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