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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 315 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati

Page:

315 (of 553)


External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)


Download the PDF file of the original publication


Warning! Page nr. 315 has not been proofread.

303
At first there should be non-attachment of the mind
toward all things and attachment to the saintly. Then
compassion, friendship, or respect toward his fellow
creatures as may be proper.
Purity; austerity; patience; silence; scriptural study;
straightforwardness; celibacy; non-violence; equanimity
287 toward the pairs of opposites;
Seeing the Lord as the Self in all things; solitude;
homelessness; the wearing of clean tree-bark;
contentment with whatever comes;
Faith in the scriptures about the Lord without
condemnation of others; discipline of mind, speech, and
action; truthfulness, calmness, and self-control;
Hearing and singing of, and meditation on, the glories
of the birth and life of Hari whose deeds are so
marvelous; the performance of all activity for His sake;
The dedication as offerings to the Supreme of sacrifice,
charity, austerity, repetition of sacred syllables,
virtuous behavior, and whatever one holds dear such as
wife, children, houses, and even life itself;
Friendliness to those who regard Kṛṣṇa as their Lord;
service to both the great and the saintly;
Recounting with others the purifying tales of the
Blessed Lord; sharing together delight, contentment, and
the turning away from the body--
Thus thinking constantly of Hari, the destroyer of a
multitude of sins, and reminding each other of Him,
their bodies thrill in the rapture of devotion-generated
devotion. 288
Sometimes they weep from anxious thought of Acyuta;
sometimes they laugh and rejoice. Sometimes they utter
strange [words], dance, sing, and imitate the Unborn
One. Having attained the Supreme, fully content, they
become silent.
Following in this way the spiritual disciplines of the
Lord's devotees, one intent on Nārāyaṇa quickly, by
means of the devotion generated by these, crosses beyond
Māyā, so difficult to overcome.
11.3.21-33

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