अणुभाष्य (महाप्रभु वल्लभाचार्य - शुद्धाद्वैत वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र महाभाष्य प्रकाश टीका सहित)

( 4 ) In the year 1616, on Māhā Vad 13th, Vitthales'vara visited the shrine of Jagannātha in Puri ( Orissa ). He was there accompanied by his wife Rukmiṇī, his eldest daughter S'obhājī and his eldest son Giridharajī. He stayed there for nearly six months. After witnessing the Rathotsava at Puri, he seems to have returned to Adel. During his visit to Puri he had taken with him a carpenter by name Rāsā. This was with a view to see the model of the Jagannātha Car. It is said that when Vitthales'vara returned to Adel, he got a car prepared of a similar model, and took his deity round the village of Adel in a procession. During his stay at Gaḍā also he celebrated a Rathotsava similarly. But when he shifted his abode to Mathurā he had to give up the public celebration of Rathotsava on account of the Mahomedan fanaticism. During his stay in Jagannātha, Vitthale- s'vara came in contact with the immediate followers of Chaitanya, living there. It is possible that the composition of Swāminyashtaka ( स्वामिन्यष्टक ) Swāminīstotra ( स्वामिनीस्तोत्र ) and several other minor stotras, in which the Eternal consort-Rādhā-of S'ree Krishna is extolled, date from this period; or their composition may be due to the direct or indirect influences of Chaitanya saints. There is no stotra or writing of Vallabhāchārya to our knowledge where Rādhā is extolled in the strain in which Vittales'vara has done. How far and how much of this influence was retained by Vitthale- s'vara it is difficult for us to determine from the materials available, though the conclusion of the Aṇu-Bhāshya where Navanīta-priya ( नवनीतप्रिय ) and Govardhanadhara ( गोवर्धनधर ) only are remembered would show that Vitthales'vara in later times had completely freed himself from the Chaitanya influences. His commentary on Krishṇapremāmṛita ( कृष्णप्रेमामृत ) and S'ringāra- rasamaṇḍana ( शृङ्गाररसमण्डन ) may be due to Chaitanya mould of thought. Or that was the time when the wave of Rādhā-Kṛishṇa worship swept over the whole of India, and it would be difficult to say exactly how far the influence of Chaitnya thought there is in the above Stotra. The originality of thought and method of expression are Vitthales'vara's own. But we would not be wrong if the composition of the above Stotras was assigned to this period. It is possible that these Stotras are due to Sarasvatī- Saṁvāda and nothing else. After his return from Puri, Vitthales'vara seems to have resided at Adel from Samvat 1616 Āshāḍh to the beginning of 1619. On the analogy of Jagannātha, car-festivel was celebrated here. It was during this period, that he composed his Vidvanmaṇḍana. A manuscript dating from वैशाख शु. १२ सं. 1619 leads us to this inference. In any case, we cannot assign any later date than this to the composition. In 1619 it appears that Mahomedan invasion made Vitthales'vara give up his abode at Adel for good. From Adel, after his stay at two or three places, he seems to have moved over to the kingdom of Bāndhe Gaḍhā. Rāmachandra, a Waghela Rajput, was the king of the place. He seems to have received Vitthale- s'vara well, who stayed at this place for a couple of months. The relations 2004