Pushtimarg (Path of Grace), a Vaishnava religious sect was founded by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531 A.D.). The sect lays great stress on seva (loving service) to the deity. The image of the deity (svarup) that is mainly Shrinathji, an eight-year-old Krishna, is considered to be a divine living being. Hence it is natural that the seva is articulated and structured so as to give the svarup all the comforts that would keep Him in good spirits.
Seva in Pushtimarg consists of kirtan (devotional poem-songs sung in the shrine to please Shrinathji), bhog (offerings made to Krishna in the form of sumptuous food, delicacies and beverages) and shringara (offerings made in the form of adornment, through dressing and ornamentation).
Radha & Krishna in the rain, 1830 A.D., 10 x 13.78 inch
Pushtimarg touches the hearts of its devotees and also enlivens the sensibilities of aesthetes through the depiction of seva in the form of miniatures and pichvais (intricately decorated wall-hangings). Examples include sets of 24 paintings that depict Shrinathji on major festivals or sets of 13 paintings that appear in illustrated versions of the Sahastra Shloki Seva Bhavana, a book of thousand emotions of seva. Another set of 24 paintings of the Braj yatra, a pilgrimage to the land of Braj, an area around Mathura in North India, likewise provides an example of how paintings are meant to trigger a devotee-viewer’s devotional sentiments. Braj is considered to be the place where Krishna spent his early life and performed his lilas (divine pastimes). Devotees visit these places of pilgrimage consisting of rivers, lakes, tanks, mountains,
Mangala (Sahastra Shloki Seva Bhavana) 1840 A.D., 10 x 135/16 inch
Raj bhog (Sahastra Shloki Seva Bhavana), 1830 A.D., 1311/16 x 97/8 inch
forests and groves of kadamba and palm trees. The paintings depict these places with Krishna performing His lilas.
Amongst the different genres of sectarian literature, the most popular is Varta Sahitya (Varta Literature)—narratives in the form of prose that recount the anecdotes in the life of Vallabhacharya
Barsana, 1870 A.D., 15.75 x 11.81 inches
and his son and successor, Vitthalnathji. These stories also narrate the history of sectarian svarups, including Shrinathji, which are now enshrined in sectarian temples (havelis). The stories therefore have their roots in history and convey various aspects of the sect’s philosophy. The most popular varta works are Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta (Chronicle of 84 Vaishnavas), Do Sau Bavan Vaishnavan ki Varta (Chronicle of 252 Vaishnavas), Nij Varta (Intimate Chronicle) and Gharu Varta (Domestic Chronicle).
The illustrated Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta under consideration here is most unique, as no other illustrated varta text of the early period has been found so far. The manuscript has 499 folios measuring 33 cm x 19.5 cm. It has a colophon at the end that reads: “Shri Vallabhadas’s learned son Motilal has commissioned this to reveal the deeper meaning for the benefit of Vaishnavas. Vikram Samvat 1758 (1702 A.D.). Vaishakh Krushna 17, Sunday.”
The manuscript has 85 paintings which on closer inspection seem to have a different handwriting and condition of paper. This could mean that the
Govindji, Girdharji and King B’jaysingh of Marwar, 1772 A.D., 113/16 x 911/16 inch
The Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta (Chronicle of 84 Vaishnavas) manuscript under study here invites the reader-viewer into the broader devotional world of the Pushtimarg (Path of Grace), a Hindu tradition known for its literary and visual culture that focuses on the seva (loving service) of Krishna. As with many Hindu deities, Krishna’s depiction in South Asian literature and art is variegated and spans centuries. The deity’s multifaceted character is also evident in the devotional aesthetics of the Pushtimarg, though the Krishna of this tradition is most frequently characterized by a playful and child-like tenderness. This form of the deity may therefore seem somewhat far removed from the formidable philosopher Krishna of the popular Sanskrit text, the Bhagavadgita. While Krishna’s playful character in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta differs in many ways from his counterpart in the Bhagavadgita, the two texts share analogous episodes that illuminate an essential quality of the god which is familiar across different textual and visual registers: his ability to bridge the worldly and the other-worldly. The Bhagavadgita episode in question recounts the moment when Krishna, as charioteer and counsellor to the Pandava warrior Arjuna, manifests himself as Vishvarupa (the Universal Form) who towers magnificently over the Kurukshetra battlefield. Arjuna, who has been seeking Krishna’s counsel on the nature of duty and action, becomes overwhelmed by this theophany and requests that Krishna return to his more approachable human-like form. Obliging, Krishna shrinks in size, and Arjuna ultimately emerges from the awesome experience with newfound conviction to fulfill his personal dharma to fight in the Mahabharata war. The episode therefore establishes Krishna’s divinity as well as his sensitivity to Arjuna’s limited capacity to behold the other-worldly Vishvarupa.
The Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta’s analogous story also relates to Krishna’s magnitude and divinity on earth. Here, though, the message shifts to focus squarely
on the necessity of loving and caring for Krishna as a divine and delightful child. The Pushtimargi story in question introduces a newly initiated follower of the Pushtimarg, Padmanabhadas, who is well-read in Hindu scriptures, including the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavadgita is a distinctive part. Because of his own self-perceived erudition, Padmanabhadas finds it difficult to learn the ways of Pushtimargi worship, which emphasizes the loving service of Krishna as a svarup (divine image) cared for in the privacy of devotees’ homes. The scholarly Padmanabhadas proclaims to his guru, Vallabhacharya, that should he witness Krishna’s greatness with his own eyes he would more easily be persuaded to tenderly care for a small, humble form of the god in his own home. Characteristically, Krishna overhears his devotee’s wish and obliges Padmanabhadas by emerging from the banks of the Yamuna River in a form as large as a palm tree, proclaiming to Vallabhacharya, who is with Padmanabhadas to witness Krishna’s emergence from the riverbank, “perform my seva.” Vallabhacharya speaks directly to the palm tree-sized god, explaining that in this day and age there is nobody capable of caring for such a massive svarup! After all, how could a human devotee ritually adorn or offer affection to such a towering deity? Hearing this, the enormous form of Krishna comes to sit in the lap of Padmanabhadas’s guru, immediately shrinking in size so that the deity’s head just reaches the top of Vallabhacharya’s chin. Vallabhacharya then bestows the now child-sized svarup upon the humbled Padmanabhadas who then learns the way of loving devotion and discards all scholarly hubris. While in some ways radically different from the well-known Vishvarupa scene in the Bhagavadgita, the story of Padmanabhadas, like those of his fellow devotees who appear in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta, similarly reminds the reader of Krishna’s ability to bring divinity lovingly into the human world.
Also known as the Vallabha Sampraday, the Pushtimarg was established around the Shuddhadvaita
The opening account from the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta describes moments from the life of Damodardas Harsani, or Damla, as Vallabhacharya affectionately calls him in the text. While most of the narratives in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta do not follow the development of the Pushtimarg chronologically, the varta of Damodardas Harsani comes logically at the beginning of the text as it narrates Damodardas’s initiation as Vallabhacharya’s first disciple. In the corresponding image, Vallabhacharya (left) encounters Shrinathji (centre) and offers the deity a garland. Damodardas (right) stands off to the side, markedly smaller in stature than his guru and the deity, who are both sheltered under an auspicious chonkar tree.1 According to the varta, the location of this encounter is Govind Ghat, in the town of Gokul, near to the first shrine established for Shrinathji by local Braj residents. As the varta recounts, Damodardas and his guru had taken rest on the ghat, but sleep would not come to Vallabhacharya who was anxious about bringing people into a relationship with Krishna when human beings were so riddled with vices. Shrinathji immediately appears, to allay such anxieties, and instructs Vallabhacharya to first cleanse to-be initiates with the ‘name’ of Krishna (nam nivedan), before bringing them into a direct relationship with the divine (brahmasambandha). Damodardas witnesses this miraculous encounter. When asked by Vallabhacharya if he heard the dialogue, Damodardas famously claims: “My Lord, I heard Shri Thakurji’s words, but I didn’t understand them.” Vallabhacharya then reiterates Shrinathji’s advice, establishing for the reader the necessary and essential function of the guru as an initial intermediary between the devotee and Krishna. This exchange in the varta’s first episode sets the stage for Damodardas to become the first follower of the Pushtimarg and also a close confidant of Vallabhacharya (Shri Acharyaji in the translations) and teacher to Vallabhacharya’s son Gusainji.
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Episode One: One day Shri Acharyaji was resting beneath a chonkar tree near the Dwarkanath Temple at Govind Ghat in the town of Gokul. While resting, Shri Acharyaji became concerned as he thought about Lord Krishna’s command to initiate devotees into the Pushtimarg. “How,” he thought to himself, “can the human soul, afflicted with so many faults, form a relationship with Lord Krishna?” Hearing
these thoughts, Lord Krishna revealed himself to Shri Acharyaji and asked, “What are you worried about?” Shri Acharyaji explained his concerns and Lord Krishna consoled him: “Do not worry. You will wash away the impurities of those you initiate by bestowing upon them my own sacred name. I will give shelter to these purified souls.” This discussion occurred at midnight during the month
of Shravan, on Ekadashi, the 11th day of the light half of the month. Damodardas, who was resting nearby, had witnessed this discussion between Lord Krishna and his guru. Shri Acharyaji asked his disciple, “Damla, did you hear anything we said?” Damodardas replied: “My Lord, I heard Shri Thakurji’s words, but I didn’t understand them.” So Shri Acharyaji explained to his disciple what had been said.
This first episode of Damodardas’s varta ends with commentary in Bhavprakash, which emphasizes that it is only through the grace of the guru that the devotee may come to understand spiritual matters. In many editions of the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta, as in the manuscript here, a long introductory section of the Bhavprakash commentary introduces Damodardas’s varta. In this section of the text, the reader learns about Damodardas’s other-worldly role in Krishna’s lila as Lalita sakhi, a female companion of Radha.
