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Vallabha, also known as Vallabhācārya or Vallabha Dīkṣita (May 7, 1478 – July 7, 1530 CE), was the founder of the Krishna-centered Pushtimarg sect of Vaishnavism, and propounded the philosophy of Shuddhadvaita.
His biography is depicted in several sectarian Puṣṭimārga hagiographies. Born into a Telugu Brahmin family, Vallabha studied Hindu philosophy from early age, then traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly the Braj (Vraja) region, for over 20 years. He became one of the important leaders of the devotional Bhakti movement. He won many philosophical scholarly debates against the followers of Advaita Vedanta. He began the institutional worship of Shrinathji on Govardhana Hill. He acquired many followers in the Gangetic plain and Gujarat. After his death, the leadership of his sampradāya passed to his elder son Gopīnātha.
Vallabha's philosophy promoted the householder lifestyle over asceticism, suggesting that through loving devotion to the deity Kr̥ṣṇa, any householder could achieve salvation. He authored many texts including but not limited to, the Aṇubhāṣya (his commentary on the Brahma Sutras), Shodash Granth or sixteen tracts and several commentaries on the Bhagavata Purana.
According to Alan Entwistle, the Caurāsī Baiṭhak Caritra is a post-early 18th century text, due to internal references to other sectarian texts. According to Saha and Hawley, the Caurāsī Baiṭhak Caritra dates to the mid-18th century. Ṭaṁḍana, Bachrach, and several Puṣṭimārga leaders state the work was composed in the 19th century. Ṭaṁḍana also considers the Gharu Vārtā, Nija Vārtā, and Śrī Ācāryajī kī Prākaṭya Vārtā to be 19th century texts which were based on the older Caurāsī Vaiṣṇavana kī Vārtā and Do Sau Bāvana Vaiṣṇavana kī Vārtā. Bhatt states the Nija Vārtā is "full of interpolations and shows the lack of historical sense", and if it was in fact originally the work of the traditionally accepted author, Vallabha's grandson Gokulanatha, it was far removed from the original text. The Caurāsī Baiṭhak Caritra (attributed to Harirāya) enumerates the 84 baiṭhaks ("seats") of Vallabha across India where he sat and preached Puṣṭimarga tenets. According to Saha, the text seeks to promote Vallabha as an exceptional philosopher and miracle worker who acquires converts wherever; the text does this by portraying Vallabha as a digvijayin ("world-conqueror") who establishes the superiority of his philosophy in the Char Dham.
The Śrī Nāthajī kī Prākaṭya Vārtā in its current form was likely written in the 1860s, although its contents were orally known prior to the 19th century. The Vallabha Digvijaya or Yadunātha Digvijaya claims to have been composed in 1610, however modern scholars state the text was composed around the turn of the 20th century.
Other Sanskrit texts include Gadādhara Dviveda's Sampradāya-Pradīpa (colophon states A.D. 1552–53, but according to Hawley, actually from the latter half of the 1600s), Muralīdharadāsa's Śrīvallabhācāryacarita (c. 1573), Prabhucaritaciṁtāmaṇi (attributed to Devakīnaṁdana, which is baseless according to Bhatt), and the Gujarati poem Vallabhākhyāna by Gopāladāsa (c. 1580). Another Braj Bhasha work, Saṁpradāyakalpadruma, which is claimed to be composed by Viṭṭhalanātha Bhaṭṭa (a grandson of Vitthalanatha second daughter Yamunā) cannot be stated to be of old origin according to Śāstrī. Other texts by Gokulanātha's followers include Kalyāṇa Bhaṭṭa's Kallola, Keśavadāsa's Gujarati Vallabhavela, and Gopāladāsa Vyārāvāḷā's Gujarati Prākaṭya-Siddhāṁta.
According to scholars, the life of Vallabha as depicted in traditional sources contains many miracles, supernatural events, and "patently implausible features". Vallabha is considered by followers of the Puṣṭimārga to be an ideal divine incarnation who was born for a supernatural purpose, and his hagiographies mean to portray a living intimate relationship with Kr̥ṣṇa to serve as an example to devotees. Barz (1992) gives biographical account of Vallabha which includes these traditional elements. His biography has been criticized by Vaudeville for relying solely on English and Hindi Vallabhite sources and a lack of critical analysis of them typical of a Western Indologist. Śāstrī, commenting on the presence of miracles in Vallabha's biographies, notes that the texts authored by the followers of Gokulanatha, a grandson of Vallabha, contain no mention of miracles in relation to Vallabha and his second son Vitthalanatha (Gokulanātha's father) making them valuable sources. This is due to the fact that these followers instead consider Gokulanātha to be God in human form, with Vallabha and Viṭṭhalanātha only being revered ācāryas. No single text contains a full biography of Vallabha, and different sources contain inconsistent and contradictory information, likely due to internal fragmentation of the religious community from the 17th to 19th centuries.
According to some sources such as the Śrīvallabhadigvijaya, Vallabha's birth occurred in the forests of Campāraṇya, due to his parents fleeing Vārāṇasī in fear of Muslim invasion. These sources depict his birth as miraculous, with his parents initially leaving the seemingly still-born infant beneath a śamī tree, before being recalled by a supernatural voice to see Vallabha alive and surrounded by fire. According to other hagiographies such as Śrī Nāthajī Prākaṭya kī Vārtā, Vallabha appeared in the Agnikuṇḍ ("Pool of Fire") in Mathura.
Most hagiographies date Vallabha's birth to Vaiśākha vada 11, 1535 Vikram Samvat (May 7, 1478 CE). Though conversion of this date into the Gregorian calendar is disputed among scholars (with some putting Vallabha's birth in 1478 and some in 1479), Hawley confirms the year 1478 after adjusting for the calendar used in Braj. The followers of Gokulanatha, one of Vallabha's grandsons, consider Vallabha's year of birth to be 1473 CE. G.H. Bhatt, on comparing the two dates, states that the year 1473 CE is correct. In his view, the sources mentioning 1473 CE are older and more authentic than those mentioning 1478 CE.
Soon after Vallabha's birth his family moved back to Vārāṇasī. His education consisted of learning Sanskrit texts such as the Upaniṣads, Vedas, and Puranas.
According to the Śrī Govardhananāthajī ke Prākaṭya kī Vārtā (19th century), Madhavendra Puri (c. 1420–1490) taught Vallabha in Varanasi, however this is considered "highly improbable" by Alan Entwistle due to the dates of Vallabha's birth and Mādhavendra's death. When asked what he would like as a fee for teaching Vallabha, Mādhavendra asked to serve Shrinathji, as he had a premonition that Vallabha would establish the formal worship of the deity. When Mādhavendra Purī arrived at Govardhan Hill, the image was being already being worshipped as a snake deity by the local villagers, and as Kr̥ṣṇa by Saddu Pāṇḍe. Mādhavendra Purī adorned Śrī Nāthajī with a garland and turban decoration, and offered him milk (he was told by Śrī Nāthajī that he would only accept solid food when Vallabha arrived). The text also claims that Mādhavendra was appointed mukhiyā of the Bengali priests, which is also considered unlikely by Entwistle since the Śrī Nāthajī temple was built after his lifetime. Mādhavendra Purī later went to South India to get sandalwood, from which he never returned. Other Puṣṭimārga texts and texts othe Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition posit contrasting narratives surrounding the identity of Mādhavendra Puri's students and the establishment of the Kr̥ṣṇa image on Govardhana Hill.
In 1490, they reached the temple of Venkateswara at Tirupati, where Lakṣmaṇa Bhaṭṭa died, and Illammāgārū began to live with her brother in Vijayanagara.
