Bhakti Rasa for the Advaitin Renunciate: Madhusudana Sarasvati's Theory of Devotional Sentiment

Transcription

1 Univrsity of San Digo From th SlctdWorks of Lanc E. Nlson 1989 Bhakti Rasa for th Advaitin Rnunciat: Madhusudana Sarasvati's Thory of Dvotional Sntimnt Lanc E. Nlson, Univrsity of San Digo Availabl at:

2 Nlson, Lanc E Bhakti Rasa for th Advaitin Rnunciat: Madhusūdana Sarasvatī s Thory of Dvotional Sntimnt. Rligious Traditions 12: 1 16.

3 RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS ATSON ) A journal in th Study of Rligion sultants castr of Poona Tl Aviv of Sussx nivrsity nivrsity u Clair khwan O'Iicago anitoba Louvain London nivrsity nivn.ity nivrsity Syracus niva'sity { Toronto a,. Tokyo f Chicago Th Faculty of Rligious Studis McGill Univrsity A publication of Th Dpartmnt of Rligious Studis Univrsity of Sydny ia: $15.00 annual. Volum 12,_ 1989

4 BHAKTI-RASA FOR THE ADVAITIN RENUNCIATE: MADHUSUDANA SARASVATI'S THEORY OF DEV OTIONAL SENTIMENT Lanc E. Nlson Madhusiidana Sarasvati (ca ), a monk of th Sankara ordr, was without doubt among th most important intllctual figurs of lat mdival India. Dominating th scholarly world of his tim with his vast larning and formidabl dialctical skills, h was known for his brilliant, uncompromising dfns of Advaita (non-dualist} Vdiinta in works such as th pondrous Advaitasiddhi ("Vindication of Non-dualism"), which bcam a classic of th Sankara tradition. His scholastic rputation rstd primarily on th brillianc of his polmic against th thistic, dvotional dualism of th Madhva school. Intriguingly, and somwhat paradoxically, h was at th sam tim rnownd as a frvnt dvot of Lord Krsna. Th dvotional sid of this mastrful champion of Advaita is rvald in two works in which h dals xtnsivly with dvotional thms. Most wll-known is th latr of th two, th BhagavadgittigU4harlhadrpi/ai, an xtnsiv "lucidation of th hiddn maning (gu4harlha) of th Bhagavad,G{tli." In this commntary, Madhusudana challngs Sankara's viw that th ssntial intnt of th txt is to inculcat rnunciation, suggsting th (mor plausibl) thsis that it is, instad, "complt surrndr to God" (bhagavad-ka-sara1}ata). Th arlir Bhaktirasayana is a shortr, mor xplicitly dvotional work, th only indpndnt tratis on th thory of bhakti vr writtn by on of th grat prcptors of Advaita. It will b th focus of th prsnt study. 1

5 Th titl of th Bhaktirasayana (BhR) contains a play on words. It can man both "Elixir (rasdyana) of Dvotion (bhakti)" and "Th way, path, or cours (ilyana) of th sntimnt (rasa) of dvotion." That th author intndd to invok th ida of rasa as wll as th imag of an lixir nds no dmonstration. A good part of th first chaptr of th txt, and almost all of th scond and third chaptrs, dfnd th lgitimacy of, and dvlop, th ida of bhakti as rasa, an "asthtic sntimnt." Th notion of bhakti-rasa, th "sntimnt of dvotion," was important in all of th North Indian schools of J.la dvotion that drw inspiration from th Bhagavata Purdl]Q. A tchnical concpt, th notion of rasa itslf was borrowd from th writrs on Sanskrit potics (alarhlairasdstra).' Rasa-thory was adoptd by th Va ava dvotionalists as a dvic for xplaining thir imaginativ, motional rligious practic. Th lattr cntrd largly on idntification with charactrs in th divin drama of 's trnal sport (lila), as mdiatd through litrary sourcs. Th thory of bhakti-rasa rcivd its most comprhnsiv laboration at th hands of Rupa and Jiva Gosvamin, th lading thologians of th Bngal Vait> va school. Ths writrs wr militantly thistic and cstatically dvotional in thir outlook. For this rason thy, prhaps vn mor than othr Vait> va tachrs, maintaind an attitud of passionat hostility toward Advalta.' In his BhR Madhusiidana prsnts his own thory of dvotional sntimnt Although basd on his vry diffrnt, non-dualistic undrstanding of th dvotional xprinc, Madhusiidana's xposition shars much in common with th Vait>J.lava approach. It is not as xtnsivly dvlopd as th Gosvamins' tratmnt, and it probably nvr rcivd any wid-sca1 rligious application. Nvrthlss, as an Advaitin's appropriation of som of th primary pattrns of I}a dvotiona\ism---and on which in th nd dramatically rvrss som of thos pattms-it is worthy of mor notic than it has rcivd to dat. Aftr giving a short introduction 2 t " d c [ o tl o il s " a " tl II I; C 11 II tl tl II tl!l II II II

