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 310 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
310 (of 553)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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298
And the Vedas: 276
There are some, O Lord, who do not seek even liberation.
Abandoning their homes to find association with the
flocks of swans 277 that gather at Thy lotus feet, they
are refreshed by swimming in the great ocean of nectar
that is the tale of the deeds of Thee who have assumed
bodily form for the sake of teaching the nature of the
Self, so difficult to understand.
10.87.21
Many similar verses could be cited.
When there is such a state of higher non-attachment
characterized by a lack of regard for all goals including
liberation, the love for the highest Self, the supreme
bliss, reaches its utmost limit, because love for other ends
does not arise. Thus Vá¹›tra says:
My mind longs for Thee, O Lotus-eyed One, as unfledged
nestlings desire their mother, as young calves that are
suffering from hunger seek milk, as a despondent lover
pines for her absent beloved.
6.11.26
XXV.
The Relation of Knowledge, Non-Attachment,
and Devotion
Because the attainment of the supreme limit of love
for the Blessed Lord 278 is impossible without the higher
non-attachment, and because the higher non-attachment cannot
exist without knowledge, both knowledge and non-attachment
should be cultivated in order to acquire it. Thus it is
said:
