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)鈥攐ne 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 417 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
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External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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NOTES: CHAPTER TWO 405 1 11
膩tm膩 viv峁涐箛ute tamum sv膩m). Samkara tortures the syntax to
make the aspirant the agent of choice and the Self the
object of choice: "`whom' means 'his own Self'" (yam eva--
sv膩m 膩tm膩nam); "`he' means 'the aspirant (e峁--s膩dhaka岣�).
The translation thus becomes: "[The Self] can be known
through the Self alone, which he [the aspirant] chooses,
i.e., meditates on. This reversal effectively, but
unconvincingly, removes the element of grace. 峁e
Mariasusai Dhavamony, Love of God According to Saiva
Siddh膩ta (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 63鈥�66.
96aham brahm膩smi, BU 1.4.10.
10 97 While describing the ideals of Advaita Ashrama,
Swami Vivekananda declared:
"Dependence is misery. Independence is happiness.'
The Advaita is the only system which gives unto man
complete possession of himself and takes off all
dependence and its associated superstitions, thus making
us brave to suffer, brave to do, and in the long run to
attain to Absolute Freedom.
"Hitherto it has not been possible to preach this
Noble Truth entirely free of the settings of dualistic
weakness; this alone, we are convinced, explains why it
has not been more operative and useful to mankind at
large" (Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, p. 283).
But see note 10 above.
98 The bh膩峁as on the M茫U and the TU, and a portion
of the Upadesasahasri, begin with invocations to the neutral
Brahman or 盲tman. The SGB begins with a verse in praise of
N膩r膩ya峁嘺, but it is a quotation and not an original
composition. The rest of Samkara's authentic works do not
have invocations (Hacker, "Relations of Early Advaitins," p.
152).
99na hi sv膩r膩jye 'bhik峁to brahmatvam gamita岣�
kamcana namitum icchati, quoted by Hacker, "Relations of
Early Advaitins, p. 152 (my trans.). Again, cp.
Vivekananda:
鈥�
"What does the Advaitist preach? He dethrones all the
gods that ever existed, or ever will exist in the
universe and places on that throne the Self of man, the
Atman, .
No books, no scriptures, no science can
ever imagine the glory of the Self that appears as man,
the most glorious God that ever was, the only God that
ever existed, exists, or ever will exist. I am to
worship, therefore, none but myself. `I worship my
Self,' says the Advaitist. To whom shall I bow down? I
salute my Self. To whom shall I go for help?" (The
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda [13th ed.; Calcutta:
Advaita Ashrama, 1976], II, 250).