6 to th litrary thory of rllsll, I wish hr to shown how Madhusiidana dvlops th notion of bhtikti-rasa in a way that has many parallls with, but also significant diffrncs from, th tratmnt of th Gosvimins. Rasa. Scular and Dvotional Th doctrin of rlisii was first nunciatd in th sixth chaptr of Bharata's NlJtyJ4stra (ca. sixth cntury C.E.). Dvlopd by Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta, and othr writrs, it bcam by th lvnth cntury on of th cntral concrns of potic thory. A rasa is a hightnd,idalizdmotion,idntifidas thprimarymood of a pic of potry or a drama. Enjoyd for its.:>wn intrinsic asthtic plasur, it ariss in th mind of a sympathtic connoissur (rasika) as th lattr intracts with a wll-xcutd litrary work. Th basis of rasa is birivg, "motion." Each of th ight I'/lSIlS rcognizd by th tradition is associatd with a corrsponding "prmannt motion" <sth4yi-bh4va), which srvs as its psychic foundation. For xampl, th sthliyi-bhiva of l!"rigijra, th important sntimnt of rotic lov, is rati, HJov." Th goal of th artisrs craft is to awakn th prmannt motion-which lis dormant in th mind as a latnt imprssion Csdrslilra>-and transform it into its corrsponding asthtic sntimnt. Th xprinc of rasa lifts th connoissur out of his or hr individual moods,limitd as thy ar by go and its attndant anxitis. This lads to a stat of slf-transcndnc in which th rasa may b contmplatd calmly and happily. Whil th proponnts of rasa wr fond of comparing th scular "rlishing of sntimnt" (rasiisvifda) with th rligious xprinc of raiizing Brahman (brahmistijda), thy wr not on th whol agr to dvlop th rligious applications of thir thory. Som grantd th rligious motion of "tranquility" <stnfll) status as a ninth rasa. For th most part, howvr, thy wr op posd to rcognizing non- motions. This was spcially tru in th cas of bhtikti, which thy xplicitly

7 xcludd. Dspit this rsistanc, w find vidnc of a E movmnt championing th inclusion of dvotion ( among th rasas as arly as th thirtn cntury in th I work of Vopadva. This movmnt continud and I vntually culminatd in th laborat systm of th Bngal Gosvamins. Th rsult was th ntrnchmnt,as last within Vaisnava circls, of th ida that bhakti was a lgitimat rasa, indd th highst, most blissful rasa. Asthtic thory hlpd th thologians of Kt; ait 1 dvotion dal with svral important problms. How, for xampl, could th dvots actually raliz th motions xprincd by othr prsons who wr ac- ( tors in a sacrd drama that was, whthr tmporally or r mtaphysically, rmovd from thm? And, particularly t prplxing, how could mn, if thy wishd to njoy th s bliss of th highst bhakti, xprinc th lov chrishd by th cowhrd womn ofvrndavana (th gopis) for th t mal charactr Kn; a? Fortunatly, almost idntical C qustions had alrady bn xplord in dpth by th writrs on Sanskrit asthtics, using spcially th ida r of transcnding prsonal and tmporal limits through s asthtic gnralization (sadhizrat}i-kara'1a). Morovr, th asthticians had dvlopd th thory of s[rigara- a rasa, th rotic sntimnt, to a high lvl of complxity a and dtail, particularly undr th influnc of such a writrs as Rudrabha! (tnth cntury) and Bhoja (lv- g nth cntury). This mad th rasa-sastra wll-suitd to th nds of th Gosvamins, who wr abov all con- tl cmd with xplicating th nuancs of th cstatic lov- ii rlationship of K and th gopis. n Th xact rasons for Madhusiidana's intrst in th 0 thory of bhakti-rasa ar unclar, as is th xtnt of his tl dpndnc, if any, on th Gosvamins. W can b sur, n from th dvotional poms occurring in th Guqh4rtha-dipilai and vn in th Advaitasiddhi, that h n was a srious dvot of Kr.3 It is also tru that ti Madhusildana's rang of intrsts was wid and varid, so that th BhR may b at last partly xplaind by his n irrprssibility as a scholar. H in fact dlightd in xrcising his intllct and displaying his rudition by bj 4

