Sri Vallabhacharya - Pushti Darshan

26 Sri Vallabhacarya and his Doctrines
Like hi predecessors, Vallabha expresses his own opinion on karma, jnana and bhakti, which have been
regarded as the three well known paths to liberation and which were practised only by the cultured. He
discusses their significance and relative importance. He calls this bhakti as sastric or Maryada bhakti, to be
practised according to the letters of the scriptures and as such not useful for females and members of the
so-called lower classes. He is confronted with the most important question of his times, and also of our
times, whether the time-honoured paths or karma, jnana and bhakti can satisfy the spiritual dem- and, not
of males of the first three classes only but of humanity in general, without any distinction of caste, creed and
nationality. Vallabha remarks that the case of the females and Sudras did not receive proper attention at
the hands of his predecessors
He finds that iron age is so unfavourable to the three paths that they cannot be practised rigidly 4 and thus,
although they were most effective in-times gone by, they became out or date. In one of his works, 6
Vallabha gives a graphic description of his own times-a description which is true even to day, The
atmosphere of the country is thus not at all congenial and does not leave any scope for karma, jnana and
bhakti. At the same time, at all times and in all countries there are souls in all classes that are anxious to be
free from the bondage of the world. The prophet of the age is, therefore, required to solve
4.
5. ÜðÊÀæ
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