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Pushtimarga Sampradaya

Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism founded by Vallabha

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The Puṣṭimārga sect follows the Śuddhadvaita philosophy of Vallabha. According to this philosophy, Kr̥ṣṇa is considered the supreme deity and the source of everything. The human soul is believed to be imbued with Kr̥ṣṇa's divine light, and spiritual liberation is thought to result from Kr̥ṣṇa's grace. The sect worships Kr̥ṣṇa through sevā, a practice in which his images or svarūpas ("self forms") are served and entertained with food, drink, music, and art, recreating his daily routine as a youth in Braj.

The followers of this tradition are known as Pushtimargis or Pushtimargiya Vaishnavas. This sect is prominent in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, as well as in their regional diasporas around the world. The Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara is the main shrine of Pushtimarg, with its origins dating back to 1669.

History

Vallabha

Vallabha was born into a Telugu Brahmin family in South India. He received a traditional education in Sanskrit scriptures and was a precocious student. In 1494, around the age of 15, he had a vision in which he acquired the Brahmasambandha mantra from Kr̥ṣṇa which was to be used to clean the faults of the human soul. He first bestowed the mantra on Dāmodardās Harsānī who would become the first member of the Puṣṭimārga. When he went to Govardhan Hill he declared that the stone being worshipped as Devadamana was the svarūpa of Śrī Nāthajī and instituted the formal sevā of the deity. He adopted the householder form of life and had two sons, Gopīnātha and Viṭṭhalanātha. Throughout his life he made three pilgrimage tours of India where he won converts mainly from the Gangetic plain and Gujarat, with converts tending to belong to mercantile or agricultural castes to whom Vallabha's ideals of socio-religious purity were appealing. He died in 1530, designating his elder son Gopīnātha as his successor.

Viṭṭhalanātha

In 1540, the Gauḍiya priests of Śrī Nāthajī, whom Vallabha hired, were expelled from Govardhan Hill which gave the Puṣṭimārga sole control over the deity's worship. In 1542, Gopīnātha died with his son soon dying as well, leaving Viṭṭhalanātha as the leader of the Puṣṭimārga. From 1543 to 1581 Viṭṭhalanātha went on fundraising tours to Gujarat where he converted many merchants, agriculturalists, and artisans. He also successfully obtained the royal Hindu and Mughal patronage for the sect. He heavily transformed the simple sevā of his father's time into a deeply aesthetic experience that sought to recreate the daily life of Kr̥ṣṇa in which he was offered expensive clothing, jewelry, perfumes, and sumptuous meals. The arts of paintings and poetry were also added to the rituals to enhance their appeal. Upon Viṭṭhalanātha's death the spiritual leadership of the sect was divided among his seven sons among whom he had distributed the major svarūpas of Kr̥ṣṇa and granted the sole right to bestow the brahmasambandha mantra, that is, to initiate new members. Thus, the Puṣṭimārga was divided into Seven Houses (Sāt Ghar) or Seven Seats (Sāt Gaddī), with all patrilineal male descendants of Vallabha having these rights. These descendants have the titles of mahārājā (Great King) or gosvāmi (Lord of Cows), and the chief mahārāja of the First House has the title of tilkāyat and is primus inter pares.

Since the division of guruship at the death of Vitthalanatha, the sampradaya has had no overall central authority. Leadership was divided among Vitthalanatha's seven sons as seven separate but equal centres, spiritual authority remaining confined to the male line of descent from Vallabhacharya, and each guru is the final authority among his own initiated followers. The eldest male-line descendants of the seven sons enjoy an enhanced status as custodians of the most revered svarupas; among them, the descendant of Giridhara, the eldest son, holds the greatest spiritual status as custodian of the original Shrinathji svarupa at Nathdwara, which attracts pilgrims from all centres of the sampradaya.

Later history in Braj

Viṭṭhalanātha's sons continued obtaining patronage of the sect from Mughal emperors. Viṭṭhalanātha's son Gokulanātha authored many texts in Sanskrit and particularly in Braj Bhasha, which reemphasized the themes of Vallabha's works in a more accessible language. Gokulanātha is considered the most prominent Puṣṭimārga figure of the era, and according to sectarian sources he defended the sect's right to wear their sectarian tilaks and mala beads made from tulsi from a Shaiva-Tantric ascetic named Jadrup who exerted significant influence over the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

In the early 1600s, the houses had a dispute over the rights to perform worship to Śrī Nāthajī, and Jahangir sided with Tilkāyat Viṭṭhalarāy that the First House held precedence over the others. The Third and Sixth Houses were also in conflict through the century over the worship of the deity Bālakr̥ṣṇa, resulting the exodus of both Houses from Braj to Gujarat. The Third House eventually moved to the region of Mewar in Rajasthan where they were welcomed by the kings and granted refuge. In Braj, the Jāṭ rebellion under the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb caused many religious communities, including the remaining houses of the Puṣṭimārga, to flee to Rajasthan where they received protection. The First House, who was the custodian of Śrī Nāthajī, settled in a village in Mewar that would become Nāthadvārā.

The Puṣṭimārga in Rajasthan

From their arrival in Rajasthan in the late 17th century to the late 19th century, Puṣṭimārga gosvāmīs served both as the gurus and jāgīrdārs of the Mewar darbār. The Mewar kingdom, which had defied the Mughal empire, sought to promote an image of themselves as protectors of Hindu dharma through their pre-existing theological commitment to and patronage of the Puṣṭimārga; in addition they sought to boost their economy through the pilgrimage traffic of the mercantile Gujarati Vaiṣṇava devotees. The Puṣṭimārga gosvāmīs in turn enjoyed the religious and financial support of the Mewar kingdom. The mahārājas became wealthy landowners who received state protection and privileges through their noble Rajput contacts and donations from Gujarati merchant devotees/

19th century

The 1862 Maharaj Libel Case, in which a mahārājā from Surat named Jadunath Brizratanji sued the journalist Karsandas Mulji on charges of libel in the Supreme Court of Bombay, was widely publicized. In the paper Satya Prakāśa, Mulji had called the Vallabha Sampradāya a degenerate sect with false doctrines, and accused its mahārājās (including Jadunath Brizratanji specifically by name) of forcing female devotees to have sexual relations with them. The British judges sided with Mulji, and the Puṣṭimārga's reputation was tainted, and the sect was viewed negatively by Western scholars until the late 20th century.

The tenure of Tilakāyat Govardhanalāl (tilkāyat from 1876 to 1934) is often described as the "golden age" of both Nathdwara and the Puṣṭimārga.

20th and 21st centuries

In the 20th century, the Pushtimarg prospered due to the acquired affluence of some of its members, primarily Gujarati merchants. The Gujarati diaspora founded important Pushtimarg centers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

In the 21st century, the sect is not very well known in India. Since the latter half of the 20th century, the mahārājās no longer have the same level of religious and secular authority over their followers, and they are much more restrained in their public presence. While devotee families include those of great wealth, they do not draw attention to themselves either. The Puṣṭimārga does not actively seek converts in modern times.

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