365bet娱乐

NOTES: CHAPTER SEVEN 506 the 艣ruti essential even for the bhakta? Such an
interpretation of the text would have the advantage of
harmonizing the teachings of the BR with those of the GAD
(see chap. 9.3). But the problem, over and above
Madhusudana's ambiguity, is that no Brahmin renunciate, as
we shall see, is named among the pur膩峁噄c heroes the author
mentions in his commentary on BR 1 as exemplars of the
higher stages of bhakti. The paradigmatic bhaktas referred
to are all either K峁�atriya kings, princes, or noblemen
(Ambar谋峁�a, Pari虈k峁�it, Uddhava, and Prahl膩da) or, worse for
the interpretation under consideration, K峁�atriya women
(K峁涐梗峁嘺's queens) or even low-caste women (the gop墨s).
Of course, there is always the doctrine, enunciated
by Madhus奴dana at GAD 18.63 (see chap. 9.3.3), that
renunciation performed in a previous life may be efficacious
in provoking liberation in a present, non-renounced
existence. And the Vaisnavas teach that the gopis are
incarnations of great sages (rsis). But we cannot base our
interpretation of the text on the unlikely possibility that
Madhusudana had such notions in mind to rationalize the
status of all the exemplar-devotees referred to. I feel
confident that he is here suggesting the possibility of
Self-realization, as a preliminary to the higher stages of
bhakti, attainable without reference to Ved膩ntic inquiry and
all the restrictions that pertain thereto.
VII. The Increase of Love for the Supreme Bliss
(param膩nande premav峁沝dhih). Preman is the developed and
enhanced state of rati. In the literature of the devotional
schools, the word suggests "pure, ecstatic love of God."
(See chap. 4.3.4-5.) The "Supreme Bliss" is, of course, the
Lord. Purified by knowledge and non-attachment, the mind
becomes lost in the love that first appeared at stage five.
The example of Prahlada, son of the demon-king Hiranyakasipu
(see notes 250, 274), is cited:
"That boy, who had abandoned all his toys because his
mind was absorbed in the Lord, seemed like an insentient
dolt. His mind possessed by K峁涐梗峁嘺, he was unaware of
the world around him.
"Lost in the embrace of Govinda, he was not aware of
anything while sitting, roaming about, eating, lying
down, drinking, or speaking.
"Sometimes, his mind agitated by anxious yearning for
Vaikuntha [Vis峁噓-Krsna], he wept. Sometimes he laughed
out of joy at the thought of Him; sometimes he sang
loudly. Sometimes, yearning [for Him], he cried out.
Sometimes he danced without inhibition, and sometimes,
intent on contemplation on Him and identified with Him,
he would imitate [His actions].