Self-Possessed, 9

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9.

Devotion as [Spirit-]Possession

pp. 345-62

9.1

The Gita and the Ananda-vardhana

345-7

9.2

Vallabha-acarya

347-50

9.3

S`ri Caitanya & the Gaud.iya

350-3

9.4

Aves`a and Bhava

353-6

9.5

Alternative Veda-anta-s

356-9



9.1

The Gita and Ananda-vardhana

345-7

p. 345 omniscience via deity-possession

"Vallabhacarya (1479-1531 [Chr.E.]) ... in his commentary on the Bhagavata [Upa-]Puran.a (BhP 10.27.24 [p. 359, n. 9:1 : " Vallabhacarya's enumration of the chapters differs from that of most standard editions. This corresponds to BhP 10.30.24 in the text used in other sectarian traditions."]) ... writes : (one who is in a state of divine possession becomes omniscient)."

p. 346 bhakti as aves`a (according to the Locana by Abhinava-gupta)

[quoted from Ingalls et al 1990, p. 655] “bhakti is absorption (aves`a) in that … highest form of the self, the essence of the universe … . Nothing is found equal to it, nor does anything resemble it.”

Ingalls et al 1990 = Ingalls; Masson; Patwardhan : The Dhvanyaloka of Anandavardhana with the Locana of Abhinavagupta. HARVARD ORIENTAL SER, 49.

pp. 346-7 complex atman

p. 346

According to Abhinavagupta, "In the experience of rasa, one is immersed in one's own self (svatmanupraves`at [sva-atma[n]-anu-praves`-]) while fully engaing the subtle traces (vasana) of our inherent sense of love, among other sentiments ... . In this statement, Abhinavagupta admits to a complex self (atman), which is ... the operative Indic concept, after ... its ...

p. 347

brahman-atman".

{This would imply, of course, that brahman is, alike unto the atman, "complex" (which it must perforce be anyway, in order, as the ground-for-being of the universe, to account for the intricacies of the universe and of the universe's contents).}

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9.2

Vallabha-acarya

347-50

p. 347 divine spirit-possession

in his own commentary {autocommentary}, Prakas`a, on the S`astrartha section (verse 53cd) of his Tattvartha[-]dipa[-]nibandha (Essay Illuminating the Nature of Truth), Vallabhacarya states that, for one in a state of divine possession (bhagavad[-]aves`e), the Lord's own attributes, such as pervasiveness, enter that person”.

[p. 359, n. 9:11 : “Cf. Timm 1985:241.”]

Timm 1985 = Jeffrey R. Timm : God, Language, and Revelation : the Tattvarthadipanibandha of Vallabhacarya. PhD diss, Temple U.

p. 348 para-brahman in r.s.i-s

Purus.ottama (mid-seventeenth century), says [in his commentary on Bala-bodha 5:14] … that the Supreme Absolute, para[-]brahman, has entered into (aves`ya) various r.s.is in order to compel them to expound different philosophies. For example, claims Purus.ottama, para[-]brahman as Narayan.a caused Narada to become possessed (aves`ita) so that he would compose Pan~ca[-]ratra texts.”

p. 349 worthiness to be worshipped, of a mortal body temporarily inhabited by a deity

Purus.ottama emphasizes that … If a person possesses all the qualities of the divine, then that person is worthy of being treated as divine.

These archetypal qualities (gun.as) that achieve full perfection … are majesty (ais`varya), potency (virya), glory (yas`as), beauty (s`ri), knowledge (jn~ana), and dispassion (vairagya).”

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9.3

S`ri Caitanya & the Gaud.iya

350-3

p. 350 aves`a-avatara-s in "the works of Jiva and Rupa Gosvami, the two greatest disciples and successors of S`ri Caitanya (1486-1533 [Chr.E.])"

"Rupa's Samks.epa-Bhagavatamr.ta (Concise Nectar {Ambrosia} of the Bhagavata Puran.a) catalogues various types of avatara[-]s. ...

