Introduction
According to ancient tradition there were two parallel currents of religio-philosophical thinking that emanated from the Supreme God-Head and they were known as the Nigama and Agama. The former includes the Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanisads etc. and also the later orthodox schools of Indian philosophy that are based on them heads, (i) the Vaisnava agamas (ii) The Sanskrit agamas, and (iii) The Saiva agamas. Both these currents are said to be anadi, i.e without beginning.
Historically speaking however these currents have datable origin. The Vaisnava current, for instance, is said to have developed from the Bhagavata – current the latter being in existence in forth century B.C. Dr. R.G. Bhandarakar in his book, ‘Vaisnavism, Saivism and minor Religious system’, has referred to certain literary and archaeological evidences to show that the worshippers of Vasudeva, who were called Bhagavatas, existed about three or four century before Christ. The Narayaniya-section of Mahabharata gives detailed description of such religious worshippers of Narayana, krsna, Vasudeva etc. and Bhakti as their mode of worship, through certain stories. There is also an evidence of existence of vast literature all over the country belonging to their particular school of thinking viz. Bhagavata Sampradaya. Pancaratras and Satvatas were two parallel streams of thought which enriched the Bhagavata-religion
Vaisnava current is relatively modern in the sense that this term is not found in the ancient literature. It is generally believed that Vaisnava way of thinking developed out of Bhagavata stream which includes Pancaratras, Ekantins and Satvatas etc. It is true that nothing can be said finally about this, as there is a great deal of controversy among scholars.
For the purpose of our present study we take Ramanuja to b starting point of the Vaisnava faith since it was he alone, “who integrated the Vedanta philosophy with the Pancaratra doctrine and initiated the massive Vaisnava movement of devotion, faith and philosophy”. It was he who raised the Vaisnava movement to the level of philosophy by writing scholarly work on the subject, full of dialectical reasons. He was followed by Nimbarka, Madhva and Vallabha. These four school of Vaisnava religion came into existence. They propagated Visistadvaitavada or qualified monism, Dvaitadvaita-vada that is dualism Dvaitavada i.e dualism and Suddha –dvaita-vada, i.e pure-monism, respectively
The Gaudiya Vaisnavism though a later development has vast literature which to begin with was in Sanskrit and later in Bengali. The present work deals with the concept of Bhakti which was considered by the Gaudiya Vaisnavas as the sole means of attaining the supreme goal of life. The first chapter takes up the concept of Purusartha for examination.
In the chapter entitled, “The concept of Purusartha in Indian philosophy” the meaning of the element artha in the compound purusartha has been discussed. Incidentlly the concept of anartha as distinct form artha has also been examined in the Sabara –basya on Jaimi’s sutra has different connotations when compared to artha in a generic sense and one of the four purusarthas as distinct from Dharma, Kama and Moksa. Thus the definition of artha in the Subodhini-tika on Sabarabhasya implies that which is sukhadhika-duhkajanaktvam i.e whatever does not cause more pain than pleasure is Artha. This definition however applies to Nyaya and Samkhya view of moksa as absolute freedom from pleasure (sukha) and pain (duhkha)
The nature of four purusarthas viz. Dharma Artha, Krma and Moksa has been critically examined. The subject matter of all the purusarthas has been dealt with their relative importance as being primary and secondary ends of life. Lastly the concept of Moksa in different schools of Indian philosophy has been discussed in the next chapter.
In the chapter entitles, “Moksa (salvation) in Indian Philosophy, a critical examination of the different can broadly be classified under two heads, viz ., one accepting soul postulate theories of Moksa different from those who deny the existence of a permanent soul. Again, the group acceoting the permanent soul have conceived Moksa either as positive state or as negative state in keeping with their philosophical views.
The Buddhists deny the existence of a permanent soul hence their theory of Nirvana has been examined first.
As regards the group accepting the existence of a permanent soul, it has been shown tat the negativistic views of those, e.g. Nyaya-Vaisesikas Samkhya and yoga, are not satisfactory. As such a negative conception of the state of Moksa cannot be regarded as a desirable end to be pursued. Further the conception of Moksa in the Advaita Vedanta of Sankara which is a positive conception has been discussed next. It has been shown that the Advaita view is also inconsistent in as much as, it leads to the complete identification of the self with the Absolute. It also goes against the authority of the Scriptures, according to which the self, in the state of moksa is not at all, identified or lost in Brahman, the conception of Mukti according to the Vaisnavites such as Ramanujists, Madhvites, Vallabhites and Nimbarkist, which is a higher and wider conception when compared to that of other systems.
The conception of Mukti in the theistic schools of vedanta (i.e. Vaisnavites) has been takes up for discussion in the next chapter. As the conception of mukti in different theistic schools cannot be fully understood without their metaphysical ground hence the metaphysics of the different theistic schools has been briefly mentioned, specially the concept of soul, its continuance even in the sate of Moksa its being of limited nature and its dependence on the personality of the God-head.
