Visions of Grace: Svarūpa Imagery and Veneration in the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya

THESIS

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Ankur Vijay Desai

Graduate Program in

The Ohio State University

2011

Master's Examination Committee:

Susan L. Huntington, Advisor

John C. Huntington

Copyright by

Ankur Vijay Desai

2011

Abstract

Founded by the Vaiṣṇava theologian Śrī Vallabhācārya (ca.1472-1530), the

Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya („path of grace sect‟) was an integral facet of the Bhaktī culture that fluoresced under the social and political upheavals of northern from the sixteenth century onwards. Within this vibrant milieu of Kṛṣṇa-centric veneration,

Vallabha sought to articulate a fresh mode of devotional practice that rejected the trappings of Vedic and strict injunction. As an alternative, he propounded a lifestyle of worldly involvement centered on the pursuit of Kṛṣṇa‟s divine grace by rendering unbounded sevā („service‟) unto him. Such new forms of devotional expression were bolstered by , and other Vaiṣṇava luminaries, through the establishment of miraculous svarūpa („self-manifest form‟) images that were revealed throughout the landscape of Kṛṣṇa‟s mythic of Vraja. The svarūpa image of the Kṛṣṇa as Śrīnāthji, revealed by Vallabha and central to his doctrine of grace, became the focus of lavish and aesthetically charged adoration that served as a significant template for derivative forms of Kṛṣṇa devotion.

Concurrent with the fervent veneration of the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji, hagiographic texts of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya relate the miraculous discoveries and subsequent establishment of several other self-manifest forms of Kṛṣṇa. While sectarian literature presents these other forms as exclusive to the Vallabha lineage, the multiplicity of Kṛṣṇa‟s forms and the physical dissemination of these images across the ii landscape of northern and western India resulted in a bond between the sect‟s cultic images and new locations and polities outside the legendary heartland of Vraja. Such geographic bonds, compounded with the historical shifting of the svarūpas, not only explicates the lives of these images as sculpted objects, but also how they serve as sites of negotiation, both affirming power and reciprocally affirmed through ritual veneration.

This thesis explores svarūpa veneration within the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya by outlining the beginnings of its historical development and the creation of its extended network. In addition to this is the focused examination of svarūpa images as expressed in sculpted and painted works of the sect. By analyzing such works, as well as related hagiographic texts, this study contextualizes the significance of svarūpa images within the broader continuum of Vaiṣṇava art. Lastly, this thesis presents the aesthetic and theoretical methods of svarūpa veneration and how such praxis emanating from

Vallabha‟s ontology engenders Puṣṭimārga adherents to breach the boundaries of the laukika („mundane‟) realm and Kṛṣṇa‟s alaukika („transcendent‟) realm of grace.

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To my family.

iv

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Susan L. Huntington, for offering guidance and gracious assistance with the writing process, as well as her keen insight into the broader issues that this research has exposed.

For my time spent abroad researching this subject, I express deep to

Shriman Bade Mukhiyaji Narhari P. Thakar, Mukhiyaji Indravadan, and

Thakar of Nathadwara for taking time out of their priestly duties to answer my questions.

I also give thanks to the of the Kalyanraiji Haveli in Baroda. Finally, I would like to thank my family for all their support and encouragement.

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Vita

2008...... B.F.A Painting/Art History, Kansas City Art

Institute

2009 to present ...... M.A. / Ph.D. Program, History of Art, The

Ohio State University

2009 to present ...... Graduate Research Associate, History of Art

Department, The Ohio State University

Fields of Study

Major Field: History of Art

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...... ii

Dedication ...... iv

Acknowledgments...... v

Vita ...... vi

List of Figures ...... viii

Introduction ...... 1

Chapter 1: Vallabha‟s Vision of Grace and the Nascence of Svarūpa Sevā ...... 12

Chapter 2: The and History of Puṣṭimārga Svarūpas ...... 30

Chapter 3: Created Eternities: Aesthetic Vision and Svarūpa Sevā ...... 52

Conclusion ...... 68

Bibliography ...... 71

Appendix A: Figures ...... 75

Appendix B: Image Credits ...... 107

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Śrī Vallabhācārya ...... 75

Figure 2. The Birth of Śrī Vallabhācārya, Mahāprabhu Prāgatyā ...... 76

Figure 3. Svarūpa image of Śrīnāthji ...... 77

Figure 4. Vallabhācārya receiving Śrīnāthji from Mount Govardhana ...... 78

Figure 5. Kṛṣṇa Govardhana ...... 79

Figure 6. Śrīnāthji‟s flight to Nathadwara ...... 80

Figure 7. Tilakāyat Govardhanalālji ...... 81

Figure 8. Śrīnāthji‟s havelī ...... 82

Figure 9. CatūrbhujaViṣṇu ...... 83

Figure 10. Nava-nīdhi svarūpas and their centers ...... 84

Figure 11. Nava-nīdhi svarūpa ...... 85

Figure 12. Śrī Mathureśji ...... 86

Figure 13. The appearance of Śrī Mathureśji ...... 87

Figure 14. Śrī Dvārkādhīśji ...... 88

Figure 15. Svarūpa of Śrī Gokulnāthaji ...... 89

Figure 16. Govardhana Kṛṣṇa with four arms ...... 90

Figure 17. Photograph of stone image of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji of ...... 91

