Thus: The main point here is that the objects which imprint their forms in the mind are not distinct from the Lord because they are superimposed on Him. . Because that which is superimposed is annulled by the knowledge of its substratum, all things vanish at the manifestation of the Lord and merge in Him. 67 There is no conclusion possible here but that Madhusudana is saying that devotion leads to the same result as brahmavidya--namely, the destruction of Ignorance, the revelation of Brahman as the underlying Consciousness, and the attainment of moksa. Bhakti is distinct from knowledge, especially in being a conditioned or savikalpaka experience and being independent of Vedic revelation, but it also leads to liberation.

I 187 This at first seems perplexing. We might wonder whether or not Madhusudana is being inconsistent, since he stated earlier that having moksa as its goal was one of the features of knowledge of Brahman that distinguish it from bhakti. Ultimately he is not, because he is here adopting the stance of the Bhagavata-purana and the devotional schools, which devalue the quest for moksa in favor of the greater bliss of bhakti. Moksa is not the goal. The joy of bhakti is so much greater than the joy of liberation that the question of the bhakta's acquisition of the latter is incidental, even 68 though it may in fact occur. In this connection, Madhusudana takes over and carefully articulates the devotionalists' distinction between bhakti as a spiritual practice or means (sadhana) and bhakti as an end (sadhya or phala).69 The aim of bhakti is not liberation, an experience of a totally different order than devotion, but a fully manifested, self-validating and self-sustaining mode of bhakti itself. This, we have seen, is the state described in the first stanza as the " 'experience of bliss untouched by any suffering. #70 Despite what Madhusudana has said about bliss being the paramapurusartha, of which bhakti, moksa, and samadhi are alternative forms, the reader of the Bhakti-rasayana increasingly becomes aware of the insistent implication that, from the perspective of the devotee at least, devotion is without question the highest goal.

188 Madhusudana is well aware that his elevation of bhakti to the status of paramapursartha is in direct opposition to the teachings of orthodox Advaita. Nevertheless, he continues to hold to it, sometimes quite explicitly, sometimes less so, throughout the text. In section XI we find a rejection of the traditional thinking of the Sankara school that is bold and direct. The objector, who is speaking on behalf of the orthodox, raises the criticism that devotees will not experience the desire for liberation (mumuksutva) "because of the impossibility of detachment from the bliss of devotion," and that, mumuksutva being one of the four qualifications 71 specified by Samkara, they will consequently be ineligible for the study of Vedanta. The implication, of course, is that this would be a great misfortune since, if tradition is right, they cannot attain moksa without such study. Madhusudana readily admits the truth of the objection as stated. He fails, however, to see any calamity in it: We admit that this is true, because one already attached to the bliss of devotion does not undertake such study. But the impossibility of detachment from the bliss of devotion is certainly not a source of distress; in fact, it is desirable. If indeed the inability to study the Vedas prevents a bhakta from attaining moksa, he seems to be saying, then so much the worse for moksa. The devotee does not care, for he is in pursuit of a higher goal.

189 The desire for moksa is again depreciated in section XXIV, where Madhusudana describes it as evidence of a lower stage of spiritual non-attachment. According to this understanding, the yearning for release is itself an " 74 attachment which prevents the attainment of the highest love for God and is thus an obstacle to complete fulfillment of life. 73 A higher non-attachment is essential for the ultimate experience of devotion; it is characterized by a "lack of regard for all goals, including liberation. There follows a series of twelve verses from the Bhagavata-purana, which amply illustrate the distinctive teaching of that text, here echoed by Madhusudana, that the true devotee does not desire liberation in any form. All this, however, is not to say the the devotee does not attain final release. The implication of many of the Bhagavata-purana verses which devalue the quest for liberation is that, though the devotee does not desire moksa, the Lord grants it anyway. 75 As early in the text as section VII Madhusudana tells us that "release from transmigratory existence is inevitable for the devotee, "76 and we have just discussed section XXIII, where the manifestation of bhagavat in bhakti is said to produce a state which, though Madhusudana refuses to label it explicitly as such, is in effect indistinguishable from liberation.

