History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c16.s1.t1.8

c16.s1.t1.8

is a description in the language of the Bhagavad-Gita, and a description which, according to the literary practice of the age, has to give a double meaning. The devotee and his God are both described by the same language. This might appear to a non-Hindu reader or to a reader who has not entered into the Hindu mystery of *bhakti* as a blasphemous assumption of God's attributes. But it is not so; there is in the cult of *bhakti* its highest doctrine that there should be unity (*ananyatā*) between the deity and the devotee. The devotee begins to partake of the nature of his deity until he is spiritually fully transformed and finally become one with the deity. He becomes the missionary and the agent of the Lord. He works as the medium, and all his works are dedicated to his Lord. The Guptas felt and believed that they were Vishnu's servants and agents, that they had a mission from Vishnu, that like Vishnu they should conquer the unrighteous and rightless sovereigns, and that like Vishnu they should rule in full sovereignty and bring happiness promised by the lotus in Vishnu's hand, to the people of India. They fully executed this mission and Samudra Gupta felt the consciousness that he had executed that mission well and won the Heaven thereby. Like Vishnu, Samudra Gupta and his successors filled their kingdom of India with gold and plenty, with propserity, elegance and culture.