8 ntring into and xprssing viwpoints othr than that of his own Advaitic tradition.' As w shall s in th prsnt cas, howvr, h oftn gav such xpositions a final non-dualistic twist. Vai ava Rasa-thory and Madhusudana's Nondualist R-val uation Th Absolutization of Bhakti As thy adapt convntional rasa-thory to th Kr-Il)ait contxt, th Gosvamins lav its main outlins and many of its ky trms intact. Thy ar, howvr, forcd to altr som of th undrlying rational of th scular systm to accommodat thir particular rligious nds. Most notabl in this connction is thir laboration of th mtaphysical dimnsions of rasa-thory. This is don in th intrst of allowing th initially litrary ncountr with th gopi's Lord to bcom a distinctly rligious xprinc with ontological dimnsions. Th scular asthticians insist that rasa is a purly litrary xprinc; for thm, it has no baring on th ral world apart from a tmporary xaltation of th mind of th apprciator.' Th Gosvamins, howvr, want to crat a situation in which asthtic joy has th potntial of gnuin, indd ultimat, sotriological consquncs. Thus th Vai!Ulvas s th Km1a-1i/Q as much mor than just anothr historic or vn suprnatural vnt immortalizd by a pot. It is an ongoing, transphnomnal rality, trnally taking plac on th highst clstial plan. Imaginativ idntification with th story, thrfor, if practicd with sufficint intnsity, bcoms much mor than a sourc of asthtic plasur--mor, vn, than a caus of profound rligious motion. It is a mans of ffcting a chang in ontological lvl. Through this practic, oncan truly transfr on's bing to ' s trnal ralm or, howvr brifly, mak that world manifst in th trrstrial sphr. Th mtaphysical intrst continus in th analysis of bhakti-rasa itslf. Th prmannt motion of th dvo- 5

9 tional sntimnt, lik that of th potic rasas, is latnt in th hart of th apprciator. But in th cas of bhakti, according to th Gosvamins, it is not acquird through ordinary mpirical xprinc. Th stluiyi-bluiva of dvotion, lov for Kf!i, is non othr than th rati ('10v") that is innatly prsnt in all bings as an aspct of th Lord's trnal hiadini-sakti, th divin "powr of bliss." Krsna-rati, th basis of bhakti-rasa, is thrfor trnal ii\ 'natur (nitya-siddha) and constantly abiding, in latnt form, in th hart. As a stluiyi-bluiva, it is truly prmannt." Madhustidana maks a similar attmpt to dmonstrat that bhakti-rasa participats in ultimacy. Lik th Gosvamins, h suggsts that th prmannt motion of th sntimnt of dvotion is not on drivd from ordinary mpirical xprinc. H cannot, howvr, idntify ithr bhakti-rasa or its stluiyi-bluiva as a divin powr. In Adyaita th only sakti blonging to th Suprm Lord (Isvara) is mayli, th ontological status of which is dubious at bst. H thrfor attmpts a mor radical solution, on h hops is a truly non-dualist way of lvating rasa abov th phnomnal. Th prmannt motion of bhakti-rasa is not a divin Sakti. It is, according to BhR 1, th vry form of th Blssd Lord (Bhagavat), prsnt in th mind as a rflction. Morovr, this "form of God" (bhagavad-ilkara) is trnally and inhrntly prsnt in th mind, sinc "th trnal Lord, th Innr Controllr of all, prvads vrything and is th substratum of th inxprssibl maya, th subtl caus of th mind itslf."7 Bcaus it is a rflction of th Lord, who is pur bliss <linanda), th stluiyi-bluiva also is pur bliss. All th mor, thn, will th rasa that ariss from it b blissful. 8 According to th Advaitic "rflction-thory" (pratibimba-viida), most typically usd to show th idntity of th individual soul and Brahman, th rflction is finally non-diffrnt from th objct rflctd. Applid hr, th doctrin suggsts that dfining bhakti as th rflction of th Lord is th sam as idntifying it with him. This maks it impossibl to spak of bhakti or 6