Vallabha was also offered the prestigious title of acharya from the Sadh Vaishnavism and the Rudra Sampradaya. Vallabha chose to become ācārya of the Viṣṇusvāmī school. Very little is known of the Viṣṇusvāmī school, and by Vallabha's time its followers were few. The majority view among sectarian followers is that Vallabha chose to become ācārya of that school in order to make his own doctrines more prestigious, and that there is likely no real connection between the ideas of Vishnuswami and Vallabha. A minority of followers believe there is a connection between the philosophies of Viṣṇusvāmī and Vallabha. Modern scholars hold there is no legitimate connection between the two philosophies. According to Keśvararāma Kāśīrāma Śāstrī, Vallabha himself did not claim to belong to Viṣṇusvāmī's school. He notes that in the Subodhini, Vallabha claims Viṣṇusvāmī's devotional path belongs to the tamāsa guṇa, while his own is nirguṇa. Only later writers such as Gosvāmī Puruṣottama, Yogī Gopeśvara, and Gadādharadāsa link Vallabha's and Lakṣmaṇa Bhaṭṭa's philosophical school to Viṣṇusvāmī. It is also stated in traditional biographies that Bilavamaṁgala (a scholar of Viṣṇusvāmī's school) waited 700 years for Vallabha to take his seat. Rather Vallabha himself states that despite Bilvamaṁgala's Māyāvāda tendencies, through his devotion he can achieve mokṣa.
According to sectarian literature, this debate occurred shortly after Lakṣmaṇa Bhaṭṭa's death in 1490 when Vallabha was only 13 years old; however, Kr̥ṣṇadevarāya only became king of Vijayanagara in 1509.
The debate is mentioned in the Caurāsī Baiṭhak Caritra and but is not found in independent historical sources. According to Saha, the Vijayanagara episode is meant to portray "the image of a victorious Vallabha winning the subcontinent for Kr̥ṣṇa". It is also mentioned in the Sampradāya-Pradīpa, whose narrative is described as "clearly counterfactual" by Hawley who posits the episode was written for the purpose of furthering the interests of the Puṣṭimārga in the late 17th century.
Following his caste traditions and practices, Vallabha married Mahālakṣmī (aka Akkājī) sometime between 1502 and 1504, a Vārāṇasī girl of his own caste who began living with him upon maturity c. 1510–1512. Vallabha had two houses, one at Aṛaila on the Yamuna river across Prayagraj, and at Caranāṭa near Vārāṇasī. According to Saha, the location of his home provided a central location which allowed him to access to preach and convert throughout northern and central India.
His first son, Gopīnātha, was born in 1512 at Aṛaila and according to sectarian tradition was the avatar of Balarama, elder brother of Kr̥ṣṇa. His second son, Vitthalanatha, was born in 1515 at Caranāṭa, and is considered the avatar of Viṭṭhala.
Only scholarly theory for why Vallabha's theology was attractive to these groups was that of social mobility. For agrarian castes, particularly in Gujarat, the emphasis on purity gave higher status. For mercantile castes, purity as well as the emphasis on restraint and frugality in daily life elevated their status, while wealth could then be funnelled toward religiously meritorious sevā to Kr̥ṣṇa.
Another reason was that Vallabha promoted a househoulder life-affirming, socially conservative view that appealed to castes that depended on social and political stability for their livelihoods, notably in the context of splintering Muslim sultanates in India.
There are also other texts attributed to Vallabha some of which are considered to be either lost or not actually composed by him. These includes Jaiminīyasūtrabhāṣya, Pātrāvalambanam, Śrīpuruṣottamanāmasahasram, Trividhanāmāvalī, Premāmr̥tam, Parivr̥ddhāṣṭakam, and Madhurāṣṭakam. Smith notes that it is possible for Vallabha's work to have been lost in the first twenty years after his death, as his family became embroiled in disputes until Viṭṭhalanātha's final accession as head of the family and sect after the deaths of Gopīnātha and his son Puruṣottama.
Vallabha distinguishes between two aspects of devotion: the maryāda and the puṣṭi. Maryāda followers rely on their actions and God's judgment for spiritual rewards, aligning with scriptural injunctions. In contrast, Puṣṭi followers rely solely on God's grace, prioritizing complete devotion and surrender without personal effort, embodying unconditional love and faith towards God. Vallabha also emphasizes that the path of pusti is open to all, regardless of caste or gender. He cautions against seeing this path as too focused on pleasure, saying it is about pure, divine devotion without being attached to worldly desires.
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