The birth-date of Vallabhacharya

SHRI VALLABHACHARYA

AND

HIS DOCTRINES

 

By

Late Prof. G. H. Bhatt

 

 

Preface:

Dr. K.K. Shastri

President: Shuddhadvait Samshad

 

Avant Propos:

Dr. Vachaspati Upadhyaya

Department of Sanskrit

University of Delhi

 

SHRI VALLABHA PUBLICATIONS BARODA (INDIA) DELHI

Published by:

SHRI VALLABHA PUBLICATIONS

 

Edition: 1984

 

Price: Rs. 40.00

 

 

PREFACE

 

Some twenty years back I was fortunate to edit and publish a collection of nine learned articles written by late Prof. Govind Lal H. Bhatt of Baroda. For years he was the head of the Sanskrit department, first in the Baroda college and then at the establishment of M. S. University of Baroda in the same category. After his retirement he was the director of the Oriental Institute of the same university. There he presented a scheme to prepare and publish a critical edition of the Ramayana of Valmiki on the same lines of the critical edition of the Mahabharata under the able editorship of late Dr. V.S. Sukthankar of the B.O.R. Institute Poona. The edition of the Ramayana proved the deep scholarship of Prof. Bhatt. Though a staunch Vallabhite Vaishnava, he possessed quite independent views and boldly put them before the oriental world. While discussing about the Birth-date of Vallabhacharya, (i.e. refuted the prevailing old view and gave an appropriate view establishing it as the V.S. 1529 (i.e.1528 Kartikadi) with sound authority.

While discussing about the last message of Vallabhacharya he boldly declared that whenever there was any undesirable case of departure, the result was most deplorable as predicted by the Acharya; (p. 36).His concluding words are also remarkable. The last massage of Vallabhacharya is sufficient by itself to give us a fair idea of the grand ideal set up by him, and to show, at the same time, how the charge of sensualism that is undeservedly labelled against the teaching of Acharya is quite groundless; (p.36).

I. Out of these night articles. II. The School of Vallabha. III. The Pustmarga and VI. The concept of Maya in the Shuddhadvaita Vedanta, are sufficient to clearly show the fundaments of the views of Vallabhacharya. The last goal to a Shuddhadvaita is liberation and that with Akshara Brahma – an inferior Brahma, where there is entire oneness with that Brahma. The goat of a Pushtimargiya soul is quite different, He is not after liberation of that inferior kind, this is the desire to be a partner to enjoy the higher sport of Para. Brahma-the Almighty as depicted in the Taittiriya Upanishad Sosnute sarvan kaman saha Brahmana Vipascita.

His learned article No. VIII on the Anubhashya is also important, which deals with the theory of two bhashyas: one Anubhashya and the other Shrimad-Bhashya He has already showed that Shrimad-Bhashya is a later work, where so much borrowing has been found from the Prakasha commentary on Anubhashya of Shri Purushottamji. The question of the double authorship also has been solved ably bifurcating the portions of the father and the son at its proper place.

Those, who want to understand the doctrines of Vallabhacharya, will be able to get sufficient matter from these articles copies of the first edition are not available since long.

 

K.K.Shastri

President: Shuddhadvait Samshad

 

CONTENTS

 

1. The Birth-date of Vallabhacharya

2. The school of Vallabha 

3. The Pushtimarga

4. The Last Message of Vallabhacharya

5. The Doctrine of the Divine Faith

6. The Concept of Maya in the Shuddhadvaita Vedanta

7. Vallabhacharyas View of Error

8. Vallabhacharyas Anubhashya

9. The Double Authorship of Anubhashya

 

AVANT PROPOS

 

The doctrine of Vallabha is known as "Shuddhadvaita", i.e., pure non-duality. In Shuddhadvaitamirtanda, it has been suggested that this word can be discussed in the following ways:

(A) Shuddham ca tadadvaitam or, the non-duality of Brahman that is pure, in other words that which has no relation with maya.

Secondly (B) Shuddhayoh advaitam or, the non-duality of the cosmos and the Brahman which is pure and having no connection with maya. The concept of Shuddha i.e. pure here, is meant to discern it from Shankra's monism.

Vallabha wrote an incomplete commentary on Brahma Sutras called Anubhashya (up to 3.2.23) and tradition records that it was completed by his second son Vithalanatha. He also wrote a commentary named Subodhini on the Bhagvatpurana. His comments on the Gita and the Upanishads are also not independent. There is no conclusive and persuasive evidence to support the view that Vallabha’s philosophical thought were influenced by Vishnu-Swami.

Vallabhacharya admits the non-duality of Jiva and Brahman. Jiva is in fact identical with Brahman. (Anubhashya: 2.3.43). This stage of Jiva according to Vallabhacharya is obtained through immutable transformation (Aviktaparinama-vada).To him, Lord manifests his qualities of Sat, Chit and Ananda in the Jiva, the Jagat without himself undergoing any sort of change.

According to Vallabha three sorts of souls are conceivable. (a) pure (Shuddha) that is, such as have been proceeded. from God, but have entered Samsara, but however being not affected by ignorance and such things. God is for Vallabha the Causa materialist and Causa efficient of the world. and He transforming Himself into the world, not out of any necessity but without any cause, for mere play. (Lilartham).

Every soul is a part (ansa) of the Brahman and not possibly a reflect (pratibimb) as the Kevaladvait- Vedanta asserts. Vallabha attributes a limited activity of the soul and makes it wholly and solely dependant on God.

The Shuddhadvaita system reconciles the Upanishadic doctrine of Pure monism with the doctrine of devotion and self-surrender to the Lord Krishna as found in the Gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. Vallabha teaches that Bhakti is better than knowledge, but he accepts Jana also as a means of salvation, though of a lower rank.

The Maryada Bhaktas try to attain Salvation through their own efforts The Pushti Bhaktas place salvation entirely in keeping of God and rely upon the kind delivering Grace of God. The word Pushti is based in sense of Grace where it if referred to as Poshanam Tad Anugrahaha.

Bhakti marga has a direct reference to the soul. In this path everyone has a right to be admitted in the fold. No one is debarred from this marga by virtue of his sex, caste or nationality. The Sine qua non of this marga is unswerving love towards God. The Highest Divinity is the object of the most fervent and passionate love or Bhakti. In Pushtimarga the votaries are exhorted to dedicate their lives to the services of Lord Krishna for the highest fruit.

With these few word I deem it a privilege to place before the academic world this work of Late Prof. G. H. Bhatt which presents faithfully some important aspects of Shri Vallabhacharya and His doctrines. Prof. Bhatt has summarised doctrinal discussions in a vivid and condensed form. Prof. Bhatt had trained himself up in both the traditional and modern method of research, a fact reflected in all the topics he has chosen here to elaborate.

I also take this opportunity of congratulating the publishers of this brochure for providing the academic world a material which is laden with enough mental food.

 

Vachaspati Upadhyaya

8.12.79 Department of Sanskrit

University of Delhi

 

I

THE BIRTH-DATE OF VALLABHACHARYA