10 bhakti-rasa as a modification (vrtti) of th mind. Madhusudana tlls us that rasa is quivalnt to th suprm rality and that, as such, it is distinct from th vrtti which manifsts it. Making us of Taittiriya Upanif!lld.7.1, h xplicitly idntifis rasa with th Upan dic Atman: '''Rasa is th suprm bliss, th vry Slf: so say th scripturs.'" Again: Rasa is said to b th sthdyi-bluiva manifstd as bliss... Sinc this bliss is that of th Slf, it has no locus or support, but th [locus and support] of th vrtti which manifsts it is th mind of th connoissur.l0, f t I, n y,r I,f I, it 1-,f i d h,r Th scond half of this vrs introducs th ida, so important to th Gosvamins' xposition, that rasa is distinct from th mntal modification. This notion is rpatd mphatically latr on: A singl modification of th mind, consisting of th matrial quality of luminosity (sattva-guijil), is producd... This [modification) immdiatly and ncssarily manifsts th suprm bliss, and that [bliss) is rasa. Som tachrs, howvr, hold that this [modification) itslf is rasa." Madhusudana, thn, lik th Gosvamins and for similar rasons, taks pains to show that th sntimnt of dvotion is mor than a mr mntal phnomnon. Th rasa is not a vrtti of th mind, as a traditional followr of Sankara would hold; nor is it a divin Sakti; for this Advaitin, it is th suprm bliss (sukhamuttamam) itslf: Th Lgitimacy of Bhakti as a Rasa Th lvation of bhakti to ontic status prpars th ground for th dfns of its plac as a lgitimat rasa. Against Mammata's dictum that dvotion to a dity cannot b a sntimnt, th Va J;lavas argu that this objction applis only to th "ordinary" ditis (prajqta- 7

11 dva). It dos not apply to!lil, who himslf is rasa. Madhusudana taks a similar tack. If angr, grif, and far, which ar painful, can bcom rasas, how can anyon dny that bhakti, which is infinit bliss, is a rasa? Thr is, says Madhusudana, no good rason}2 H taks up th classical objction of th orthodox asthticians with an attitud comparabl to that of th Vai!i avas, but h lads th argumnt in a slightly diffrnt dirction. It may b tru that "lov for ditis" (dvqdivi yii rat*) is a bhilva as th rhtoricians claim. Yt this will b th cas only in rfrnc to "othr ditis" (dvdntara). Th various gods ar limitd in natur, bing thmslvs transmigrating sows, and do not mbody th highst bliss. Th objction, howvr, dos not hold tru "in rfrnc to th suprm Slf (Paramiitman) who is th highst bliss."" Not hr th implid idntification of Bhagavat (L., K!1.' ) and th Paramiitman, concivd in th Advaitic sns. Th thologians of th Bngal school would, of cours, vhmntly rjct this ida. Dnial of th Supramundan Status of th ordinary Rasas Th convntional rhtoricians think of thir rasas as supramundan (alaujcika) bcaus thy transcnd th cars and limitations of ordinary daily xprinc. Th Gosvamins, howvr, nvr tir of assrting that, in comparison with bhakti-rasa, th scular sntimnts far so poorly as to b considrd mundan (laujcika). Consisting of th matrial quality of luminosity (sattvagul'!a), thy blong to th ralm of mayii. Th plasur drivd from th scular rasas is consquntly limitd and, lik all matrial plasurs, inxtricably mixd with pain. Bhakti-rasa is far suprior, for its bliss, bing that of!lil's highst Sakti, is infinit.14 Madhusudana again parallls th Va!lIlva writrs by consistntly contradicting th scu1ar asthticians' stimat of th valu of thir sntimnts. In comparison with bhakti-rasa, thy ar inscapably laujcika ("mun- 8

