Brief overview of Shri Vallabhacharyaji's life

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Brief overview of Shri Vallabhacharyaji's life

Shri Vallabhacharyaji was born in the sacred forest of

Champaranya in Madhya Predesh, Central India. Born in

to a very learned family of Brahmins from South India,

he spent much of his early life in North India, in the

holy city of Varanasi. Born with great innate

abilities, Vallabhacharyaji mastered all the Vedas,

Purans and Agamas by the tender age. By the age

eleven he was already preaching and winning debates on

principles which were later consolidated as

Brahmavada.

 

Following in the footsteps of the great sages before

him, he decided to circumbulate the motherland and

visit all the sacred sites in India. In his life time,

Shri Vallabhacharyaji completed three and a half such

journeys around India.

 

Impressing learned pundits and scholars around India,

Vallabhacharyaji came to the South Indian Empire of

King Krishnadev-rai. The court at Vidyanagar was

debating the merits of various Vedic philosophies. The

heated debate seemed at a dead-lock and no-one seemed

to have answers that would satisfy the king. Shri

Vallabhacharyaji came in to the debate at this point

and within seven days won the arguments for his

philosophy of Vishudhadviata.

 

Immensely impressed by the young man’s intelligence

and clarity of thought, the assembled pundits and the

Krishnadev Rai announced him as an "Acharya" and

offered 7,000 gold coins as a gift to Shri

Vallabhacharyaji. Ever mindful of the dangers of

hoarding wealth, Shri Vallabhacharyaji gave away a

bulk of the wealth to the assembled brahmins. A

portion was sent to his uncle to settle the debts

incurred by his father, a small portion was set aside

to care for his ageing mother and out of the seven

thousand gold coins, he only kept seven coins for

making jewellery for the icons in his shrine.

 

Later, when in central India, Vallabhacharyaji had a

vision of the Lord requesting him to come over towards

the Vraj in western India. Vallabhacharyaji arrived in

Vraj during the holy month of Shravan. The Lord

revealed himself to him on the 11th day of the bright

fortnight of Shravan.

 

In accordance with the Lord’s wishes, he set up a

small shrine for the Lord and requested his old

teacher, Shri Madhevendra Yati, to carry out the

worship of the Lord whilst he carried on with his

pilgrimage. Later, Shri Vitthal-Nathji of Pandharpur

in Maharastra, commanded Vallabhacharyaji to marry.

Vallabhacharyaji married Shrimati MahaLakshmiji and

sired two sons.

 

After his marriage, Vallabhacharyaji set up his

household at Adel, near the holy confluence of Ganges,

Jamuna and the Sarasvati rivers. This was an ideal

place, as it was halfway between Varanasi and Vraj,

the two most important places in Vallabhacharyaji’s

life.

 

Vallabhacharyaji taught his disciples to develop a

very intensely personal relationship with God. Be this

in the form of parent - child, friends, lovers etc.

These relationships should not be tainted by any

selfish motives. Not even the motive to "see" what the

God looks like in all his glory ! The Lord will do as

He sees fit. IF he wants to show Himself, He will. Who

are we to demand such a boon ? The main idea being,

one should not ask anything of the Lord.

 

Just before the birth of his elder son, he had a

vision that Balarama and Krshna (as toddlers) coming

to play with him on the banks of the river Yamuna.

>From than on, he regarded Balarama and Krshna as his

children and worshipped them accordingly. Though

housed at Adel, the increasing duties of the dynamic

Acharya required him to keep a household at Varanasi

and Vraj in addition to the house at Adel. Shri

Mahaprabhuji recited the Shrimad Bhagvat Puran at 84

sacred sites around India. Spread out from the heights

of the Himalaya, at KedarNath, to the Southern-most

tip of India at Rameshwara. Of all the sacred sites He

visited, Shri Vallabh was also a regular visitor to

Jaggannanth Puri, Dwarka and Dakor.

 

The fame and respect for Shri Vallabhacharyaji grew

with years. When his sons were old enough to manage

the affair of the house and the sampradaya, Acharya

Shri renounced the world. Soon after, he immersed his

earthly body in the holy waters of the Ganges.

 

Shri Vallabhacharya’s political acumen and oratory won

him admirers from far and wide. He had excellent

connections at the Mogual court of Emperor Akber.

Akbar’s chief wife, Queen Jodha, was a disciple of

Shri Vallabhacharya. The emperor was also a guest of

the Vallabhacharyaji on several occasions. Many

Imperial proclamations and decrees were made to honour

the house of Shri Vallabhacharyaji. Several members of

the Imperial court were members of the sect. The

farsighted leader of this growing sect reciprocated by

visiting the Imperial court on occasions. One of the

seven sons of Gosaiji became a permanent member of the

Imperial retinue and the cordial relations between the

sect and the court carried over into the reign of

Emperor Jahangir.

 

 

 

 

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