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Sri Vallabhacharya - Swami Tapasyananda

Early Life

All the great Vaishnava Acharyas — Ramanuja (1017-1137), Nimbarka (13th century) and Madhva (1238-1317) — had preceded Vallabhacharya and the only other one, Chaitanya (1485-1533), was his contemporary. Vallabha (1479-1532), son of Lakshmana Bhatta and Yellamma Garu, was of Telugu extraction. Lakshmana Bhatta belonged to a family of learned and devoted Vaishnavas residing at Kakarvad, a town on the southern bank of the river Krishna. Yellamma Garu’s mother belonged to an influential family, as her father Sharma was a priest in the service of the royal house of Vijayanagara. Lakshmana Bhatta migrated along with his family to Banaras, a city noted for its holiness and its learned scholars. But he was forced to flee the city in about 1479 because of the threat of a Muslim invasion of that place. His idea was perhaps to go back to his village. In the course of his flight when he was passing through a forest region near Camparanya, a locality near modern Raipur, the child who came to be known as Vallabha was born. It is said he was still-born and was miraculously saved. After a short stay at Camparanya, Lakshmana Bhatta returned to Banaras, as the threatened Muslim invasion did not take place.

Vallabha, as he grew up, showed himself to be an extraordinary prodigy. His education began at the age of seven. Under a teacher Vishnucitta by name, he mastered in four years the Vedas, their auxiliaries, the six systems of philosophy and scriptural texts like the Gita, the Bhagavata and the Pancaratra. When he was eleven his father passed away, and this led to the break up of the home at Banaras. From this time, even from that tender age, Vallabha undertook a pilgrimage of the whole of India three times lasting for a period of about twenty years, and all this time he remained a Brahmacharin — a celebrate aspirant. In some of these holy wanderings he was accompanied by his mother and the other family members.

First Pilgrimage

North India was at that time in turmoil because of Muslim invasion. This situation, as also the fact that the original home of the family was in the South, made him travel southward. Passing through several centers of cultural and religious importance, he arrived in Vijayanagar at the invitation of his maternal uncle who held a high position in the officialdom of that State. Krishnadevaraya, the famous ruler of that state, assumed power in the State a short time after Vallabha’s arrival in Vijayanagar. There was much religious activity in the State at that time, and controversies between the followers of Sankara, the doyen of non-dualistic Vedanta, and the disciples of Madhva, the teacher of dualistic Vedanta, were in full swing. Vallabha, though a boy of about twelve at that time, was drawn into these debates. In a debate with a leader of Sankara’s Vedanta, he is said to have come out victorious. This brought him to the notice of Krishnadevaraya who, though a pious Vaishnava, was very eclectic in his religious views. With the support of the king, the Vaishnavas, in recognition of the above mentioned victory, is said to have done Kanakabhiseka or a shower with gold, to Vallabha, as a sign of giving him the status of an Acharya. There is a different opinion that the Kanakabhiseka took place at a much later date. He stayed in Vijayanagar for about two or three years, during which period he came to have a deep understanding of the Vaishnava philosophy of Vishnu Swami and of Madhva. Though he differed from Madhva in philosophy, his association with that system was very close. It was an ascetic of the Madhva sect known as Madhavendra Yati that first introduced him to Bhagavata Purana, the most important text that he preached in his mature years. It was again he that in later years helped Vallabha to establish the temple at Govardhana, and in his last days, initiated him into Sannyasa.