190 In sections XXV and XXVI of the Bhakti-rasayana, Madhusudana discusses the relation of knowledge, non-attachment, and devotion; he comes to the interesting conclusion that the higher non-attachment which is a prerequisite for perfect bhakti cannot exist without knowledge. "First comes knowledge of the Lord," he says, "then there arises the higher non-attachment, and then the devotion which is of the nature of ecstatic love (preman)."77 He must of course specify what he means here by knowledge. Is it reverent awareness of God's greatness (mahatmyajnana), as in Vallabha's definition of bhakti?78 Although such an understanding of knowledge might be expected in a devotional treatise, it is not what Madhusudana has in mind. He describes the realization that must come prior to the attainment of the highest levels of devotion as follows: Everything other than the Blessed Lord, because it is transient, is false (mayika) like a dream. It is devoid of true significance, painful, and to be shunned. The Blessed Lord alone is real; He is the supreme bliss, self-luminous, eternal, the one to be sought after. This is the kind of knowledge spoken of. 79 This is clearly the Advaitins' direct realization of Brahman. To confirm this, we need only note that, by way of illustration, Madhusudana quotes a series of verses from both the Bhagavata-purana and the Bhagavad Gita 80 in which the word jnanin ("possessor of knowledge"), a common designation of the Advaitin who has experienced the truth of non-duality, appears no less than seven times. Any doubt as to the

191 meaning of jnanin in this context is removed when we consider that among these verses we again encounter Bhagavad Gita 7.16- 19. In this passage, we will recall, the jnanin is described by Krsna as the highest type of devotee, as one who is dear to Him, who has realized after many births that "Vasudeva is all." Sankara refers to these lines in his commentary on the Gita several times to establish the 81 superiority of the man of Advaitic realization, and Madhusudana, who follows Sankara closely in his Gudhartha-dipika, glosses Bhagavad Gita 7.18 thus: "The jnanin, who knows Me [Krsna] as the Self, is that very Self, not different from Me; moreover, I am he." In the Bhakti-rasayana, he comments on the experience of the jnanin described in 7.19: "Since it is a product of maya, all other than Vasudeva is not real; Vasudeva alone is real, is most dear, because He is the Self. "82 "83 Madhusudana is here certainly thinking of knowledge in the full Advaitic immediate knowledge (aparoksajnana), the direct realization (saksatkara) of the ultimate. To say, however, that such knowledge must precede the full development of bhakti is, since true gnosis is equivalent to moksa, the same as saying that the highest devotional experience comes only after liberation. So again we find the teaching of the Bhakti-rasayana to be in sharp conflict with standard Advaita doctrine. According to Samkara, as we have seen, knowledge and moksa entail the abolition of all

192 duality, and any suggestion that after realization there might be devotion of any sort, not to speak of a further heightening of the devotional experience, is out of the question. Yet, though Madhusudana here again fails to spell out explicitly the full implications of what he is saying, confirmation of his unorthodox intent is not difficult to find. We need only look at his outline of the eleven stages of devotional experience (bhaktibhumika) given in stanzas 34-36 and his commentary thereon. 84 The description of the sixth stage in this hierarchy is particularly important for the present discussion. It is preceded by four stages of spiritual preparation, and a fifth which consists in the manifestation in the mind of the form of the Lord. This fifth stage is bhakti in a complete but as yet not fully manifested form. Called "love" (rati), it functions as the "permanent emotion" of the sentiment of devotion.85 Stages six through eleven are described as the "fruits," i.e., results, of this experience, all but stage six being higher, more developed forms of devotion. culminate in the "Supreme Limit of Ecstatic Love" (premnah paramakastha), the eleventh. Stage six, called the "Realization of the Essential Nature" (svarupadhigati), is somewhat peculiar. These It is not a devotional experience as such. Rather it turns out to be nothing less than the immediate intuition of the ultimate that is the goal of

193 It Advaita--in Madhusudana's words, "the direct realization of the essential nature of the inner Self (pratyagatman)." includes the knowledge of the fundamental identity of jIva and Brahman taught by the "great saying" of the Upanisad, "That thou art."86 This realization, in turn, generates the intense non-attachment required for the full manifestation of bhakti. Indeed, it is the same as the knowledge spoken of in sections XXV and XXVI as an essential precursor of the highest devotional experience. "Without it," Madhusudana says, "love (rati), even though it is present, will not reach its full development due to the distractions of the body and senses.' "87 The inescapable conclusion from this is that Madhusudana is teaching that the higher levels of devotion are only experienced by the jivanmukta, the one who has attained Self-realization while still dwelling in a human body. He is saying, in other words, that the state of liberation-in-life, which itself presupposes knowledge of Brahman, is a prerequisite for the culmination of bhakti. Such a doctrine certainly seems to represent a triumph for the cause of devotionalism in the Samkara school. seem a strange teaching to come from the pen of the author of the Advaitasiddhi, but Madhusudana has already, in section XI, asserted that "even the saints who are It may liberated-in-life experience devotion to the Blessed Lord,"

quoting as authority Bhagavata-purana 1.7.10.88 It is important to remember that Madhusudana regards himself as a jIvanmukta as well as a bhakta, and also to be aware that this doctrine of the possibility of devotion in the state of liberation-inlife is a key teaching of his Gudhartha-dipika, as we shall see in chapter nine. 5