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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
The Systems of Rāmānuja .....
547
rites and ceremonies without regard for their fruit. The Karmayoga purifies the soul and leads to jñāna yoga or acquisition of knowledge. This knowledge consists in seeing oneself different from Praksti or matter, and an attribute of God himself (S'esa). This jñānayoga leads to Bhakti. Bhaktiyoga, or the method of Bhakti consists in continuous meditation accompanied by the practice of Yoga process."'! Bhakti is defined as 'the form of intense love towards Him (God).'? Närada thinks that devotion is indicated by the condition of having dedicated all observances whatsoever to Him, and by the feeling of extreme uneasiness in losing Him from memory. Sānļilya defines it'as the absolute attachment to God'. Rāmānuja says —"....he who possesses remembrance, marked by the character of immediate presentation (säksātkāra-
e far), and which itself is dear above all things since the object remembered is such; he, we say, is chosen by the highest Self, and by him the highest self is gained. Steady remembrance of this kind is designated by the word 'devotion' (bhakti); for this term has the same meaning as Upāsanā (meditation)."" Rāmānuja employs the term Bhakti in the sense of 'steady remembrance'. Rāmānuja holds that
1 Bhandarkar R. G. : Vaisnavism, S'aivism and Minor Religious Systems, pp. 54, 55.
2 Sinha Nandlal (Tr.) : The Bhakti Sūtras of Narada, Sūtra 2, p. 2. ATT RHTHEYTI
3 Ibid. Sūtra 19, p. 9.
4 Ramānuja - Com.on Vedanta Sūtras. Tr. Thibaut, I .1.1, p. 16.
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