12 d n?!- t i is ", ot s s ly as h h in Ir In Ja Ir d.th of rs IS ' In.ndan"). Madhusiidana displays, howvr, somwhat mor sympathy than th Gosvamins for th non-dvotional rllslls. H admits that thy, lik blulkti, ar also blissful. From th prspctiv of Advaita, h points out, all objcts-including vn th sductiv hroin (Jaimini) of th scular lov story-ar in rality nondiffrnt from Consciousnss (caitanya), which is infinit joy, th highst Rality. Th happinss drivd from th worldly sntimnts is consquntly not finally diffrnt from th suprm bliss of Brahman. It is, howvr, not th pur iinanda of til ultimat itslf. Rathr, it is th bliss of that Consciousnss as conditiond, and hnc limitd, by th objcts. Hnc th joy of th mundan rllslls is rstrictd. Th dlight of blulkti-rasa, on th othr hand, sinc it is nothing othr than th pur, unconditiond bliss of BlulgaVtlt, is unlimitd and far suprior to th joy of th worldly sntimnts.15 Bhalti, thn, is th highst rasa, bcaus it is th suprm bliss in its prfct fullnss, untaintd by sorrow. Th rotic and th othr scular sntimnts cannot attain such lvls of joy, and ar tilrfor infrior. In comparison with blulkti-rasa, thy ar lik firflis shining in th fac of th sun.'6 Classification of Rasas Th Bngal Vai!! vas rcogniz fiv authntic mods of approach to th divin, ach associatd with charactrs in scriptur who pitomiz a particular kind of rlationship with K 1)3. Connctd with ths fiv dvotional moods (ptliica-bhavtl) ar an qual numbr of primary (mukhya) blulkti-rasas." In santi, th tranquil mood, lov (rati) for Kr,;l'a appars in a form uncolord by othr motional attituds; hnc this bhava is also calld suddlul ("pur"). Th othr four bhtivas ar diisya ("srvanthood"), sakhya ("frindship"), viitsillya ("parnthood"), and madhura ("swtnss," th Gosvamins' trm for th rotic mood). In ths, th flow of lov is rfractd, as it wr, through th prism of various motional t()ns appropriat to th 9

13 rspctiv rlationships. It is important to not, though, that th VaiWavas considr ths "mixd" moods to b mor blissful, and hnc mor valuabl, than th tranquil form of dvotion,!anti.' Th Gosvamins rgard th lattr (along with its associatd rasa, iinta) as lowr than th othrs bcaus it is basd on th ralization of God In his Lordly natur (itfa-svari1pa), which inspirs aw in addition to lov. Th Mnta-bhaktas ("tranquil dvots") do not dsir to srv Krsna or ntr Into his joyous ltlzfs, but ar satisfid In mrly obtaining a vision of th dity.19 Tru cstatic bhakti bgins only In tidsya, with th mrgnc of a fling of a distinctly prsonal rlationship with as th suprmly blissful Bhagavat. Aftr disya, th ascnding ordr of bhakti-rasas is dtrmind by incrasing dgrs of Intimacy with I,lll. Th hirarchy culminats In th sntimnt of th gopis, madhura. This is th most highly prizd of all rasas sinc it Involvs th most Intimat and most blissful rlationship with th Lord. As such, it is calld bhakti-rasa-riija, th "king of all dvotional sntimnts." Only Ridha hrslf,!"l's favorit, can xprinc it In its compltnss.2 In th scond and third chaptrs of th BhR, Madhusiidana ntrs upon a lngthy and complx analysis of th various typs and possibl combinations of sthiiyi-bhiivas and rasas. H accpts a total of svntn sntimnts, of which tn ar rcognizd as possibl bhaktirasas.21 Th most important of ths, for our purposs, ar(1)srngiira ("rotic lov") and (2)5uddha ("pur"lov). Th xposition is xplicitly Intndd to rflct th xprinc of K I,lll' s companions In V avana; it is dsignd to suggst how th divin bliss of bhakti can b richly articulatd to Includ all th cstatic nuancs of th dvotion njoyd by ths paradigmatic dvots, as dscribd in th Bhagavata PuriilJa. Nvrthlss, it is also tru that hr th uniqu, Advaitic slant of Madhusiidana's work mrgs most dramatically. Th tranquil sntimnt, admittd by both Vopadva and Riipa Gosvamln as a lgitimat bhakti-rasa, is x- 10 pi G 01 al l Bl hi fr, tl1 n, kt cc dl h, sa m is as sc (11: v v, su Stl G, G, KI oj an in of "S su 1m ac r