Vallabha’s stay in Vijayanagar was only for about two or three years, during which period his genius had opportunity to evolve into considerable maturity due to contact with the numerous scholars and sectaries of that city of enlightenment. His real pilgrimage, considered the second, began when he was about fifteen. Having entrusted his mother and brothers to the safe custody of his uncle, he started with two or three of his devoted followers on this second pilgrimage which was to last for several years. Owing to the prevalence of different accounts of these pilgrimages of Vallabha, there is much confusion about the dates and the sequence and order of the places he visited. He traveled through the whole of Southern India, touching all the important temple towns and centers of religious studies in which this region of India abounded, while the North was in considerable disarray due to Muslim incursions and persecution. Among the places he visited may be mentioned Pampa, Rsyamuka, Kumarapada, Srisaila, Tirupati, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Mannargudi, Sriranam, Madurai, Tenkasi, Ramesvaram, Srivaikuntham, Alvar-tirunagari, Tiruvanantapuram, Janardanam, Udupi, Srirangapattanam and Gokarnam.

It is said that Vallabha had a remarkable experience while he was at Kaundinyasrama in a dense wooded region of the Eastern Ghats abounding in sandal wood trees. It is said to be the place where the Rsi Kaundinya gave enlightenment to Vishnu Swami, who was one of the great Vaishnava teachers preceding Vallabha. The same Rsi appeared before Vallabha and said: "Our Guru is Sandilya Rsi. He performed austerities for a long time on Mt. Govardhana in order that God might manifest Himself to Him. Ultimately he got his reward, for God was pleased with him. As a consequence there appeared before him an ascetic woman named Lalitha Devi. She gave Sandilya initiation into the practice of Bhakti, saying, `There is nothing greater than Sri Purusottama. Neither the Vedas nor the Devas know Him fully. One must have full and deep faith in Him and in none else. Giving up all idleness, one must remember God’s Lilas, His gracious sport, every moment. You should constantly say to yourself: `I am a servant of God, He alone is my master. Neither the Vedas nor any man made means will avail in any way. The happiness of the world, which ultimately results in misery, is no good. When shall I find God? When will God show His favor to me? When shall I see the face of Him who is the destroyer of the pride of all?’ If you go on feeling like this, you will see the supreme Lila of God. Saying this she disappeared. Sandilya Rsi practiced this discipline with the result that he ultimately realized God". Now Sandilya is one of the great authorities on Bhakti, and his book, Sandilya-Bhakti sutras, is one of the authoritative texts on this spiritual discipline.

This extended pilgrimage during which Vallabha stayed for considerable periods in the main centers of Sri Vaishnavism of Ramanuja and of the Dvaita of Sri Madhva, gave him opportunities to contact the savants of those systems and know their doctrines at first hand. He also had several controversies with Advaita scholars and Saivites, and though he totally differed from them, he was never acrimonious in his debates with them.

Having finished his southern pilgrimage, he joined his mother and brother at Vijayanagar which was now the home of the family. After a short stay with his mother, he continued his pilgrimage, now to the Western and Northern parts of India. Pandaripura the great center of Krishna worship in Maharashtra, Nasik, Tryambaka, and some places on the banks of the Narmada and Malva were centers where he had halted for varying periods of time. Finally he reached Mathura, the place of Krishna’s stay from the time he left Vrindavana to the time he shifted to Dwaraka. This land known as Vraja Bhumi was specially dear to Vallabha and he communed with Krishna at every place there associated with Him. According to some tradition, it was here (1492) that Vallabha received the call of God to establish his Sampradaya (sect) of Religion of Grace (Pusti-marga). After a considerable stay at Vraja-Bhum, he went further northwards to Kurukshetra and to Himalayan pilgrim centers like Haridwar, Rsikes, Gangotri and Kedara. After finishing the Himalayan pilgrimages he came to Prayaga, Gaya, Kasi and to Gangasagar in the farthest east. From there he went to Jagannath Puri and finally to Agrahara where his mother was staying. His first round of All-India pilgrimage on foot, lasting for about nine years, ended with this.

