षोडश ग्रन्थाः (महाप्रभु वल्लभाचार्य - पुष्टिमार्ग सिद्धान्त एवं सान्वय हिन्दी व्याख्या)

S'RĪMAD VALLABHACHARYA AND HIS MISSION. S'rīmad Vallabhacharya, the author of this little treatise 'Pushti- Pravāha-Maryādā', was born on the 11th day of the dark half of Chaitra, 1535 Samvat, (1479. A. D,) in the forest of Champa near Raipur. His father was Lakshmaṇa Bhatta, and Yallammagaru was his mother. He was a Telugu Brahmin studying the Taitiriya S'ākhā of the Black Yajur-Veda. Vallabha's birth is shrouded in the mysteries of the devotional beliefs of his followers, but one thing is certain that his followers believed that he was commissioned by God to inaugurate a great religious revival in India. From the writings of Vallabha which are available now, we can say that this belief was shared by himself also. It is not an uncommon phenomenon in India. Rama- nuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Chaitanya, and several other great teachers did believe in their special messages to the world. Vallabha's ancestors were Deekshitas, and were devoted to Krishna in the form of Gopāla. The Swarūpa of Madana Mohanaji in the Seventh Pitha is the one which came to him from his Sixth ancestor Yajna Narayana Bhatta. It is possible that Vallabha's father Lakshamana Bhatta and his ancestors were the Upāsakas of Gopāla according to the cult of Vishṇu- swami. The early years of Vallabha were passed by him with his father at Benares, where he is said to have mastered all the Vedas, Six Dars anas, and all schools of Āstika and Nāstika thinkers. He studied the S'aiva and Vaishṇava Āgamas. When Vallabha was comparatively young, his father died. Vallabha wanted to study the Vaishṇava systems of Madhva, Ramanuja, Nimbarka and others, and seeing that they were not prevalent there, in order to have direct knowledge, he is said to have proceeded to the south. Vallabha's desire to go to the south of India was very natural. During that time there was the powerful Hindu kingdom of Vijaya Nagar or Vidya- Nagar, over which ruled the mighty monarch Krishnadeva-Raya, himself a great Vaishṇava. During his time, it seems a convention was held of the representatives of all the existing Sampradāyas. The session seems to have been going on when Vallabha visited Vijaya-Nagar. The main dispute seems to have been between Vyāsa Tirtha, the Mādhva, and some representative of Mayavadins. It seems also clear that the Dwaita philosophy of the Mādhvas could not hold its own