Figure 18. Photograph of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji of Dwarka in adornment ...... 92

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Figure 19. Svarūpa of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji from Baroda ...... 93

Figure 20. Maharāna Jawan Singh of performing pūja of Śrī Jagdīśji ...... 94

Figure 21. Photograph of Śrī Jagdīśji in adornment ...... 95

Figure 22. Śrī Raṇchodrāiji of Dakor ...... 96

Figure 23. Saptasvarūpa Mahotsava ...... 97

Figure 24. Gvāl lilā ...... 98

Figure 25. Sevā at ...... 99

Figure 26. Tipara ornament ...... 100

Figure 27. for a deity ...... 101

Figure 28. Toys for Kṛṣṇa ...... 102

Figure 29. Venugopāla pichhvāi ...... 103

Figure 30. Śrīnāthji ...... 104

Figure 31. Vasaṇta pichhvāi ...... 105

Figure 32. Śaradapūrima pichhvāi ...... 106

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Introduction

Kṛṣṇa, the blackish storm-bodied one is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic deities of . Indian history is colored with the rise and proliferation of Kṛṣṇa - centric cults that have sustained rich narrative and artistic legacies.1 The tales of this most beloved deity have persisted for over two and half millennia, offering multiple approaches to understanding his personality. For many, he is the supreme manifestation of the divine, engaging in action, which conveys his otherness, his transcendence of the finite sphere, by appearing motiveless and entirely free, at any moment gracing the mundane with a of his etherealized .

For devotees of Kṛṣṇa, the attainment of truth is not an isolated construct exclusively bound to the arena of philosophical inquiriy. Nor is it contingent upon dogmatic contraints imposed by orthodoxy. Rather, ultimate truth is a reality that is accesible through the direct sensitivity of an ordinary devotee. Simply put, for the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, the boundaries between and praxis, philosophical structures and intimate experience do not exist. Thus, the aim of a true devotee is to forego the systematic rationalization of doctrine and strive for a metamorphosis of the self through devotional perpecption and involvement. Indeed, foregoing the role of an onlooker and becoming a participant in Kṛṣṇa‟s reality and lilā („sport‟ or „play‟)

1 With the exception of places, source authors/ source individuals, and artists, I have chosen to use diacritics throughout the text, placing and terms in italics. More colloquial terms have been rendered without diacritics. I have also avoided diacritics in the acknowledgements. 1

In Vaiṣṇava traditions, devotional service is considered to be a primary means of gaining access to the realm of Kṛṣṇa‟s divine lilā. This is aptly expressed in perhaps one of the most artistically abundant Vaiṣṇava traditions in South Asia, the Puṣṭimārga

Sampradāya („path of grace sect‟) centered in the western Indian city of Nathadwara

Rajasthan. In this sect, images of Kṛṣṇa are called svarūpa („self-manifest form‟) a term denoting that they are self-arisen eternal forms of Kṛṣṇa that express his essential inner reality through his physical manifestation. 2 The etymology of the term, sva („self‟ or

„one‟s own‟) and rūpa („form‟), distinguishes itself from the broader term mūrti

(„embodiment‟) which is applied to most sacred images within the Hindu tradition. Thus, svarūpa implies something that is self-evident, an eternal revelation of divinity rather than a creation. More importantly, within the Puṣṭimārga context, svarūpa has the added connotation of images that are miraculously self-manifest, a phenomenon which is discussed later in this thesis.3

The town of Nathadwara is home to the most prominent image in the path of grace sect, the living svarūpa, or miraculous self-manifest image referred to as Śrīnāthji.

Within the boundaries of Nathadwara the adoration of Kṛṣṇa as Śrīnāthji manifests itself in sensually arresting practices that teaches sect followers to channel the of all things beautiful towards the deity, thus paving a path to Kṛṣṇa realization through aesthetics.

2 Peter Bennett. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and in a Vaishnava Sect (Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation, 1993), 90. 3 Here I am using Monier Williams‟ definition of the term of svarūpa and mūrti. Sir Monier Williams. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Oxford University Press. 1920), 824, 1276.

