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

( 7 )
This unfortunate event embittered the feelings of the widow of S'rī Gopīnātha,
and as a result the original works of श्रीमद्वल्लभाचार्य were taken away by her. Under
these circumstances, श्रीविट्ठलनाथ tried his atmost to collect the writings of his father,
but it appears that he succeeded only in securing the fragment of Anu Bhashya,
but could not get the copy of the bigger or complete Bhashya. He had to satisfy
himself with the portion of अणुभाष्य which could be secured by him.
In Samvat 1622 S'rī Vitthalanath left Adel for good, and migrated to
S'rī Gokula, and adopted it as his permanent residence. During his stay at
श्रीगोकुल from 1622-1642 Samvat, he came in contact with Emperor Akbar, Birbal,
Todarmal, Rai Purshottama and others. Emperor Akbar made a gift of Gokula
and Jatipura villages to Vitthaleswar. Akbar in another of his Sanad gave him
permission to graze his cows on all lands including the royal ones also. It
appears from this time Vitthalanath, who was up to this time known as Vipra or
Dīkshita, came to be styled Goswami, a name by which all his agnate descendants
are known to this day. How much he loved S'rī Gokula and Govardhana can be
learnt from the description of the same in the Aṇu-Bhashya on 4. 2. 15. B. S.,
where it is placed above the Vyapi Vaikuntha, on the authority of a Rik. Here
he got perfect peace, and it was here that he completed the remaining portion
of the अणुभाष्य. Though we have not got Vallabhacharya's Bhashya on the last
Adhyaya and a half, the portion of the Bhashya as written by S'rī Vitthalanath
has admirably succeeded in bringing out the interpretation of his father on these
Sūtras. Thus the संप्रदाय has to depend on this Aṇu Bhashya as the final authority
on Brahma-Sūtras. The आचार्यत्व of the संप्रदाय, for this reason, has been attributed
by some to the father and son combined. Whatever that may be, the Aṇu-
Bhashya has been since then the chief authority of पुष्टिमार्गीय Vaishṇavas.
Vitthaleshwara passed away in Samvat 1642. After him Purushottamaji
is the first commentator on the Aṇu Bhashya.
S'rī Purushottamaji the author of Bhashya-Prakās'a was born on the
11th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada 1724 Samvat at Gokula. He is
Seventh in descent from S'rī Vallabhacharya. In his childhood he seems to
have come under the influence of two Scholars S'rī Krishna-Chandraji Maharaja
and Chacha S'rī Gopes'aji. The former was his grand uncle and also his
Guru (ब्रह्मसंबन्धदाता). Chacha Gopes'aji stood in a similar relation to him. Before
Purushottamaji, his guru S'rī Krishnachandraji had begun to critically study the
Aṇu Bhashya. His labours resulted in a rough draft of the Bhava-Prakasikā
and a fragment of the commentary of Guṇopasanhāra Pada of Aṇu Bhashya.
The latter has been completely incorporated by S'rī Purushottamaji in his
Bhashya-Prakās'a on that portion. The rough draft of Bhava-Prakas'ika
seems to have been utilised in the work current under that name in the Sam-
pradaya. The copy of the same in the hand of S'rī Purushottamaji seems to
be a revised version of the original. It summarises what is contained in the
Aṇu Bhashya and Bhashya-Prakāsa combined. Chacha Gopes'aji's influence
on Purushottamaji seems to be apparent on a comparison of the Ṭīkas of both
on the Subodhini of the Bhagavata first स्कन्ध. Almost the whole of Chacha
Gopes'aji's Tippani seems to be incorporated in his Prathama-Skandha-Prakās'a.
1527