Fitness of a Spiritual Teacher

One must have a teacher for getting knowledge. Knowledge is not possible to acquire without a teacher. Learning is not sim-ply studying the books, but mastering knowledge, making know-ledge as one's own, through the Grace of God. (Bha. S. 1-744). Under the influence of a teacher the pupil will imbibe good or bad qualities of his teacher, therefore a teacher must himself develop good qualities and be free from falsehood, pride, passion, anger and revenge (Bha. S. 1-17-40). A pupil should seek his teacher's grace, but only that teacher who himself seeks God's grace is worthy and fit to be a teacher. For a pupil, service of the teacher is necessary for obtaining knowledge from him. The Teacher's life should be stainless and exemplary. He must be, not only, well versed in the scriptures but should have realised God.

Compassion, uncommon learning, and thinking are chief virtues of good men. They are free from egoism. (10-4-32-30) They are God-possessed, and they behave' in accordance with the inner voice of God in relation to others. They are equal mind-ed to friends, and foes (10-1-58) and they respect the traditions and religious practices of the scriptures (10-2-5). They keep themselves away from distractions hindering meditation of God. Their mind, speech and senses are always directed to God (10-13-2). They have no secret to hide from others. They love all and hate none. They are well wishers of all creatures (10-24-4). They are immune from self-love. Their goal of life is only God. They are sympathetic to the poor and the distressed (12-2-6). Their hearts are pure i.e. free from passion, hatred etc. They are the saints whose minds are not disorganized or distracted by any worldly concerns. They are always calm-minded. (1 Or 11-25) They purify the sinners by their company (11-2-28). They are like the sailors that lead the boats safely through waters to their destination (11-2-29). They never visit the houses of others unless to confer blessings.on them' (10-8-4). If they visit any persons, they favour the poor (10-10-9).

Truth is essence of the knowledge part of the Vedas. 'It is identical with knowledge. One should speak truth in an inoffensive language. Unpalatable truth should not be uttered. Truth, harmful to others must not be spoken. (2-13-13) Truth is identified with supreme knowledge in the Vedas. It is the supreme vow. A man devoted to truth does not suffer fall or degradation in his life. Truth unites one with God. A lover of truth regards it as the attribute of God. Untruth may be spoken only in an extremely exceptional case when life is in danger 10-4-4) but for one seeking God by the path of devotion, truth is incumbent on him. It is the best means for a religious life.

Speech is divine. It is the gift to the lover of God for rendering service to Him. On every occasion one must speak truth only. Speech is an important factor in establishing congenial relation-, ship between one individual and another in the society. It should be tempered with sweetness. It works a magical effect in healing the afflictions of human beings. The speech of a good man reveals the marks of invariability and constancy. Bad words are more destructive than arrows. Pain caused by them cannot be easily healed. The words of the fools, are full of censure, and de-void of wisdom. They should be disregarded like the howlings of the jackals by a lion.

A devotee who has dedicated his life to God, should not en-tertain anxiety at any time. God according to the Pushtimarga (path of Grace) will not give worldly status to his devotees. God is the Lord and ruler of all and He will do everything accord-ing to His Will for the good of every one. He should attribute every occurrence of his life to the will of God. Even if it happens that one is not on the right path in the service of God, it should not make him anxious. A man, who has dedicated his all to God, either through ignorance or knowledge, has no cause for anxiety. In all matters, he should surrender to God, and be guided by Him, and there will not arise any cause for anxiety. Freedom from all Ends of anxieties inclusive of worldly, spiritual and divine nature is a chief characteristic of a true.

The Stats of anxiety indicates the devotee's lack of faith and love for God. The occasions of mental anguish should be taken cheerfully as indicative of God's blessing. As a social thinker, Vallabhacharya has thought of every problem on its merit intrinsically, in conformity with the spirit of the Hindu Dharma. Social conventions are respected by him on their internal worth of spirituality. He did not believe in eco-nomic progress as such, without moral and spiritual progress. He was not a politician or a social reformer. He was a philosopher- cum-religious teacher. His yard—stick for measuring social progress, is spirituality and religiosity, which does not admit of any barriers between a man and a man or one class of people and another class of people. The criterion of real social progress lies in the integration of different communities and in their mutual co-operation, acts of justice, fellow-feeling and service of God. These are necessary for maintaining general equilibrium peace and happiness of social life. He has not considered social philo-sophy as a separate subject but includes it under the philosophy of God. The world, as the greatest society, is not to be treated separately from God. The world is God's creation and all the souls are His parts. As there is no difference between these and God, the social relations of men belonging to different commu-nities and nations should be honored as being not man-made but God-made. Each one has some role assigned to him by God to play in God's world. Hence social relations must be based on love only. The reforms needed must be on that consideration. Vallabhacharya thinks that a social man with an ideal of service to humanity at large should be a believer in God. An atheist, with his moral code of behavior may be a good man, but a theist whose faith in God is inviolable is better; for lie sees God in all his dealings with worldly people. He hesitates to do injustice to any person, by his thought, words, and actions. To him, God is the father of all beings and men of different nationalities and religious commu-nities are brethren.

