Shri Mahaprabhuji

Pragatya

During the times of Shri Vallabhacharya’s appearance, northern India had been conquered by the Mughal’s. The Vedic dharmas were in distress. Shri Vallabhacharya explained the situation precisely, “All the spiritual paths have been destroyed in India. Hypocrisy is rampant.”

The paths of loving devotion had become obscure, the holy places filled with business-minded people, the mantras ineffective and the devas no longer visible. It was time for Shri Krishna’s face to appear as Shri Vallabh, the giver of the priceless award, the extremely generous one who would not be understood by those devoted to physical matter. The scene was ready and the time was ripe for the Beloved Sun of Devotion to arrive for the benefit of the pure-hearted.

Shri Vallabhacharya’s forefathers were from Kakarwad, a town on the southern banks of the Krishna river in present day Andhra Pradesh. Their family name was Vellanadu. Shri Vallabh’s father was Lakshman Bhatt, a devout Brahmin who performed Soma Sacrifices as his ancestors had done. Shri Yajnarnarayan Bhatt, Lakshman Bhatt’s great, great grandfather began the family practice of performing Soma Sacrifices. He was charitable to his people. During the course of one Soma Sacrifice, a Svarupa, the very image of Lord Krishna appeared in the sacrificial fire pit and the voice of God told him, “I will appear in your family after one hundred soma sacrifices have been completed.”

The stage was now set for the divine appearance and Yajnarnarayan’s son Shri Gangadhara performed twenty-eight additional Soma Sacrifices. His son Shri Ganapati Bhatt contined the tradition and reinforced Vedic teachings during his lifetime. His son, Shri Bal Bhatt completed five sacrifices. He had two sons Shri Lakshman and Shri Janardan. Shri Lakshman married Ellamagaru, the daughter of Shri Susharma, the royal priest of the prominant South Indian Hindu Kingdom Vidyanagar. This is where the story begins.

Shri Vallabh’s father, Lakshman Bhatt, was a Tailanga Brahmin. He too was steeped in Vedic lore and lived in Kakarwad. After the birth of a son and two daughters, Lakshman Bhatt decided to renounce the world, but a sage persuaded him not to do so. Lakshman Bhatt spent his time in devotion to Gopal Krishna and pilgrimaged to many holy places. He eventually settled in Banaras. He was aware of the fact that the Lord would appear in his family for he had completed his family’s one hundredth Soma Sacrifice, but wondered how and when this appearance would take place.

When Mulsim disturbance came to Banaras, Laxsham Bhatt and his family fled towards South India where Hindu kingdoms still dominated. Along the way he halted at Champaranya near Raipura in Madhya Pradesh. There his pregnant wife Ellamagaru suddenly gave birth, two months prematurely, to what appeared to be a still-born baby. The parents sadly placed the infant inside a hollow of a tree and retreated to a nearby village. That evening, the Blessed Lord appeared to Ellamagaru in a dream and told her, “I have appeared as your son!”

They immediatley returned to the tree and were both astonished and delighted to find a glowing baby surrounded by fire. The blessed mother extended her arms into the fire and received the divine child happily to her breast, unscathed by the flames. They called the infant Vallabh, which means “Beloved”. He was indeed dear to them. Shri Vallabh’s extraordinary birth made Lakshman Bhatt realize that the prophecy of his forefathers had finally come to be. It was a time for celebration indeed. One of Vallabhacharya’s followers sang,

O mother, Shri Mahaprabhu Vallabh has appeared, There are great celebrations in his father’s home. O mother, I sing a sweet song Of how the blessed people have come to see. O mother, the Brahmins are reciting the Vedas. They are giving beautiful blessings. O mother, the square is adorned with pearls, Bards are singing his praises. O mother in every home drums sound, Flowers rain from the sky. O mother clothes are gifted, Men and women are wearing them. O mother blessed is Shri Vallabh’s mother, All of her desires are now fulfilled Sing’s Haraji*, “On that day there were abundant pleasures!”

Divine Cause

Now hear about the divine occurrence that caused Shri Vallabh’s appearance. Once Shri Krishna desired to dance with Shri Svamini and when she showed no interest, Shri Krishna, the Master of all things, made another divine creation and danced there. When Shri Svamini saw him dancing without Her, she went to her Beloved and pulled on His necklace. All of the gems from the necklace scattered on the earth. At that moment the Divine Couple realized that the fallen jewels were actually divine souls connected to Them. They immediately felt intense separation from those divine souls and two columns of fire emanated from Their hearts and where they converged, a third form manifested as the Beloved Vallabh. He was a combination of Shri Krishna and Shri Svamini as well as Their witness. The intensity that issued from Them and created him turned Beloved Vallabh into the divine fire God for he was filled with Their intensity. Beloved Vallabh then appeared on the earth to collect the dispersed divine souls and remind them, “Remember dear soul! You have been separated from Beloved Krishna for thousands of births. You have forgotten the nectar of His union. Do you remember the sweet pangs of His separation?”

The search for these divine souls inspired Shri Vallabh to undertake three pilgrimages around the four corners of India.