14 11 plicitly rjctd as such by Madhusudana. This is b caus, according to him, it cannot hav Bhagavat as its objct." This suggsts (1) that h follows th classical asthticians in associating Santa with th asctic, nonmotional paths of knowldg and yoga, which aim at Brahman-ralization and moksa, and (2) that h wishs, bcaus of this association, to sparat siinta compltly from dvotion. This would b in accord with th BhR' 5 thory that bhakti is an indpndnt spiritual path with no positiv rlation to th qust for libration through knowldg.23 Whil rjcting santa, intrprtd on th lins of convntional potics, as a dvotional sntimnt, Madhu-sudana introducs a nw bhakti-rasa that is, in fact, hard to distinguish from th Vaili vas' vrsion of simta." H calls it suddha, th "pur." lik th Gosviimins' tranquil sntimnt, th pur bhakti-rasa of th BhR is fr from mixtur with th various motional tons associatd with human lov-rlationships; it is promptd solly by th mind's joyous ralization of th gratnss (miijuitmya) of th Lord.25 This similarity dos not, howvr, indicat that Madhusiidana accpts th VailiJ;lava valuation of this sntimnt. Indd, his concption of suddha-bhakti-rasa bcoms th focal point of th most striking diffrnc btwn his systm and that of th Gosvamins. Gopi-bhakti Subordinatd to a Highr Idal Madhusudana appars at first to follow th univrsal K it tndncy to rgard srngiirll or madhura, th lov of th gopis for thir Lord, as th highst form of bhakti and th highst rasa. H dscribs it as "xtrmly intns" (tivra-twra), "th most powrful" (balavattara) of all sntimnts." Th gopis, h says, xprinc th "suprm sntimnt" (paramo rasal]). It consists of a sublimly dlctabl blnding of rotic lov, parntal lov, frindship, and lov-in-far-a mixtur in which, according to a standard rul of th asthticians, th rsulting dlight is gratr than th joy of its constitunt

15 lmnts.>' Following th V l)3va tradition of imitativ bhakti, h says that a dvot "should subordinat his own mind to that of th womn of Vrndavana."" Such thinking is also vidnt in Madhusuctana's dscription of th highst stag of bhakti at th nd of chaptr on of th BhR." It shows just how far h is willing to go, as an Advaitin and a rnunciat, to accommodat th cstatic dvotional mood of th Va avas. Th glorification of th bhakti of th gopis, howvr, is not final. In a radical dpartur from traditional Va ava thought, Madhustidana rsrvs th highst xp rinc of dvotion for thos who follow, not th passionat cowhrd womn of Vrndavana, but rathr th tranquil sag-dvots, th nlightnd rnunciats who worship Kn>!l3 in a mor subdud way. This chang of mphasis is not immdiatly obvious, sinc th discussion ofth lvnth and highst stag of dvotion at BhR 1.36 dos not suggst anything byond th bhakti basd on srngara. A clos xamination of svral ky stanzas of chaptr two of th txt, howvr, rvals that Madhusudana dos not wish to accpt dvotion basd on th analogy of human passion as th ultimat. Vrss provid th first clu in this dirction: Madhustidana says that "pur lov" (suddha-rati) dirctd to K!!! is th nd of all spiritual practic.30 Such lov, w larn, is th basis of s'uddha, th sntimnt of th sam nam. This lov ariss out of contmplation of th Lord's gratnss (miijultmya), as w hav sn, not out of rotic dsir (kama), as dos th lov of th gopis. Furthr on, at 2.46, w gathr two mor rlvant pics of information. W ar told, first, that this suddha-bhakti is th mood of asctics and saints such as Sanaka and th othr trnally yout1jful, trnally clibat, "mind -born" sons of Brahma. SCond, w larn that Madhusudana classifis himslf in this catgory of dvots, though of cours on a lowr lvl than that of Sanaka.31 This prsonal statmnt, though brif and discrt, is particularly important, sinc it is th onl y clu w hav as to Madhusudana's undrstanding of his own plac in th schm of bhakti outlind in th BhR, and sinc it 12