Second Pilgrimage

After a stay of about only one year with his mother, he again started on a second round of pilgrimage. Visiting Vijayanagar once again, he next went to Pandaripura where Vithoba or Vittalanatha (Sri Krishna) with Rukmini is worshipped. Vallabha’s stay here was a turning point in his life. It was here that he received the Divine command that he should marry and take to a householder’s life. Till now he was a Brahmacharin pilgrim and not a Sannyasin as most of such pilgrims are, and it is not certain whether he had till then any idea of marriage at all. But this divine call gave a new turn to his life and also to the movement he started. It gave him also a uniqueness among all the great Vedantic Acharyas of Bhakti, as all the others were Sannyasins.

He next visited Gujarat, and then the Vraja land and the Himalayan pilgrim centers including Badarinath once again. Finally he came to Banaras where a surprise awaited him. There a Brahmana named Devadatta offered his daughter Mahalakshmi in marriage to him. The marriage took place in 1500 with his mother’s consent. In due course he had two sons Gokulanatha and Vittalanatha born of her. Of these Vittalanatha, who was highly talented, was to play in later days, an important part in consolidating and regularizing the sect originating from his father.

In the course of the years 1500-52, Vallabha, while camping at Gokula, got thdivine call to found his new Sampradaya of Religion of Grace. In the age of Kali, man’s capacity for spiritual practices has dwindled almost to nil, and he has no way of redemption unless God lifts him up by His grace. For coming within the ambit of this redeeming grace of God, man has only to submit himself out of his free will to His grace, which forms the way He now opened for man through Vallabha. It was revealed to Vallabha that He had chosen him as His mouth-piece. Vallabha gave to this relationship established between God and man the new name Brahma-sambandha, (union with Brahman). Though Vallabha might have been influenced by many a great teacher, he had not accepted any one as his Guru. So his was an entirely new Sampradaya or spiritual tradition starting from him, no doubt on the background of Vaishnavism and Vedanta prevailing in the country. The first convert to the new faith was Damodara Dasa, his constant companion through all the pilgrimage. The initiation was done with the Mantra—, SRI KRISHNA SARANAM MAMA— Sri Krishna is my refuge.

Another great event in Vallabha’s life took place in the same year or thereabout. It was the manifestation of the image of Govardhananathji. This occasion is known as Prakatya in the tradition of the sect. This image of Sri Krishna in the pose of lifting the Govardhana `Hill in Gokula is said to have emerged out of a cave in a hill in Vraja land. After it emerged fully and was offered food offerings by the pious votary Madhavendra Swami, the image is said to have refused to take any food unless offered by Vallabha. Vallabha then offered worship and built a small temple over the image. Sometime after a rich merchant named Purnamall built a big temple for the Deity according for the Deity according to a Divine command. It took several years to complete, and Vallabha himself installed the image and appointed two priests to serve the Deity. Sometime after Vallabha’s time the image was removed from Gokula to Nathadvara near Udayapur because of troubles caused by Muslims. The image is now known as Sri Nathjee and holds the highest place in the hearts of the followers of Vallabha as the chief of God’s Svarupas or living forms.

Third Pilgrimage

Vallabha’s second round of pilgrimages is considered to have ended with his marriage. After spending about a year at Banaras with his mother and family, he started on his third round of pilgrimage which lasted for about four years. During this period he revisited many of the places that he had already graced by his presence in central western and eastern India. But having got the commission from God, his present trip was more of the nature of a missionary enterprise than a mere pilgrimage. Wherever he went he entered into philosophical debates with teachers of other schools of thought and established the superiority of the Pusti-marg that God had revealed to him. In all his debates he was always constructive and never acrimonious. He initiated large numbers of people with the Mantra of Brahma-sambandha, and made them turn a new leaf in their life. For, as will be explained later, this initiation meant the lifting up of the spirit from the life of sin and helping one to surrender oneself completely to God. His preaching to the masses consisted generally in the exposition of the Bhagavata Purana, which according to him was the crown of all scriptures. Wherever he traveled he held Bhagavata-saptahas — the reading of the Bhagavata with interpretations for seven days.

