Essay name: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
Author:
Lance Edward Nelson
Affiliation: McMaster University / Religious Studies
This is a study and English translation of the Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati (16th century)—one 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.
Page 201 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
201 (of 553)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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189
The desire for moká¹£a 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 BP, 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 BP verses which devalue the quest for liberation is
that, though the devotee does not desire moká¹£a, 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.
