History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.158

v7.c91.158

¹⁵⁵² It is remarkable that the Bhāgavata, which is practically the most important or sole authority for all great medieval Vaiṣṇava teachers like Vallabha and Caitanya and their disciples, is not quoted anywhere by Rāmānuja (who was born in śake 1049 i e 1127 A D.) in his *bhāṣya* on the Brahmasūtras, when he quotes over a hundred verses from the Viṣṇupurāṇa in the same. In fact, in the Vedārthsaṅgraha Rāmānuja states that in the same way as the section (anuvāka) on Nārāyaṇa among all śruti texts serves to expound the special aspect of highest Brahma so the Viṣṇupurāna also defines a special aspect of the highest Brahma and that all other Purānas should be so interpreted as not to be in conflict with it 'यथा सर्वासु श्रुतिषु केवलपरब्रह्मस्वरूपविशेषप्रदर्शनार्थैव प्रवृत्तो नारायणानुवाकस्तथैवं वैष्णवं च पुराणं...परब्रह्मस्वरूपविशेषनिर्णयायैव प्रवृत्तम् । अन्यानि सर्वाणि पुराणान्येतदविरोघेन नेयानि। वेदार्थसंग्रह para 110-111 pp 141-142 (D. C. ed. 1956). रामानुज mentions (in भाष्य on वेदान्तसूत्र II 2 41 and 45) पौष्करसंहिता, सात्वतसंहिता and परमंसंहिता among the पाञ्चरात्रसंहिताs, but does nowhere affirm that he is a follower of the पञ्चरात्र doctrine. There are numerous commentaries on the Bhāgavata and commentaries on commentaries (Das Gupta in vol 4 pp. 1-2 lists over 40 commentaries on the Bhāgavata). It is unnecessary in this work to refer to the numerous commentaries of the disciples and followers of Madhva and other great Vaiṣṇava ācāryas The position of Vallabhācārya (1479-1531 A. D.) appears to be that the Bhāgavata is the supreme authority in case of doubt 'वेदाः श्रीकृष्णवाक्यानि व्याससूत्राणि चैव हि । समाधिभाषा व्यासस्य प्रमाणं तच्चतुष्टयम् । उत्तरं पूर्वसन्देहवारकं परिकीर्तितम् ॥ तत्त्वदीपनिवन्ध (Ahmedabad, 1926), vide also Prof. G. H Bhatt in I. H. Q vol. IX, 300-306 Vallabhācārya's is called पुष्टिमार्ग (meaning कृष्णानुग्रह) and he holds that even *bhakti* is difficult to accomplish in the Kali age.