Of all places he traveled through, it was in Gujarat that he got the greatest response. Gujarat was in a way already prepared for a message of the kind that Vallabha was delivering. For, shortly before him a great devotee and composer of devotional songs known as Narasimha Mehta (1414 AD) had thrilled the whole of Gujarat with his musical compositions of a highly poetic and reflective nature. These compositions mostly related to what is known as Sringara-Bhakti (love mysticism) expressed through the love of Radha for Krishna. In his more mature years he rose to higher levels of God realization, as evidenced by several of his songs which deal with the presence of God everywhere (Sarvatma-bhava). The preaching of a philosophy of personal devotion to Krishna and the rite of Brahma-sambandha were the right elements required to establish a bond of sectarian affinity in place of the diffused form of Bhakti that Narasimha Mehta’s songs had introduced. Though not in Vallabha’s life time, there was another influence that helped the spread of his doctrine in the adjacent region of Rajasthan. While the doughty warriors of Rajasthan were reeling under the attack of Muslim invaders, Mira Bai, a princess from the royal family of Mewar, gave a healing touch to the heart of Rajasthan by her thrilling devotional love lyrics that have now gained all India fame. She lived during the time of Vallabha’s son and successor Vittalanatha. It was during that time that Vallabha’s interpretation of Bhagavata Dharma spread in that region also.

Shortly after Vallabha’s demise, when his son Vittalanatha was the leader of the sect, the temple of Govardhananathji came under the threat of Muslim invaders. It is significant that the image was then removed to Nathadvara in Udaipur in Rajasthan. The image now known as Sri Nathji, holds the highest place in the heart of the followers of Vallabha as the most important Svarupa (living form) of God, and He receives the reverential adoration of thousands in the form of the most lavish but artistic decorations and countless tasty dishes that the culinary art has at its command. For, as will be explained, the Havallis or the temples of the Vallabha sect, unlike other Hindu temples, are literally the home of God, and His adoration consists not in formal rituals but in extending to the image a reception with decoration, food offerings and other paraphernalia befitting a royal resident.

Meetings with Sri Chaitanya

An important episode in Vallabha’s life during his pilgrimages and after was his meetings with Sri Chaitanya, the great Vaishnava teacher of Bengal. The dates of these meetings are not definitely known but various anecdotes, often colored by sectarian motives, are preserved in the traditions of both Vallabha and Chaitanya sects. The first of such meetings took place at Gangasagar where both these great men had gone on pilgrimage. Others took place in Brindavan and Gokula, situated near each other and both held sacred by these holy men, because of the association of these places with the life of Sri Krishna. The acceptances of the Bhagavata Purana as the most important sacred text and of Krishna as the Purnavatara (the complete descent) of the divine constitute the most fundamental link between them. Temperamentally there was a difference between the two. Vallabha was highly intellectual, and his devotion, though deep and profound, never expressed itself in the overpowering emotional outbursts in the shape of Sankirtanas and ecstatic dances by which Sri Chaitanya raised in huge concourses of humanity tidal waves of devotion. He conveyed the devotional fervor to his followers through the exposition of the Bhagavata Purana and the service of images as the very being of the Divinity. Sri Chaitanya preached the Madhura Bhava or Sringara Bhakti based on the relation between Radha and Krishna to all his followers, while Vallabha recommended this only to a select few and presented the loving adoration of boy Krishna (Bala-Krishna) to devotees in general. Besides, Sri Chaitanya, though a great intellectual in his early days, gave up that line completely when he took to devotional life, whereas Vallabha till his end used his intellectual faculties for the production of commentaries on sacred texts and for debates with other schools of thought. Sri Chaitanya abandoned home and wife and became a Sannyasin in early life itself, while Vallabha remained a householder till the last year of his life. It is providential that both these teachers of Bhagavata Dharma were contemporaries, one flooding the eastern part of India (Bengal) with devotion and the other the western part (Gujarat and Rajasthan).