A true social worker, if he is a believer in God, will consider the whole world as the Kingdom of God and various beings in it as the flowers of the garden of God. For the Divine life the self-love must undergo transformation by benevolent and just social acts and acquire the character of the universal love which should be further refined and converted into most precious gold of the divine love. Social love is the intermediate stage between the self-love and the divine love. Social service is a step to the attain-ment of the divine love, which is the peak to be reached by devo-tion of the Divinity. Mere knowledge of the Sciences of Sociology, Social Philosophy and Ethics cannot help social workers in his work of introducing changes in the society for its betterment, unless he is guided by the light of religion, which alone will enlighten him with the knowledge that any service in the cause of society, is the service of God. Even humanism or

humanitarianism, destitute of the inner light of theism or belief in God is a failure in its zealous and arduous endeavors to achieve desired social good. The message which Vallabhacharya gives to all servants of Humanity is 'Be good and loving to all men, because they are God's men³⁷.'

He was a saint as well as philosopher. My own words ---- He opened a new era of Bhakti and devotion for God. He opened the way to God for everybody. He involved everybody irrespective of caste, creed and economic status. He simplified the way to reach God and simplified the rules and regulations. He give stress on complete devotion and love for God. He gave a new simplified way of Bhakti called Pushtimarga.

Shri Vallabhacharya used to say that attaining Moksha is described in Sankhaya shastra as well as Yoga Shastra. In sanjkhyashastra Moksha is said to be obtained by Tyaga. He give stress that Tyag must be from Heart.³⁸ He was as great philosopher and 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.‖³⁹

Young Vallabh never wore any sewn cloth nor anything on his feet. He travelled wearing only a light cotton dhoti and shawl. The eleven year old‘s lotus feet purified the earth wherever he went. He knew that the path of devotion needed to be resurrected.

Meanwhile, the teachings of Shri Shankaracharya had swept through India and the young Vallabh felt that Shankar‘s teachings wherein the world and ultimately even Shri Krishna were both false and that devotion was inferior to knowledge was misleading the people.

Shri Vallabh‘s mission was to revive the Vedanta truth of the One Joyous God who lives in all things, whose creations are free of fault and Maya and who can be known through dedication and self-less devotion. As Shri Vallabh carried his message across India, He became known as the ―Remover of the theory that this world is an illusion.‖ He saw everything as purely Krishna and only Krishna. He is the purest non-dualist.⁴⁰

His two sons requested him to guide them and give his last message. As he had taken a vow of silence, he wrote a few words on sand; which were as follows: - ―Listen to my last words. I foresee a time when you will forget God and become engrossed in worldly matters. It is likely that you will become slaves of your passions which will turn you away from the path of Devotion. Instead of rendering service to God which is your primary duty, you will fritter away your time and energy in idle pursuits. But if you follow my advice, God will not forget you. You should believe that Krishna is our God and never slacken your faith in him and then he will surely protect you. You should regard him as the be-all and end-all of your life. Your ultimate good lies in serving him, which should be done with all your heart, mind and soul. Trust in his protection.

During his trip to Gokarna he was invited by the king of Vijaynagar and he was received with warm welcome. Here he started to introduce his views on Vedas, Gita, the Brahma-Sutras and the Bhagvat. The King requested him to settle down but he wished them and proceeded giving them the following message:-―You should all be good and religious person – Not a God fearing man but a God loving man. Speak the truth. Be just and honest to all. Treat all persons equally. Have faith in Lord Krishna and surrender yourself to him. Be charitable and never harm the hungry and the weak. Realize that service to men and animals is service to God‖.⁴²

Wherever he went, Shri Vallabh revealed Shri Krishna‘s truth and refuted all other theories that contradict the true spirit of the Upnishadas. Shri Vallabh became known as, ―The one who established the teaching of Brahmavada, where everything is Brahman and nothing but Brahman.‖

The Beloved extracted the essence of all teachings and wherever he went, he implanted a divine view in the minds and hearts of the people. He always retreated to isolated places and became known as ―A lover of solitude‖. In the inner recesses of the world and the heart, he contemplated the movements of the Beloved of the Gopis. He understood Shri Krishna‘s inner essence and passed that priceless gift to others. No qualified person was barred from his path of loving devotion. He was the up lifter of all and gave his followers something even beyond liberation and enlightenment. He gave them Shri Krishna‘s nectar.⁴³

While in Gokul, Shri Vallabhacharya was deeply concerned about the question of restoring the people to the path of devotion. Lord Krishna appeared before him in the form of Shreenathji and told Shri Vallabhacharya to initiate the people on the path of Complete Self Surrender to the Lord with Love and modesty and simplicity through Brahma-Sambandh. The Lord promised Shri Vallabhacharya that He would accept the services of all the devotees initiated with the Brahm Sambandh. Brahma-Sambandh is a means of complete dedication and surrender of self to the Lord. Brahma-Sambandh means the establishment of a renewed relationship between the soul and God in which the soul accepts the relation as a servant (das) with the Lord as the Master. With this new relation with God, the soul becomes completely free from all sins provided it remains faithful to the vow of surrender it has taken and it goes on growing in the Grace of God.

The Lord accepts the services of such devotees. In this way Shri Mahaprabhuji initiated Damodardas Harsani with the Holy Mantra. This made Damodardas the first Vaishnava in the path of Divine Grace i.e. Pushti Marg. Now anybody could take brahma-

Sambandh, irrespective of caste, creed, race, color, wealth, age or sex. He gave BrahmaSambandh to many people and wrote a stotra, Siddhanta Rahasya to explain the importance of Brahma-Sambandh and the basic principles of Pushti Marg.⁴⁴

He gave Bhakti Marg - Devotion, Love of God, and Implicit Surrender. He said that Bhakthi marg is for anyone. It is just surrendering in totality. This path of Devotion is where one renounces everything and leaves everything to God. It is the easiest path and one needs to have faith in God to be able to walk this path. Pushti Bhakti – grace filled, bountiful, overflowing love, Liberation has no bliss in itself. The Ananda (bliss) aspect of Shri Krishna is what a Pushti devotee seeks through his devotion. This Ananda lies nowhere else but in Shri Krishna's Bhakti alone. Pusti Bhakti can never be practiced with expectation in return. Hence it is called "Bhaituki", i.e. without a reason, or "Nishkama" or desire less. He said that Jeev-atma – is part and parcel of God. Daivya Jeev (righteous, god-fearing) + Asuria Jeev (materially inclined with negative traits)

The order of these works, we are told, is most logical, as the doubts in each preceding work arc removed by the one that follows. The doubts in the Vedas are therefore to be removed in the light of the Gita and so on

After deep study and practical experience Shri Vallabhacharya introduced a simple way to attain God by following simple principles and rules. God himself showers His grace on His Pustimargya Vaishnavas and we obtain spiritual nourishment thereby.

• Instead of ritualistic worship (puja) the emphasis is on elaborated Seva (service) and bhakti of Lord Krishna to fulfil every kind of happiness of the Baal swaroop – thus mind remains fully engaged and focused on a personal God which reinforces our devotion.

• In this Bhakti Marg, Pushti Vaishnavas perform Seva along with responsibilities of family and society life.

• Pushtimarg is do not renounce life to become sanyasis, but perform their Dharma duty to life and Seva to Krishna with support of family.

• As per Hindu tradition one has to be initiated by a Guru to follow Pushtimarg, and our gurus are from the lineage of Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharyaji.

• Griha Seva – personal service performed at home to a personal God Swaroop.

• Seva can be performed after initiation/permission of Vallabhkula through taking of Bhrama Sambandh

• Unlike most ritualistic Pujas (honoring, adorations for attaining blessings or other material things), this Pushti Seva is undertaken selflessly without asking for any returns or rewards – just out of pure sincere love and devotion.

• Tulsi kanthi necklace, and Tilak ‗U‘ for males, red Bindi and saree for women are the main symbols.⁴⁵

Shri Vallabhacharya wrote a book named Nirodh Lakshanam. He gave his philosophy in this book. He opens new dimensions of devotion and Bhakti in this book. He gave the theory of Nirodha, which means full devotion in God leaving behind all the worldly things. By diverting the mind in Lord‘s praise and singing songs in this praise is the ultimate way of Moksha (self-realization) ⁴⁶

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