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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. Madhus眉dana says:
Because the numberless forms of objects (vi峁�ay膩k膩ra)
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 brahma-
vidy膩--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.