[Advaita-l] Eternal Loka

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

On 1 November 2012 03:42, Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

> I don't think Bhakti needs bheda bhava as you say. Madhusudana says that
> the highest devotee is one who knows I am He. Even in gaudiya school,
> Baladeva talks about Gopalaham as a form of devotion. Sridhara, in his
> introduction to BhavArthadIpikA talks about devotion between Siva and
> Vishnu, who are one.

On the one hand, you present bhakti as a "loving relationship" and
then you also say that it does not require bheda. If "gopaloham" is
strictly valid then there is no question of *any* relationship, leave
alone a loving relationship between gopAla and me, because gopAla is
me. This is why I have repeatedly pointed out that terms like bhakti
are used contextually and have a range of meanings.

A "loving relationship" with the deity is not mokSha as far as
advaita-vedAnta is concerned. It can be a sAdhana but even here it is
not a substitute for j~nAna.