16 would b quit natural for him to rgard his own styl of dvotion as th highst. Latr vrss confirm that this is th dirtion in which Madhusiidana is hading. Whil th lov of th gopis is mixd with a varity of sntimnts rootd in scular and vry human motions, this, Madhusiidana tlls us, is not th cas with th suddha-bhakti of th grat saints: Bing dvoid of lmnts of othr sntimnts, [pur lovllik that of Sanaka and th rst, attains th Essntial Natur (svari1pa) and bcoms th tnth sntimnt, which is vn gratr.32 Again: f Th pur (suddha) is dclard to b unconditiond, and th mixd, to b conditiond. Th unconditiond is basd solly on th majsty of th Suprm Bliss. It is said, owing to th infinit virtus of its objct of worship, to hav only on form.3j 1 f r f By saying that this typ of bhakti is "pur" or "unconditiond," h mans that it is fr of th various motional colorings associatd with th othr sntimnts, calld "mixd." Madhusudana's concption of uddha thus again rsmbls that of th Gosvlrmins. But whil th lattr sm to bliv that this particular kind of purity is a drawback, Madhusiidana rgards it as an advantag. Hr th similarity btwn th two viws cass abruptly. Th author of th BhR implicitly rjcts th Vaisnava dvaluation of th mood of th asctics in his assrtion that suddha-bhakti is abl, by virtu of its lack of xtranous motional conditioning, to participat mor intimatly in th bliss of th "ssntial natur" (svariipa) of God. It is thrfor an "vn gratr" (adhika) sntimnt. Anothr important ida introducd in this vrs is th nigmatic attribution to suddha-bhakti of "only on form" (ka-riipa). Pandya, th author of th Hindi commntary, xplains this as maning that suddha-bhakti is 13

17 xprincd only as union or consummation (sambhoga) and not, as in th Vai$",ava's srngilra, in th two forms of union and sparation (vipraiamba)." If this is Madhustidana's intntion, as sms likly, it is difficult to avoid th conclusion that, at th pinnacl of his schm of dvotion, h is allowing a dramatic rsurgnc of th spirit of Advaita. Th cstatic pain of lovin-sparation is an ssntial ingrdint of gopi'-bhakti and a vital lmnt in th traditional Krsnait undrstanding of prman and mahlibhilva, th highst stats of dvotional lov. It is, howvr, ultimatly liminatd in Madhusudana's vrsion of suddha-bhakti. Bhakti-rasa for th Advaitin Rnunciat What is Madhusudana, a non-dualist monastic, doing wandring with ",a's companions in th lush grovs of Vrndavana? Is h not in dangr of loosing his asctic dtachmnt, bdazzld by th cstatic display of th Lord's maya7 At th last, h sms to b dabbling in a spirituality, and ways of thought, that might lad him to compromis his rputation as a champion of strict Advaita. Th BhRdos not provid complt answrs to such qustions, but it dos contain imp<.!rtant clus to th mind of this nigmatic gnius of th nkara tradition. Whil his schm of bhakti-rasa dos plac a high valu on th cstatic joy of th gop! s lov for God, Madhusudana in th nd sks to subordinat th highr Vaisnava bhilvas to a mor rstraind idal. Pattrnd as thy ar aftr normal human mods of lov and invol v ing th tnsion of union/sparation as a dfining fatur, th moods of th cowhrd womn cannot b th final hight of dvotional xprinc. A mor asctic, contmplativ, and ssntially unitiv styl of dvotion suprsds thm as Madhusudana's highst goal. No doubt, it is on mor appropriat to th motional lif of a sophisticatd non-dualist rnunciat. 14