Shri Vallabh’s Views

When social and political conditions improved, Lakshman Bhatt returned to Banaras and began Vallabh’s education. He engaged the best tutors and they imparted to him knowledge of the Vedic systems in Sanskrit. His education commenced at the age of seven with the study of the four Vedas, each taught under a different specialist. By the time he was ten he had acquired mastery not only over the six systems of Indian philosophy, but also over the philosophical systems of Shri Sankara, Shri Ramanuja, Shri Madhva, Shri Nimbark as well as Jainism and Buddhism. His erudition and intellect amazed everyone. He was called “The Wisdom Child, the Master of Speech”.

Vallabh’s main interest remained in reading the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the sacred text that reveals Shri Krishna’s lilas. He was particularly fond of the Rasa Lila chapters wherein the Blessed Lord dances with thousands of Gopis, all enlightened dairy maids, under Vrindavan’s autumnal full moon. His father’s home was adorned with wall paintings depicting the divine event and Shri Vallabh often sat before them, oblivious to everything else. He understood the inner essence of Shri Krishna’s congregation of nectars.

Shri Vallabh was a genius of dharma and everyone was astonished by his wisdom. Although he had many teachers and gurus, Shri Vallabh considered his ultimate guru to be the Gopis of Vrindavan and concluded that Shri Krishna is the means as well as the reward and appears before those who have pure devotion. He taught a Path of Grace wherein everything is saturated with devotion, and known through love. Shri Vallabh focused on the Gopis of Vrindavan, the gurus of bhakti-devotion and found Shri Krishna’s lovely lilas within their homes. He knew that when their bhakti is emulated, everything is attained. The story of love is an amazing affair and his conclusion was, “Always, with every divine feeling, worship Shri Krishna, the Lord of Gokul.”

His son, Shri Gusainji later explained, “The reward of Shri Vallabh’s path has manifested for those who have flawless devotion. The scriptural type of devotional practice can also be used, but the experience of the highest reward is found in the devotion of the Gopis of Vrindavan. They have beautiful eyes and dance with Krishna right in their homes!”

Shri Vallabh’s manifestation was multi-leveled. To some he simply appeared as the son of Laxshman, to others as a great pundit, and to some a guru. His intimate disciples knew He was not only the incarnation of both Shri Svamini and Shri Krishna, but that he was Their witness as well. From his unique position, he urged his followers to make Shri Krishna’s seva within their daily lives and to use the Gopi’s type of selfless devotion to empower their minds and hearts towards Shri Krishna. He taught his blessed ones to follow Shri Krishna’s movements throughout the day. His path became known as the Pusthi Marg, “The Path of Grace”.

Bramha Sambandh

Shri Vallabh reached Gokul on the eleventh day of the bright phase of the moon during the month of Shravana (August) in 1494. At that time the master’s mind was concerned with the upliftment of divine souls. He had noticed that people were spiritually divided and felt that the Vedic rituals had lost their significance and that mantras were mostly ineffective. In such a time, he thought, “what is the fate of the blessed ones?”

He took his rest that evening on Thakurani Ghat at the banks of the Yamuna river and at midnight the Blessed Lord Krishna appeared to him. The following morning, Shri Vallabhacharya wrote in Sanskrit about his divine experience and the teachings he received from the Blessed Lord. In the Master’s own words…

“At midnight during the bright half of the month of Sravana, Shri Krishna appeared before me and I will now disclose the words he spoke. Krishna told me, “When the connection to Brahman is established, when the Brahma Sambandha initation is given, the impurities of that soul are completely removed. They are of five kinds and have been spoken of in the world and scripture as arising from natural causes from place, from time, from unions and by physical contact. After the Divine Connection, these impurites are no longer worthy of being believed in. Without a connection to Brahman, these impurities will never be removed. Therefore do not use anything that has not been offered. Dedicated souls offer all of their activities. Also, anything that has been previously enjoyed should not be offered to Me, the Lord of all. Just like good servants are know in the world for their selfless service, so here the bhakta offers herself in every undertaking and then everything for her becomes God. Like impure water that joins the Ganga is no longer consider to be either pure or impure, but as a portion the sacred Ganga, similarly everything once offered God becomes God.”

Shri Krishna then told his Beloved Vallabh to help his disciples concentrate their lives by offereing their, bodies, senses and what they focus on along with their breath, consciousness, minds, intelligence, sense of self as well as their homes, spouse, children and wealth and whatever else they have either in this world or in any other along with their souls to the Beloved of the Gopis, Shri Krishna. This was to become Shri Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya’s main initiation. Those who received the Brahma Sambandha initiation would become eligible to perform Shri Krishna’s seva, His loving service.

The following morning he asked his closest disciple, Damala, who was sleeping next to him, “Did you hear the Lord speaking to me last night?”

Damala replied, “I heard something, but was I not able to understand Him.”

In this way Damala showed his devotion and humility before Shri Vallabhacharya and set the perfect example for other followers of grace. Shri Vallabhacharya then initiated him with the mantra Shri Krishna had empowered him with and Damala became the first disciple of the Path of Grace.

Courtest: http://www.nathdwara.in/