[Advaita-l] Did Madhusudana Saraswati Reconcile Bhakti and Advaita?

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 7:24 PM, Sunil Bhattacharjya <
sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com> wrote:

> You said
>
> Quote
>
> Nor is there any scope of saying 'Jnana is the eternal condition' in the
> case of the Jnani post death.
> Unquote
> How do you reconcile that with "Prajnanam Brahma"?
>
> Regards
> Sunil KB
>
> Rajaram: I should not interfere Sri Subrahmanian answering that. My
> understanding is that Madhusudana Saraswati uses eka jiva vada to address
> this. According to this, there is only one jiva and liberation happens only
> when this jiva is. This jiva's liberation is in turn dependent on the
> liberation of all its reflections. So, when "your jiva" gets liberated it
> is only partial. So, you actually remain one with Ishwara and can appear in
> this world again at His will. Now, akhandakara vrtti in the case of jnana
> and bhakti rasa vrtti in the case of bhakti are modifications of the mind.
> However, they are in their essence non-different from Brahman in the case
> of jnana and sweet Lord in the case of bhakti. So, neither jnana nor bhakti
> have the contingency of perishability.
>


> ________________________________
>  From: V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> To: rajaramvenk at gmail.com; A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2012 9:49 AM
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Did Madhusudana Saraswati Reconcile Bhakti and
> Advaita?
>
>  On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 3:56 AM, <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Please tell me where Adi Sankara says this. It is commonly attributed to
> > Madhusudana but never found it in his works. It does summarize the spirit
> > of advaita tradition towards accept of dualism for bhakti. However,
> bhakti
> > does not need two entities. Madhusudana says that the highest bhakti is
> > with the conception "I am He". Radha and Krishna are one but they
> exchange
> > the highest prema. It is the same with Siva and Vishnu, Nara and Narayana
> > etc.
> >
> > Reply-To: Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com>,
> >
> > Kindly permit me to say that too many words really do not help. Adi
> > Sankaracharya could say the most complicated things in the simplest
> > possible way. He said "Bhaktyarhta kalpitam Dvaita Advaitadapi sundaram".
> > Bhaktri is only when the Bhakta and Bhagavan are two seaparate /
> different
> > entities, though there is no denying that Bhakti is a very beautiful
> thing..
> >
>
> In Advaita the concept of Bhakti can be taken to mean devotion in several
> levels depending on the aspirant's state of maturity.  The culmination
> comes in 'JnAni tu Atmaiva' where the Lord says in the Bh.Gita : 'the Jnani
> is verily My Self'.  However we must note that this description of the
> supreme Bhakta (of the four types of bhaktas spoken of in that context)
> holds in the plane of vyavahara, that is even when the Jnani is alive in
> his physical body.  In Advaita, after death of the Jnani, there is no way
> one can talk of Bhakti or a supreme bhakta/bhakti.  A Jnani, while alive
> can very well think of the 'supreme bhakti' as stated above and also enjoy
> the bhakti of the type:  pUjaartham kalpitam Dvaitam advaitaadapi sundaram"
> where one can experience horripilation, shed  copious tears in ecstasy,
> sing, dance, etc. as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did.  Nevertheless there
> is absolutely no room for either of these two broad types of bhakti (sAdhya
> or sAdhana) after the Jnani has shed the physical body and mind apparatus.
> There is no way 'bhakti' however high it is, continuing in the post-death
> state in the case of a Jnani. Nor is there any scope of saying 'Jnana is
> the eternal condition' in the case of the Jnani post death.  For, while
> being alive one can, if practiced adequately, engage oneself in Nirvikalpa
> Samadhi and be in the bliss of the Self or be a subject of
> 'vedAnta-vAkyeShu sadA ramantaH' [have excursions into the woods of
> Upanishadic utterances].  After death there is no  way any of these can
> continue or be taken up at the will of the Jnani who is in body/mind case.
> Advaita does not accommodate these 'states' in the videha-kaivalya context.
>
> Jnana or Bhakti can only be a means to liberation; jnAnAdeva kaivalyam.  If
> someone says 'bhakti' is the means to kaivalyam, Shankara has explained it
> as: 'jnAnalakShaNayA bhaktyA'.
>
> subrahmanian.v
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>  _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>