[Advaita-l] Bhakti and Jnana

[Kalyan K]

"Rajaram: According to her, it is Sankara's as well."

Rajaramji, with all due respect to Dr. Sanjukta, I find it difficult to
accept that it is Sankara's view that bhakti does not get sublated in
brahman. The available evidence (his major works, at least) does not seem
to support this viewpoint.

Still, this is a matter worth investigating (for me) and perhaps the best
places to start are the so-called "other" works of Sankara. May be we can
find something in these "other" works that support this view. You say that
the vishNu sahasranAma bhAshya is accepted as a genuine work of Adi Sankara
by scholars. If possible can you please throw more light on how scholars
came to this conclusion?

Thanks
Kalyan


On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 11:34 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 3:44 PM, Kalyan K <kalyankc.81 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thank you for posting the view of Prof Sanjukta. Now, a small question -
> >
> > "Rajaram: Dr. Sanjukta's view, "Neither bhakti nor jnanam are sublated in
> > Brahman."
> >
> > Does Dr Sanjukta say that this is just madhusUdhana's view or does she
> say
> > that this is also Sankara's view?
> >
> Rajaram: According to her, it is Sankara's as well. She thinks Bhakti (with
> its exalted status) is integral to Advaita as it is in the Upanishads.
> However, she thinks that the concept of bhakti rasa - not jus becoming
> sugar but enjoying it - came in to Advaita from Alankara sastras which
> describe secular rasas. She also thinks that it is the influence of Gaudiya
> Vaishnavam on Advaita. But she does not think that this enrichment of
> Advaita tradition primarily by Madhusuda is in any way against its core
> tenets. She thinks it is the result of syncretic, heterodox and liberalist
> culture of India under the rule of Emperor Akbar.
>
> I asked Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal if the early Advaita Acharyas were aware
> of bhakti rasa (sakhya, madhurya etc.). He said though they may not have
> used  the term, we cannot say that they did not have that knowledge. Though
> I am inclined to believe that, I requested him to help me with literary
> references for my work on Bhakti in Advaita and he said he will.
>
> Sankara quotes Hari Vamsa in the introduction to Vishnu Sahasranama, which
> most scholars admit is his work. It describes the different rasas but have
> to find a critical edition. Sridhara Swami has a scheme of bhakti rasa in
> his work. There areother works such as Muktiphala. But I have to find
> references to bhakti rasas in the Vedas and Upanishads themselves in
> addition to the works of early Advaita acharyas. It will make the case for
> Bhakti in Advaita rock solid.
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>