वल्लभाचार्य m. m.N. of a celebrated
वैष्णव teacher (successor of a less celebrated teacher
विष्णुस्वामिन्; he was born, it is said, in the forest of
चम्पारण्य in 1479; at an early age he travelling to propagate his doctrines, and at the court of
कृष्णदेव, king of
विजय-नगर, succeeded so well in his controversies with the
शैवs that the
वैष्णवs chose him as their chief; he then went to other parts of India, and finally settled down at Benares, where he composed seventeen works, the most important of which were a commentary on the
वेदान्त and
मीमांसासूत्रs and another on the
भागवत-पुराण, on which last the sect rest their doctrines; he left behind eighty-four disciples, of each of whom some story is told, and these stories are often repeated on festive occasions. He taught a non-ascetical view of religion and deprecated all self-mortification as dishonouring the body which contained a portion of the supreme Spirit. His followers in Bombay and Gujarat, and their leaders, are called
महा-राजs; they are called the epicureans of India),
[RTL. 134-137]