18 ENDNOTES ) t ) ) 1 " r s 1 ) f 1. Sanskrit asthtics gnrally gos by th nam alllrhkiira-lilistro, litrally, "th scinc of [potic] ornamntation." It is also calld th rasa- IIstra ("scinc of asthtic sntimnt"), du to its tndncy to concntrat, in its latr priod, on th thory of NISIl. It is concrnd almost xclusivly with problms of potics and diama, and is thrfor mor Iimild in scop than th mor broadly concivd Wstrn philosophic disciplin known as asthtics. I follow stablishd convntion hr in rfrring to it as "asthtics* or "potics, II and its writrs as Nasthticians" or "rhtoricians.",. Thir work has bn fairly wll studid, thanks particularly to th pionring scholarship of SJ(. D. S S.K. D, Early History of th Va Faith and Movmnt in Brtgal (Calcutta: Cnml Printrs and Publishrs Umitd, 1942). '. An oft"'l"otd vrs from th AdNi/Qsiddhj, popular vn today among Hindu tachrs, tnnslats: '1 know of no rality highr than Kn\"', whos hand is adornd by th flut. His complxion is lik a frsh dark cloud ladn with watr, and H wars bautiful yllow silk. His rddish lips ar lik th bimba fruit, His fac is as bautiful as th full moon, His "t":' ar lik lotuss" (2.7).. For xampl, Madhusudana's ParlDPlJllunhsapri],4/,a commntaryon th first vrs of th Bh1Iga",,/a Punm., is dividd into thr sctions. In th first, h givs th intrprtation of th Upanisadic (pupan ) school, including xplanations of svral important Broh"", Silt... Thscond xpoundsthvrs from thpointofviwofth Siitvatas or Bhigavatas, and incorporats Advaitic intrprtations of crtain catgoris important to th PlIlIcarlitra systm. 'Th third part prsnts th viw of what Madhusiidana calls th "pur dvotion" (1=GIIl-llhaJch),school. S Dvi Datta Upadhyaya. d., Th Hsri lllmrtam by Sn BopwJn>t, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Sris, No. 411 (Bnams: Th Chowkhamba Sanskrit Sris Offic, 1933). 5. Evn Abhinavagupta, of th writrs on potics th most intrstd in in spirituality, writs: "&.s"s ar found only in dmma, not in th ral world" (MlY..., jok,abhi...whllrati;quotd in J.L Masson and M.V. Patwardhan, _.... nd Abhi_gupla's PhiIDsophy of Asthtics [Poona: Th Bhandarkar Orintal Rsarch Institut, 1969L 54, II. 3). '. Bhaktil"llSi&n(lasiruIlul, 1.22; CaWmyaauiJII"'{Ia mlllihya 221 f17, TfJi on BhR 1.32, p. 70. I hav usd th SrinllldbluUrtirosiiyRMm, ditd with Madhusiidana's T/}}f on th first U/lIIsa and th ditor's Hindi Anu1!til by Janardana Sastri Pandya (VaIanasi: MotilaJ Banarsidas, 1961). All pag rfrncs ar to this dition. '. "Th prmannt motion known as lov (raft) is th form of th Blssd Lord. Manifst as a... it rvals itslf as an immdiat ralization of th highst bliss* qw on BhR 1.1, p.10). 15

19 '. BhR 3.24, p ". BhR 3.2b-3, p ". BhR , p ". BhR 2.7S-79, p ". BhR , p H. S.c. Chakravarti, Th Philosophical Foundation of Bngal V ai, avism: A Critical Exposition (Calcutta: Acadmic Publishrs, 1%9),348, IS. BhR ". BhR , p I'. D, Early History, 149. a Caitanyacaritamruz madhya I'. Caitanyacaritifm!1a madhya ; D, Early History, 145, 272, 2%. ". D, Early History, 148, BhR , p At , th bhakti-rasas ar listd as: (1) spigara ("rotic lov"), (2) karu' l (llcompassion"),(3) hasya ("mirth"), (4) priti-ljhaylmaka ('10v-in-far"), (5) adbhuta ("wondr"), (6) yuddha-vira ("hroism in battl"), (7)d4na-vira ("hroism in chariti'), (8) suddha ("pur"), (9) vatsa'" ("parntal affction"), and (10) pryas ("darnss" or "frindship"). ". BhR , p ". 1lkiI on BhR 1.1, p Indd, th trm sw1d1ul is somtims usd by th Vaisnavas.. thmslvs to dsignat th sthryi-bhava of Santa. ". BhR , p ". BhR 2.36, p ". BhR , p ". BhR 2.71, p Too. on BhR ". BhR 2.12b-13, p BhJ!. 2.46, p. l65. Madhusiidana is crtainly wll-awar of th fact that Sati.kara, in th introduction to his commntary on th BhagllTJlldgitJi, idntifis Sanaka and th othrs as th first, paradigmatic xponnts of th path of rnunciation and knowldg. n. BhR 2.73, p n. BhR 2.64b-65, p ". p., 180.