Jiva Gosvami, one generation after Rupa, redefines Rupa's views in his S`ri[-]kr.s.n.a[-]sandarbha. According to Jiva, various sages are "in possession" (aves`a) of diferent aspects of ... power : ... jn~ana[-]s`akti or power of knowledge, ... bhakti[-]s`akti or power of devotion, and ... kriya[-]s`akti or power of action."

p. 350 Caitanya

"The earliest available life of S`ri Caitanya ... is the Sanskrit Caitanya[-]caritamr.ta by Murari[-]gupta. Murari reports [De 1942, pp. 36 sq] that, at various moments of his life, Caitanya revealed himself as an aves`avatara ... of Varaha, Nr.simha, and Samkars.an.a. S`ri Caitanya's frequent bouts of divine intoxication resembled states of madness or [spirit-]possession".

De 1942 = S. K. : Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal. Calcutta : Firma KLM.

pp. 351-2 multiple deity-possessions in mutiple meditative bodies

p. 351

"In his Bhakti[-]rasamr.ta[-]sindhu (1.2.272), Rupa states that this ecstatic participation is ... the highest absorption (paramavis.t.ata) ... . The related ... possession and embodiment are ... in the Gaud.iya Vais.n.ava school .. a doctrine of multiple embodiment."

p. 352

in the Bhakti[-]rasamr.ta[-]sindhu and the commentaries on it, the physical body is called sadhaka-deha or sadhaka-rupa. It is this body which is visible to others.


But advanced devotees are able to perform … with their meditative bodies (siddha-rupa, siddha-deha)”.

[p. 361, n. 9:29 “It is Rupa Kavi-raja who describes the siddha-rupa as the “meditative body” (bhavanamaya[-]rupa, antas`cintita[-]rupa).”]

pp. 352, 361 a devotee's meditative body

p. 352

[quoted from Haberman 1988, p. 89] The siddha-rupa is “the eternal body one is to inhabit … when perfection (siddha) has been attained. … The body that one meditates in will be the very body that one resides in eternally after death.” [p. 361, n. 9:29 : "It is Rupa Kaviraja who describes the siddha-rupa as the "meditative body" (bhavana[-]maya[-]rupa, antas`cintita[-]rupa)."]

p. 361, n. 9:30

three other terms for this body : bhagavati-tanu, vaikun.t.ha-murti, and mukta-purus.a. A related doctrine is found in the Pus.t.i[-]marga, in Hariraya's commentary, called Bhav[-]prakas`, on the Braj[-]bhas.a vartas or “histories” written by Gokulanatha … of the 84 disciples of Vallabhacarya … and the 252 disciples of Vit.t.hal[-]nath[-]ji, Vallabhacarya's second son ... . ...

Briefly, however, the three janma[-]s are

the adhi[-]bhautika, the body of the individual before initiation into the Pus.t.i[-]marga,

the adhy[-]atmika or spiritual body reconstituted after brahma[-]sambandha, the Pus.t.i[-]marga rite of initiation, for use in seva and in discourse with other bhakta[-]s, and

the adhi[-]daivika or divine body ... for use in eternal lila, in Goloka."

Haberman 1988 = David Haberman : Acting as a Way of Salvation : a Study of Raganuga Bhakti Sadhana. Oxford U Pr.

p. 353 spirit-possession of actors (according to the Chr.E. 1713 commentary by Priya Das on Nabhadas's Bhakta-mal)

In … the performance of a Kr.s.n.a lila near Puri, the actor playing the role of Narasimha … became … possessed by, the character he was playing … . In order to prove that the actor was himself innocent, and not personally responsible …, he … in another lila … – … possessed by – his character, … actually died of grief during the performance, thus proving his innocence.”

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9.4

Aves`a and Bhava

353-6

p. 362, n. 9:39 personification of Manyu as a deity

The anthropomorphizing of emotion in India can be traced to R.gvedic hymns (10.83-84) to manyu (anger).”

