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 525 of: Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati
525 (of 553)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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NOTES: CHAPTER NINE 513 14 Divanji, pp. LXXXIX-XC. Dasgupta (II, 232),
noting that a summary of this text was written by Gau岣峚
Abhinanda in the ninth century, assigns it to the seventh or
eighth.
15 Divanji, p. CXXVI. Madhusudana quotes the YV at
GAD 3.18, 5.23, 6.29, 6.32, and 6.35, in the first instance
advocating an unorthodox scheme of seven stages of spiritual
realization derived from that text. He also cites the YV as
authority in the SB and AV (Divanji, LXXXIX). At GAD,
intro., vs. 14-28, he inserts some of the key terminology of
the YS, suggesting that yogic discipline is necessary even
after the dawn of knowledge to remove the accumulated
v膩san膩s that stand in the way of full enlightenment. See
also section XXIV of the BR where our author introduces a
discussion of non-attachment based on the teachings of the
YS.
passage reads:
16 The immediately relevant portion of this important
"The person disciplined in yoga and the person of equal
vision both see the Self, hence both are eligible for
Self-realization. Just as the restraint of the
fluctuations of the mind is one cause of the immediate
realization of the witness-Self, so also is the
isolation of the all-pervading Consciousness by means of
the discriminative rejection of the insentient.
[Therefore] it is not yoga alone that is necessarily
required [though only it is mentioned in the present
verse, 6.29]. As Vasi峁ａ弓ha says: 'There are two ways, O
R膩ma, to the destruction of the mind, [namely] yoga and
j帽膩na. Yoga is restraint of the fluctuations of the
mind and j帽膩na is right vision. Some individuals cannot
attain to yoga, others are unable to ascertain through
discrimination the true structure of Reality.
Therefore, 艢iva, the supreme divinity, proclaimed two
paths.' Destruction of the mind is the non-perception
of the mind due to its separation from the witness-Self,
of which it is the limiting adjunct. There are two
means to bring this about. The first is undifferen-
tiated perfect meditation (asampraj帽膩tasam膩dhi) [the
goal of yoga]. And the second is [the Vedantins']
discriminative deliberation, which takes the form: 'That
which is witnessed [the mind] is falsely constructed in
the witness-Self. Since it is unreal, it does not
exist. The Witness-Self alone is the ultimate truth;
only it exists'" (yo yogayukt膩tm膩 yo v膩 samadar艣ana岣� sa
膩tm膩nam 墨k峁ta iti yogisamadarsinav 膩tmek峁峁嚹乨hik膩rinav
uktau / yath膩 hi cittav峁泃tinirodha岣� s膩k峁s膩k峁Ｄ乼k膩rahetus
tath膩 ja岣峚vivekena sarv膩nusy奴tacaitanyaprthakkara峁嘺m api
n膩va艣yam yoga ev膩pek峁ta岣� / atha ev膩ha vasi峁ａ弓ha岣� "dvau
