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 258 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
258 (of 553)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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If so, let us offer a funeral
not be the goal of life.
oblation for such a conception of final liberation, for we
who follow the Vedanta declare that final liberation is the
goal of life for the very reason that it is supreme bliss.65
VII. Devotion is the Highest Goal of Life
Because it is Pure Bliss
Thus, since it is nothing more than bliss unmixed
with suffering, devotion to the Blessed Lord also is the
highest goal of life. This is why the author says, "the
experience of incomparable bliss, untouched by any
suffering" [stanza 1]. By this are refuted all such notions
as, "Devotion is not the goal of life because it is not
included among religious duty, the acquisition of wealth,
"66
pleasure, and final liberation.
Religious duty, the acquisition of wealth, and
pleasure are not in themselves independent goals; the bliss
arising from them is the goal of life. We can, therefore,
omit the qualifications "arising from religious duty,"
"arising from wealth," and so on, because they lead to
prolixity and excessive restriction, 67 and demonstrate that
bliss alone is the goal of life. This being done, we can
see that the bliss of devotion is the goal of life in its
own right, just like the bliss of perfect meditation. 68
Now the bliss of perfect meditation may be included
within final liberation because it is closely related to it,