The Life of Retirement and Production of Commentaries

After his third pilgrimage lasting for about four years, Vallabha returned to Banaras and joined his family consisting of his mother, his wife and two children. At Banaras he stayed for a few years, where he engaged himself in debates with scholars of Sankara’s Vedanta in which the doctrine of Maya seems to be equal in importance to that of Brahman. This was in contrast with Vallabha’s own doctrine of Suddhadvaita in which Brahman is the sole reality and there is no place for Maya. In such debates he is said to have defeated many Advaitic scholars and gained many converts in that citadel of learning and orthodoxy. Not being very militant and aggressive in character, he wanted to retire from the environment prevailing in Banaras, and took his residence at Adel, a village near Allahabad, situated in the neighborhood of the conjunction of Yamuna and Ganga. In that village noted for its natural beauty and its three kinds of sacred Tulasi plants, Vallabha spent most of the last twenty years of his life with his family and a few intimate disciples, going out only occasionally on tours for preaching the Bhagavata Dharma.

It is most probably during these years of comparative retirement that he produced most of his philosophical and devotional works. It is characteristic of his attitude of humility that in none of his works he calls himself an Acharya. He designates himself only as Vallabha-diksita, the suffix being probably a family title. It is also characteristic of him that, except in respect of his small treatises, he did not complete his major works, the Bhasya or commentary on the Brahma-sutras of Badarayana and his commentary on the Bhagavata. All those who have earned the status of Acharyas before him — great personages like Sankara, Ramanuja, Nimbarka and Madhva — have written complete commentaries on these Sutras, which gained them recognition as Acharyas. But Vallabha wrote a commentary on the Sutras only up to 3-2-33 i.e., about two-thirds of the text, the commentary on the rest of it being completed by his son Vittalanatha. Vallabha’s commentary on Brahma-sutras is known as Anu-bhasya, meaning small or fragmentary commentary, for this reason. He, however, brings out all the important doctrines of suddhadvaita in it. An equally, if not more, important commentary of his, is that on the Bhagavata-purana known as Subodhini. Though anticipated by Sri Madhva, it was Vallabha who first put the Bhagavata on an equal footing with the Upanishads, the Brahma-Sutras and the Bhagavad-Gita, all of which had become recognized as the foundational texts of Vedanta after Sankara’s time. It was for this reason that in his missionary tours he held Bhagavata-Saptahas as his most important program and the most powerful medium for preaching the religion of grace (Pusti-Marga). Even the commentary on this text he did not complete. In his third pilgrimage, while returning from Jagannath Puri, he halted at Gangasagara, and there started writing the commentary on the Bhagavata. He did the work up to the end of the third Skandha, by which time he heard the Divine call that he was to go back to the great Creator before long. So he skipped over the other Skandhas and took up the tenth, the section dealing with Sri Krishna’s life. After having completed it, while he was working on the 11th Skandha, he got again the Divine call to return. So this commentary also remained unfinished. This incompleteness of his two major works is to be attributed to his engagement in other important activities or due to his utter disregard for fame as an Acharya — a title by which he came to be known after his demise only.

He wrote also a commentary and a Karika on Jaimini’s Purva-mimamsa Sutras, of which the Karika alone is extant. Besides, he wrote several small books, some of them comprising a few couplets only dealing with various problems of metaphysics and conduct in life. All of them numbering sixteen are combined together as Sodasa-granthas. He wrote also another book Tattvartha-dipa-nibandha or Essays on the Light of Knowledge, which is bigger than all the other sixteen books mentioned above. It is a manual of his system giving an outline of his theology and way of life. All the above are in Sanskrit. There are five other books of his in Vraja-Bhasa.

