Experience as the Heart of Bhakti
Anubhava (Sanskrit: anu = following, bhava = experience — that which follows from actual encounter) is the direct, living experience of what is taught in the theological texts. It is the complement of jñāna (knowledge) — while jñāna tells us about the Lord, anubhava is the actual meeting with him.
In Sri Vaishnava theology, the Āzhvārs' songs are records of anubhava — not merely statements of theological positions but the testimony of those who have actually experienced the Lord's presence, beauty, and love. When Tiruppāṇ Āzhvār sees the Lord's form from feet to crown and is overwhelmed, that is anubhava.
Three Kinds of Anubhava
- Śāstrīya anubhava — the philosophical understanding that leads to a conceptual experience of the Lord's nature
- Manōratha anubhava — the imagination-driven experience in which the devotee mentally participates in the Lord's stories and līlās (especially common in the Āzhvār approach)
- Sākṣātkāra anubhava — the direct, unmediated vision of the Lord — the highest form, granted as Bhagavat-prasāda (the Lord's own gift)
Anubhava and Kalakshepam
The tradition of kalakshepam (discourse on texts) is fundamentally a tradition of cultivating anubhava. The teacher does not merely explain what a verse says but evokes through story, poetry, and emotion the feeling of the experience the Āzhvār is describing. The listener enters the Āzhvār's anubhava through the ācārya's own anubhava.