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 311 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
311 (of 553)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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299 279
By non-enjoyment of the material qualities that compose
the primal cause, by knowledge made full through non-
attachment, by yoga, and by devotion fixed on Me,
attains Me, the inner Self, here in this body.
3.25.27
By the yoga of devotion accompanied by knowledge and
non-attachment, yogis resort for shelter to the tips of
My feet which are free from danger from any quarter.
3.25.43
Devotion, non-attachment, and knowledge of the Blessed
Lord arise for the devotee who constantly worships the
feet of Acyuta. Thereupon, O King, he attains the
highest peace directly.
11.4.43
The devotee is the person who practices the spiritual
disciplines of the Lord's devotees. First comes knowledge
of the Blessed Lord, then there arises the higher non-
attachment, and then the devotion which is of the nature of
love. 280
The Blessed Lord Himself teaches this to
Uddhava:281
For the possessor of knowledge, I alone am the desired
object and favored means; I am heaven and final
liberation also. No other thing is dear to him
excepting Me.
Those who have knowledge and discrimination know My
highest state. Therefore the possessor of knowledge is
the dearest to Me, for he maintains Me 282 through his
knowledge.
11.19.2-3
Because there is a
XXVI. The Nature of Knowledge
What sort of knowledge is meant?
desire to know this, it is stated briefly:
