Literature of the School

 

Vallabha has written some works in the form of commentaries and some others as independent treatises for the elucidation of the teachings of the sacred texts. He tells us that he has written commentaries on the Brahma-Sutra the Jaimini-Sutra, and the Bhagavata, and has also composed some independent works & unfortunately, all his works are not available in till a complete form. His commentary on the Brahma-Sutra, called Anubhashya, is available; only up to 1 II 2.33, the remaining portion being supplied by his second son, Vitthalanatha.' Vallabha seems to have first written a more extensive commentary on the Brahma-Sutra which may be described as Brihadbhashya (long commentary), 7 and then made a summary of this in the form of what is known as Anubhashya (short commentary). The only available commentary on the Jaimini-Sutra is on I. 1. I and II. I, and it begins with forty-two verses, which summarize the discussion of the bhashya on the first Sutra.8 The Commentary on the Bhagavata called Subodhini, as now available, is on the first three skandas (books).a part of the fourth skandha (vi. six chapters and a portion of 13 verses only of the seventh chapter'), the tenth skandha, and a part of the eleventh skandha (viz.. six chapters and only one verse of the fifth chapter). There is also another important work called Tattvarthadipa, popularly known as Nibandha, with Vallabha & own gloss called Prakasha which is divided into three parts known as Shastrath, Sarvanirnaya and Bhagwadarth. The Prakasha is complete so far as the first two parts are concerned; but of the third part it is available only up to the thirty-third verse of the fourth section. Vitthalanatha tried to fill up the gal" by supplying the gloss on the situations following, But unfortunately even his commentary is available only up to the 135th verse of the fifth section. Shastrarth discusses the content of the Gita; Sarvanirnaya discusses different philosophical topics; and Bhagwatarth explains the subject matter of tile Bhagvata in a very general way. Vallabha following Gopadeva, holds the view that he who makes a critical study of the Bhagvata and realizes the fact that one and the same topic is discussed in all the seven different parts of the Bhagvata 'enjoys liberation; These seven parts are Shastra (scriptures), viz. Bhagavata as a whole, Skandh ll (branch, i.e. the 12 books of the Bhagwata) prakarana (topic), adhyaya (chapter), vakya (sentence), pad(l word), andakara (syllable). 10 Bhagwadartha gives the meaning of the remaining three:. Vallabha does not seem to have written independent commentaries on the Upanishads and the Gita. He has, however, written small works such as the sixteen treatises, Patravalambana, etc; which are very helpful in understanding his system. The literary activities of his school have been carried on with great vigor up to the present day 'by his descendants and followers, who have produced a very rich literature, not only in Sanskrit but also in some of the vernacular languages of India, such as Hindi, Vraja, and Gujarati, and have exercised a great influence over millions of people in northern and western India.

 

6. G. H. Bhatt, 'Double Authorship of Anubhashya Proceedings of the, Fourth All-India Oriental Conference, pp. 799-806.

7. A portion of the commentary on the Brahmasutra, III. is and IIl. 2.1.12, published in an old magazine, now' defunct, Pushti. Bhakti-Sudha (Vol. V. Vo. 19 to Vol. VI. No.6), was claimed to be a fragment of Vallabhcarya Brihadbhashya; but the claim is unjustifiable as the printed text is a fake, written by some modern scholar. "

8. The available portion is published in the magazine Pushti Bhakti Sudha, Vol. V, 2 Vol VIII, Nos.2

9. Gopadeva, Harilila, XII. 17.

10. Tattvarthadipa Bhagvatartha. 2; Subodhini I, I.I.I.

 

Philosophy: Parabrahman

 

Vallabha has evolved his philosophy solely on the authority of the verbal testimony (apta) and has thereby shown that dry logic has no independent place in the discussion of philosophical problems-an attitude which is responsible for his strong criticism of Shankara. His philosophical views are as it follows.

The highest entity is Brahman, which is Sat (existence), Chit (knowledge), Ananda (bliss) and Rasa (sentiment). He is Purna (perfect) Purushottama (the best of beings); and is therefore personal in nature. He possesses many divine qualities, of which jnana (experience) and kriya (activity) are the most prominent. He also possesses contradictory qualities. He is devoid of worldly or material qualities, and the negation of qualities in Brahman, mentioned in the Upanishads, refers to the absence of material qualities in Him. He possesses sort of body totally made up of ananda. His ananda is infinite. He is omnipresent and eternal. He is both kartr (agent) and bhokt (enjoyer). For lila (sport) He has created the universe out of Himself, and is thus both the efficient and the material cause of the universe which is naturally sustained by Him and absorbed in Him at the end. Although the world is full of people, both happy and unhappy, and comes to an end at particular periods, Brahman is not open to the charges of practising cruelty and creating inequality, simply because He has created the world out of Himself in lila. Again, He does not undergo any change even when He transforms Himself into this world-a doctrine known as avikrlaparinama (unchanged transformation). The kriya-shakti (power of action) of Brahman is described in the purva-kanda (first or ritualistic portion) of Vedas, while His jnana-shakti (power of knowledge) is described in the uttara-kanda (latter portion i.e. the Upanishad). Brahman the Lord, as associated with kriya and jnana shaktis is again, described in His grandeur in the Gita and the Bhagavata.

 

Akshara

 

Next to and lower than Parabrahman is Akshara (immutable) or Akshara Brahman. He possesses sat, chit, and limited ananda (as against infinite ananda of Parabrahman).He is the dhaman (abode' of Parabrahman. He appears in various forms according to the different aspects of the latter. He may appear as Vaikunthaloka when Parabrahman the Lord, appears as residing in Vaikuntha. He may appear as the charana (foot) of the Lord when the latter appears in the form of antaryami (the inner controller) and also in the form of an avatara (incarnation). He also appears as the foot in the adhidaivika (celestial forms of the Lord. The Akshara is further described as the putcha (tail) or the anandamaya (blissful) Lord, and is the adhyatmika (corporeal) form of the latter. When the Lord want, to give moksha (liberation) through jnana, He manifests- four forms, viz. akshara, kala (time), karma (action), and, svabhava (nature), Akshara then appears in the forms of Prakriti (primal matter) and Purusha (soul); and this Prakriti develops through different stages into the universe, and is therefore called the cause of all causes. The negative descriptions or Brahman in the Upanishads refer to this Akshara Brahman which become the subject of meditation of jnanins alone.

Kala, karma, and svabhava are akshara, different forms of the Lord inseparable from Him, and serve "some purpose in the, creation of the world. There are; again, twenty-eight tattvas (principles which appear in the process of creation, viz. sattvas (purity), rajas (activity), lamas (inertia), Purusha, Prakriti, mahat (cosmic intelligence), ahankara (egoism), five tanmatras subtle elements, five mahabhutas gross elements), five karmindriyas (organs of action), five jnanendriyas (organs of knowledge), and manas (mind). But though akshara, kala, karma, and svabhava exist even before the creation of the universe, they are not included in this list of the tattvas as they are general causes, inseparable, from the Lord. The twenty-eight categories are called tattvas as they represent in the world the causal capacity of the Lord. 11 The Lord, as the cause or the whole universe, expresses His causal capacity in the form of these twenty-eight categories which, in spite of the same nomenclature, have to be clearly distinguished from the categories or the Samkhya system.12 For instance, the three gunas (qualities), which constitute the Prakriti of the Samkhya, are distinct from Prakriti in this system: the indriyas (organs) are developed from the rajasa ahankara, and their devatas (presiding deities) from the sattvika ahankara, and indriyas and manas are atomic and eternal.

 

11. Tattvarthadipa, Sarvanirnaya, 85

12. Tattvarthadipa 94

 

Soul

 

The Lord was alone, without a second, in the beginning of a cycle. He desired to be many for the sake of pleasure: and as He desired, thousands of souls came instantaneously out of Akshara Brahman like sparks from fire. In special cases the souls may emanate from the Lord Himself. The soul is thus an amsha (part) of Brahman and is eternal. With a view to enjoying sport, the Lord suppressed the element of ananda (bliss) in the soul, and the soul consequently became subject to bondage and wrong knowledge. The soul is never created, nor does it ever die. It is only the body which is created and destroyed. As long as the soul is associated with the body, birth and death, which are the attributes of the body, are metaphorically predicated of it. The soul is atomic-it is neither omnipresent, nor does it vary in size according to the body it inhabits. It experiences every- thing in the body through its quality of chaitanya (intelligence) which pervades the whole body. It knows does, and experiences various things in the world; but these qualities of the soul are, in fact, derived from the Lord. The soul is thus quite real, and not a product of nescience. The Lord, in order to bring about variety, which is essential for the sake of pleasure, makes the souls varied in nature. Consequently, the souls can be grouped into three classes, viz. (1) those that are busy with worldy matters, (2) those that follow the Vedic path according to the letter of the Vedas, and (3) those that worship the. Lord out of pure love engendered only through divine grace. These three types are generally described as pravaha, maryada, and pushti respectively.

 

The Universe

 

The universe is the effect of Brahman and is real and non-different from Him. Ii represents the adhibhautika (material) form of Brahman. The element of sat is manifest in it while the other elements of chit and ananda are latent. The, Lord has created the universe out of His own self for the sake of sport (lila) without suffering (any change whatsoever, and is related to it as the spider is to its web. The origination, existence, and destruction of the world or experience is completely different in nature from the world of dreams and is therefore not unreal like the experiences in a dream. The universe (jagat) is clearly distinguished from the unreal world (Samsara) caused by the avidya (nescience) of soul. For the sake or diversity, the lord makes the souls subject to His power of avidya which is the root cause of the ideas or 'mine' and 'thine',Samsara which is solely made up of ahanta (I-ness or egoism) and mamta (Myness or the idea of possession), has to be destroyed by means of knowledge, devotion, etc.