Hinduism - What Is The Pushti Marg?

 



Vallabhacharya (1479–1531) formed a religious community whose teachings have remained the sect's primary impact.

Vallabhacharya's philosophical viewpoint is known as "pure monism" (Shuddadvaita); his fundamental belief is that the deity Krishna is the Supreme Being and the ultimate source of everything that exists.

As a result, the earth and humans partake in his divine essence, although in limited ways, and the human soul is endowed with divinity as its inner light and controller.

Because Krishna is the ultimate source of everything, everything ultimately relies on God, the school's major religious focus is on God's grace.

This blessing is said to nourish (pushti) the devotee (bhakta) and is best obtained via devotion (bhakti), which is seen to be the only successful religious method.

Because of this focus on grace and devotion, the Pushti Marg has placed little emphasis on abstinence or sacrifice, and Vallabhacharya's followers mostly came from prosperous merchant groups.

In the Pushti Marg's temples, the emphasis on devotion was quickly expressed in beautifully structured forms of image worship.

Devotees would imagine themselves as Krishna's companions throughout his everyday activities—waking, eating, bringing his cows to pasture, returning home, and so on—and so be able to participate in the divine drama (lila).

The emergence of large liturgical materials, composed by eight poets (the ashtachap) affiliated with Vallabhacharya and Vitthalnath, his son and successor, aided this focus on vision and participation.

Vitthalnath's son Gokulnath, the group's third head, further cemented the growing community, whose main holy place is currently at Nathdwara, Rajasthan.

R.K. Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacharya, 1976, is a good source of information.


You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.