His Sannyasa and Demise

At the end of a life span of fifty-three, Vallabha’s career terminated in 1532. His last days were as inspiring as his devotional absorption in his entire life. He was till the last year of his life a householder living with his mother, wife and two children, demonstrating that the ascetic life was not essential in the Religion of Grace. But Sannyasa had according to him, a place when one begins to feel the separation from God in the most acute form, which signifies that it is time for one to give up the earthly body and gain full absorption in God. He has described this state in his booklet called Sannyasa-nirnaya. He had twice received call from God to end his earthly career, but he waited till now to complete a major part of his mission. After he got the third call he sent for Madhavendra Puri1, a Sannyasin of the Madhva sect who had earlier introduced him to the study of the Bhagavata and helped in the establishment of the temple of Govardhanadhari. He got initiated into Sannyasa by him under the name Purnananda. Then after spending a week in a closed room in his house, he set out as a wanderer to Banaras. To his sons and devotees who went to meet him at Banaras, he communicated as his last message three couplets written on a stone; for he was then observing silence. The message is this: "If you become divorced from God in any way, your body, mind etc., which really belong to Time, will be devoured by Time. This is my belief. God, who is Krishna, is not of this world, nor does He have respect for anything pertaining to this world. Therefore we must love Sri Krishna alone. God is all in all here and in the other world. Hence Sri Krishna, the Lord of the Gopis, is alone worthy of our service with all our body and mind, soul and spirit. He alone can give you everything useful in this world and the next."

He was then staying at Hanuman Ghat at Banaras. After giving this message, he dived into the water of the holy river Ganga and disappeared. Tradition maintains that a brilliant flame rose from the spot in the presence of a host of spectators and vanished in the firmament.

After Vallabha

Vallabha was succeeded as the leader of the sect by his son Vittalanatha. He was himself a man of great devotion and scholarship. He completed some of the unfinished commentaries of his father and worked for a greater consolidation of the followers of Vallabha who had accepted the Pusti-marga through the rite of Brahma-sambandha. It was probably in Vittalanatha’s time that the Havelli system came into existence. Vallabha had founded only one place of worship and that was of Giridharanatha at Gokula now known as Sri Nathaji. In later days it was transferred from there to Vittalanatha’s house, probably to establish his right of possession of it, and during Aurangazeb’s reign of persecution of Hindus it was transferred to the present site at Udaipur. Several other Havellis came into existence in later times, most of them under the control of descendants of Vallabha.

It will be noticed from this that Vallabha, though he himself became a Sannyasin in the last days, attached importance to it only as a last sacrament in life. He maintained that the state of the householders was equally favorable for the development of spiritual life. There was therefore no Order of Sannyasins to preach religion in his sect. It was in the hands of the owners of Havellis who were all householders, mostly the descendants of Vallabha himself. The lavish service of Svarupas (living images) and the adoration of the Gurus who administered the rite of Brahma-sambandha became the most important religious disciplines. The early disciplines of Bhakti like hearing, chanting, meditating, serving God in man etc., were relegated to the background. The consequence was that degeneration set in, as the Gurus owning Havellis gradually accumulated much wealth and enjoyed social leadership. They came to assume for themselves the title of Maharajas and adopt styles of life that led to blatant corruption. Much worse, the Acharyas came to be recognized as incarnations of Krishna Himself and the credulous devotees began to offer them all the services due to Krishna according to the rite of Brahma-sambandha. This misplaced devotion led to the introduction of many degenerate practices which brought much disrepute in the end. It is only in recent times that enlightened public opinion has largely corrected these distortions through reform movements.

© `Sri Vallabhacharya’s His Life Religion and Philosophy’ by Swami Tapasyananda, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. (Website: sriramakrishnamath.org.)

1 It is a strange that the books on Vallabha describe Madhavendra Puri as a Sannyasin of the Madhva Sect. Puris are one of the ten Orders of monks claiming spiritual descent from Sri Sankaracharya. The description of Madhavendra as a follower of Madhva may be due to the prejudice that writers on Vallabha entertained towards Sankara. Vallabha is metaphysically as different from Madhva as from Sri Sankara. For further information on this ascetic, see Sri Chaitanya’s life.

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