Coming to our analysis of the different kinds of Mukti admitted by these theistic schools, it has been found that all the five varieties of mukti has been accepted by all of them. Coming to the Gaudiya school, we have found that they also, speak of five kinds of mukti of which, sayujya mukti has been badly deprecated by them as there being no occasion of serving the lord in any possible way. It has been shown that the Gaudiyas in fact, do not attach much importance to all these varieties of Mukti. This is because, they propagate much higher value of life, viz., Bhakti or the love of the Lord as the supreme end of life. It has been fully discussed in the next chapter.
In the chapter entitled, “Prema Bhakti as Pancama Purusartha”, it has been shown how the joy of mukti pale asunder as compared to the joy of Bhakti or love of God. It has been illustrated by citing examples from the Bhakti Sandarbha. The Supremacy of Bhakti over Moska, the fourth end of human life has been shown fully and this however, leads to know about the nature of Bhakti as it is and this has been taken up in the next chapter.
An attempt has been made to trace the origin and development of the cult of Bhakti in the chapter entitled, “The concept of Bhakti according to the Theistic schools of Vedanta.” The origin has been traced right from the Vedas to sutra –literature and the Bhagavata Purana. This enabled us to make a clear distinction of the cult of Bhakti as has been conceived and developed by the four major schools of Vaisnava thought. Bhakti has been regarded according to these systems, as only a handmaid of Mukti. Further, it has been pointed out that Bhakti, is always mixed with Jnana-Karma and yoga etc., in all these systems. Though they also hold Bhakti as superior to Jnana and Karma etc. but it has been conceived as an instrument for the achievement of Mukti only. This view has been severely criticized by the Gaudiyas on the ground that they could not raise Bhakti to such and extent that it could be pure and undefiled.
From above we have found that the Ramanujists and Madhvites seem to follow the Vaidhi type of Bhakti while Nimbarkists and Vallabhites lay a greater emphasis on Raganuaga –way of Bhakti. The doctrine of Pustimarge according to Vallabhites has been examined in detail. Though all these systems consider Mukti to be the highest end of life, where Bhakti stands only as means to that end, Vallabhites however, appear to have broken th orthodox Vaisnava tradition to some extent. This is probably due to indirect influence of Sri Caitanya –(his contemporary). It is significant to note that the views of vallabha on Bhakti as developed in Pusti Marga bear a close resemblance to those of the Gaudiyas. The phalarupa Bhakti of the Nimbarka-school has been mentioned in this chapter which bears similarity with the Prema-Bhakti of the Gaudiyas.
The Gaudiya conception of Bhakti which forms the subject matter of the present work has been taken up separately in the chapter entitled “concept of Bhakti in Gaudiya Vaisnavism”. The discussion opens with the concept of Uttama Bhakti as given by Sri Rupa Goswami. Sri Jiva Goswami has elaborated this concept by describing its different varieties, which have been mentioned in detail. Sadhana Bhakti and Sadhya Bhakti has been discussed in detail with their sub-division of (1) Vaidhi and Raganuga and (2) Bhava and Prema –Bhakti is the highest one. It is the culminating point of one’s Sadhana. The Sadhaka attaining the stage of Premabhakti assumes an eternal form of serving the lord according to his mode of worship.
The chapter entitled, “The Concept of Bhakti as Rasa, According to the Gaudiyas” deals with the contribution of the Gaudiyas on the theory if rasa as a religion. Prior to the Gaudiyas, we find that the conception of Bhakti as to the Gaudiyas, we find that the conception of Bhakti as a means or Sadhana has been highly developed by the other Vaisnava schools, similarly, the conception of rasa has been equally developed by the school of Alankarikas. But the two lines have remained separate, i.e neither the Bhakti has anything of rasa in it. The Gaudiyas however may be said to have opened altogether fresh grounds by amalgamating the two separate trends by formulating the conception of Bhakti as rasa. Different theories regarding the locus of rasa have also been critically examined from the point of view of the Gaudiyas. The, the question of enumeration of Rasa has bee dealt with. The five primary Bhakti rasas has been explained in detail with their attendant feelings, while seven secondary rasas find passing reference only. Further, Madhura Bhakti Rasa being the most important among all the rest has been explained with various characteristics and stages of development of madhurarati into Sneha, mana, pranaya etc.
In the concluding chapter, the Sadhaka’s upward journey after transcending the mundane plane has been described on the basis of Brhad-Bhagvatamrtam. The different Lokas that lie beyond Viraja the Karana-samudra upto the Krsna-loka or Goloka has been described in brief.
Further the conception of Manjari which is the special contribution of Gaudiyas has also been mentioned in brief.
