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

INTRODUCTION.
like 'स वै नैव रेमे'. Badarayana distinctly describes सृष्टि as लीला and not as माया,
while भागवत describes सृष्टि as क्रीडाभाण्ड. सृष्टि is two-fold, one referring to human
souls, and the other referring to jagat. The first takes place according to the
Vedic passage 'यथाग्नेः क्षुद्राः विस्फुलिंगाः'; and the other in accordance with 'यतो वा इमानि
भूतानि.' Thus human soul becomes the अंश of the Highest Divinity, while the
Universe is the कार्य of ब्रह्मन्. Brahman is सत्-चित्-आनन्द, hence His अंश is also
सत्-चित्-आनन्द, but for the exigences of रमण, his आनन्दांश becomes non-manifest,
तिरोभूत; the result is that he forgets that everything of his including himself is
Lord's, and superimposes his अहन्ता and ममता on objects which are really not
his. In result he suffers sorrows and miseries. To remove this ignorance, the
vow mentioned in गद्य enjoins on the initiated to give up his अहंता and ममता in
all objects, and dedicate them to the Lord. By dedicating everything including himself
to Lord, what becomes of him? He becomes Lord's. He becomes Lord's servant.
His अहंता and ममता cease to be जैव, they become भगवदीय. The moment he realises
that he is Lord's slave, he feels that he has to abide by His will. His will prevails
everywhere. His will is for Sport—लीला—and he has to play the part allotted to
him. Sorrow and misery caused by ignorance of Maya, are substituted by the joy,
happiness of Lila. From अग्निविस्फुलिंग Vedic passage, 'ममैवांशो जीवलोके' Gita verse, and
अंशो नानाव्यपदेशात् we know that the Human soul is the अंश of Brahman. We know
from another vedic passage 'यो यदंशः स तं भजेत्' that the अंश should worship
that अंशिन् whose अंश he is. Hence in Vallabha's system the initiated are supposed
to be अंशाs of अंशिन् कृष्ण. This Krishna is रसात्मक आनन्दमय पुरुषोत्तम taught in the
Taitiriya. This is the highest conception of the Supreme Being where he is described
as आनन्द and रस, and the mode to approach Him is only through निरुपधि निरवधि
प्रेम. To feel the क्लेश—pangs of one's separation from this रसात्मक आनन्दमय is
in itself a form of Bliss of the highest type. This is possible only when there is
निरुपधि and निरवधि प्रेम for the रस आनन्द कृष्ण. This is taught in the formula of the
गद्य when it describes the initiated as one in whom the non-manifestation of the
bliss of the pangs of Separation for infinite number of years has taken place. The
words भगवते कृष्णाय describe the One to whom everything is to be dedicated. The
two words connote लीलावशिष्ट रस आनन्द कृष्ण. The words देह-इन्द्रिय-प्राण-अन्तःकरण and
तद्धर्म denote the objects of dedication comprised in अहम्. दारा, आगार, पुत्र, आप्त,
वित्त, इह and अपर denote those comprised in मम. आत्मन् is the chief with which
the अहम्, मम and its objects are all dedicated. The result of this dedication is
that one becomes दास and His. This is the प्रतिज्ञा administered to the initiated
by Acharya or his representative before the Swarūpa of रसात्मक कृष्ण. To see
the fulfilment of this प्रतिज्ञा, the सेवामार्ग is to be followed by the initiated. Sevā
presupposes प्रेम. Hence प्रेमपूर्वक कृष्णसेवा is the vow.
How this प्रतिज्ञा could be fulfilled is explained in these seven or eight verses
of the present work. Let us then see what the purport of these कारिकाs is.
The गद्य is the form of प्रतिज्ञा declared by Krishna Himself to Acharya. This is not
an unfamiliar thing in the Bhagavata. Samarpana in one form or another is
taught in the Eleventh Skandha of Bhagavata, but as 'शतशोपि विचारितं जीवबुद्ध्या अन्यथाय-
वति, Vallabha could not fix upon the same. When Krishna communicated this to him,
he took it as a mode sanctioned by Him and thenceforward he initiated his pupil by
administering this vow. As Vallabhacharya was succeeded by very able and illustrious
descendants, the custom arose that in the Sampradaya the प्रतिज्ञा could only be
administered by them in the name of Acharya. The last advice given by
Acharya to his sons 'यदा बहिर्मुखा यूयं भविष्यथ कथंचन । तदा कालप्रवाहस्था देहचित्तादयोप्युत । सर्वेषा