{As such, deity Manyu is the Vaidik aequivalent to the Awestan deity Angro Mainyu (Ahriman).}

p. 355 divine black-bee

In the eponymous Bhramara-Gita (BhP 10.47), the gopis praise a black bee (bhramara) said to be the Supreme Lord”.

{Aristaios “obeyed and … a swarm of bees arose … . He captured the swarm, which he put into a hive” (GM 82.i).}

pp. 355-6 “open” absorption; sama-adhi

p. 355

aves`a is state of “open” absorption, in that … the identity of the experiencer can shift in different directions ... . … However, aves`a

p. 356

can be induced only by more advanced devotees. Anyone may experience bhava, but very few can experience true aves`a. …


The Kathamr.ta describes … states of ecstasy … [Kripal 1995, p. 340, n. 63 :] : “When … in samadhi, his body becomes motionless … . In bhava, on the other hand, he can move, even dance ... .””

Kripal 1995 = Jeffrey J. Kripal : Kali's Child : the Mystical and Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna. U of Chicago Pr.

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9.5

Alternative Veda-anta-s

356-9

pp. 356-7 Nammalvar

p. 356

"Nammalvar, the great Tamil saint whose poetry predates by several

p. 357

centuries the works of Vallabhacarya and Rupa Gosvami[,] ... "speaks frequently of being entered, filled, taken over, enslaved as well as enabled by a divine being," [Ramanujan 1981, p. 117] characteristics of [deity-]possession".

Ramanujan 1981 = A. K. Ramanujan : Hymns for the Drowning : Poems for Vis.n.u by Nammalvar. Princeton U Pr.

p. 357 aequal absoluteness

"One of the characteristic features of "alternative" advaita theologies -- including the vis`is.t.advaita (qualified nondualism) of Ramanuja, the s`uddhadvaita (pure nondualism) of Vallabhacarya, and the a[-]cintya[-]bhedabheda (inconceivable nondifference in difference) of S`ri Caitanya and his disciple -- is that the {material} universe and the {non-material universe of the deities} are held to be equally real and equally absolute."

p. 357 spirit controlleth matter

If the universe is held to be false (mithya) or illusory (maya) …, then any animation, any discernable sign of life may be construed as spirit animating, takihg control of, possessing matter. … In this way, all life is nothing but possession – the “natural” interpenetration of spirit and matter – and

phenomena otherwise regarded as possession are little more than embellishments on that theme, a more nuanaced or higher order of possession.”

{The difference between a material body's being occupied by a mortal, from its being occupied by an immortal, is that the mortal must forget any praevious knowledge whenever incarnated into a new body as a baby (and therefore must re-learn any knowledge); whereas as immortal will not drastically forget merely on account of entring a body. The sorts of attaiment described and on pp. 322 and 329, howbeit, entail mortals who have attained the styles of entry which are characteristic of immortals (and thereby nearly obliterating any distinction between mortal and immortal).}

p. 358 the universe is divinized by being divinely entered

However, in Vallabhacarya's s`uddhadvaita the entire universe is divinized … [by] aks.ara[-]brahman ... . … Just as embodiment is divinized, aves`a is, in the idiom readily employed in the texts of the Vallabha school, adhidaiviki (divine) … with respect to … devotional possession”.

p. 358 deceiving (i.e., impiously so) women

[Kural. 918, quoted from Burrow 1979, p. 283] "They say that infatuation with deceiving women for those devoid of discriminating knowledge is possession by an evil spirit."

Burrow 1979 = Thomas Burrow : "Review of Hart, The Relation Between Tamil and Classical Sanskrit Literature". IND0-IRANIAN J 21:282-4.

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Frederick M. Smith : The Self-Possessed : Deity and Spirit Possession in South Asian Literature and Civilization. Columbia U Pr, NY, 2006.