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

accurate drawing. During the Vasanta season beautiful prints both in dried
and wet colours were utilised in the curtains etc. of the daily worship.
Similarly during the Sāñjī days, beautiful Sāñjīs in the choicest colours
depicting the particular sports of Kṛishṇa were prepared for the deity
under the inspiration of Vitthales'vara.
Choicest flowers such as rose, jasmine, Bakula, Kadamba, lotus etc,
were utilised in preparing the garlands to be offered daily to the deity.
During summer, flower-houses (फूलमंडली) were organised in such a way that
flowers were knit and strung together in the most artistic way. In short the
finest arts which were developed during the Akbar-period were all availed of
in the daily worship of Kṛishṇa.
Vitthales'vara's field of activities lay chiefly in Gujarāt and Kāthiāwāḍ.
The people of those countries were by instinct commercial. It would be
rather difficult to make them take interest in books dealing with the subtle
and abstruse problems of philosophy. It was a question to Vitthales'vara as
to how he should make them accept Kṛishṇa-Sevā as their goal. For this
purpose Vitthales'vara organised bands of amateurs who would give life-like
representations of the various sports of Kṛishṇa. This method proved very
successful and whole communities of Gujarāt accepted the Kṛishṇa-Sevā-
creed with marvellous zeal and rapidity. In fact everything that belongs to
any one is to be dedicated to Krishna. There was no actual parting with the
thing but there was the ingrained remembrance that everything of you is not
for your own self but for God, a doctrine like this which Vallabhāchārya
preached in अविद्या पूतना नष्टा गन्धमात्रावशेषिता was translated into the daily life of
Vaishṇavas by turning this अहंता and ममता from संसार towards God. Vitthale-
s'vara achieved this for his devotees by this simple and sure remedy of
Kṛishṇa-worship in which every member of the family could take part and
all their belongings could be best utilised. Thus Vitthales'vara made
Vaishṇavism a living religion among the masses of Gujarāt. The influence of
Vitthales'vara was so deep-rooted, and in course of time it went on increasing
to such an extent that when one speaks of a Vaishṇava in Gujarat the
reference is generally understood to be to a Pushtimārgiya Vaishṇava. Dr.
Bhāṇḍārkar's remark that Vallabha's mode of worship was more dramatic
than emotional seems to be rather unfounded. All the paraphernalia of the
Sevā without the deity's special grace अनुग्रह and intense love was a thing
never approved of nor preached by Vitthales'vara. Dr. Bhandarkar's remark
was rather due to the learned scholar's unfamiliarity with or distant
acquaintance from hearsay evidence about the Sevā-Prakāra followed in
Pushtimārgīya temples. Our own experience of the temples of Rāmānujās,
Madhvas, Godias, and the chief shrines of Jagannātha and Vitthala leads us to
the inevitable conclusion that in the mode of Kṛishṇa-worship Vitthales'vara's
position is unique and unrivalled. This fact was whole-heartedly acknow-
ledged by one great Vaishṇava teacher Swāminārāyaṇa of Gujarāt when he
speaks of Vitthales'vara as the king of Vaishṇava teachers in his शिक्षपत्री, where