[Advaita-l] Madhusudhana Saraswathi and Advaita.

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

On 26 February 2012 15:48, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> << In fact even karma yoga is not possible without Bhakti.  The 'arpaNam'
> of
> the act and the fruit and in the long run, of the doership itself, is not
> possible without Bhakti to the Deity to which these are offered.>>
>

bhakti is a broad term that can mean many things. When we talk of arpaNa of
the karma to the deity, it is typically assumed that the deity is an entity
with a "personality", i.e. an anthropomorphic entity. This is convenient
for most people, perhaps the vast majority, but by no means essential for
karma-yoga. For example, one might dedicate one's actions to the samaShTi,
or for loka-kalyANa.

Rajaram's questions about bhakti have this implicit assumption about the
need for a personal relationship with a deity, which is evident from his
fixation for the "super excellent qualities of Hari".