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Established by the Vaiṣṇava theologian, Śrī Vallabhācārya (1479-1531), who is often portrayed in the sect‟s artistic tradition (Figure 1), the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya, formed one of the most elaborate philosophical and ritual systems centered on Kṛṣṇa veneration. Foundational to this sect is the unparalleled emphasis of sevā („service‟) rendered through physical and mental means, towards the deity over any other method to attain ultimate spiritual transcendence. The common traits of Vaiṣṇava practice, including

śāstrajnāna („scriptural ‟), bhaktī („devotion‟) and pūja („ritual veneration of the deity‟), were restructured in the philosophy of Vallabha.4 Moreover, Vallabha and his spiritual successors asserted that these traits, especially śāstrajnāna, implied a reliance on external sources for spiritual insight. For Puṣṭimārga devotees, Kṛṣṇa, as the ultimate causal reality, was the only entity that needed to be understood. Sevā towards the physical manifestation of this ultimate reality, the sacred self-manifest image itself, would naturally develop the perfection of all categories including spiritual wisdom and devotion.5

Sevā to Śrīnāthji, through such practices as śṛṅgāra („adornment‟), and rāgasevā

(„musical service‟), provides an interesting avenue into the ways in which Kṛṣṇa‟s divine exploits are not just recalled as the mythic past, but also how it is actuated as the eternal present within devotional practices of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya. Moreover, the bestowal of the status of „svarūpa‟ on other images within the sect, and the application of

4 Jethalal G. Shah. Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and (: Pushtimargiya Pustakalaya, 1969), 10. These characteristics of Vaiṣṇava practice are largely in reference to the Śrī Vaiṣṇava sect of Rāmānujācārya and the dualist sect of Madhvācarya. Both of these had a significant following in southern India where Vallabha first formulated and refined his philosophy. 5 Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion , 54-56.

3 ritual veneration, allowed Puṣṭimārga authority to extend beyond the image of Śrīnāthji, indeed creating multiple sites of Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā across northern and western India.

Concurrent with the fervent veneration of the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji, hagiographic texts of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya relate the miraculous discoveries and subsequent establishment of several other sacred self-manifest forms of Kṛṣṇa. While sectarian literature presents these other forms as deities exclusive to the Vallabha lineage, the multiplicity of Kṛṣṇa‟s forms, and the physical dissemination of these images across the landscape of northern and western India, resulted in a bond between the sect‟s cultic images and new locations and polities outside the legendary heartland of Vraja. Such geographic bonds and the historical shifting of the svarūpas not only explicates their lives as sculpted objects, but also how they serve as sites of negotiation, both affirming power and reciprocally affirmed through ritual veneration.

This thesis explores svarūpa veneration within the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya by outlining the beginnings of its historical development and the creation of its extended network. Chapter One examines the establishment of the sect and its primary cultic image of Śrīnāthji, providing a necessary framework to begin the exploration of the sect‟s other images.

Pendant to this is the focused iconographic examination of svarūpa images as expressed in sculpted and painted works of the sect. Chapter Two of the thesis is primarily concerned with the Puṣṭimārga appropriation of images and themes characteristic of previous Vaiṣṇava imagery. By analyzing such works, as well as related hagiographic texts, this study investigates the context and significance of svarūpa images

4 within the broader continuum of Vaiṣṇava art. Using iconographic treatises as the

Rūpamaṅḍana6 as well as sources culled from the Purāṇas7, I demonstrate how svarūpa images, may be contextualized within the extended framework of Indic stone .

Furthermore, the chapter explores how such were appropriated by the

Puṣṭimārga sect to express their own philosophical outlook. This is shown by examining the relationship between the particular Puṣṭimārga svarūpas of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji, Śrī

Mathureśji, Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji, among others, to the twenty four vyūha („emanations‟) of

Viṣṇu as seen from the Gupta period onwards.8

Chapter three discusses how svarūpa sevā, through such aesthetic modes as

śṛṅgāra and rāgasevā, expresses the spiritual envisioning of lilā. I also attempt to argue that while the visual nature of sevā may have shared characteristics of the act of pūja, it is in fact a concept that asserts pūja as merely one aspect of a larger, and more complex, mode of devotional practice. The aim of this portion of the thesis is to understand variants within broader Hindu devotionalism, and how the divine is perceived. Several of these connections are made by considering scriptural, musical, and artistic sources found within the sect itself. Finally, I examine the aesthetic and theoretical methods of svarūpa veneration, and how such praxis, emanating from Vallabha‟s ontology, engenders

Puṣṭimārga adherents to breach the boundaries of the laukika („mundane‟) realm and

6 An iconographic treatise from Northern India attributed to the 12th century. 7 Here, I will largely deal with those sections pertaining to Vaiṣṇava iconography as found in the Purāṇa and other related iconographic sources. 8This section does not attempt to attribute any of the svarūpa images to a specific time period in pre- Puṣṭimārga history. Rather, my emphasis will be to examine how iconography, though largely physically consistent throughout the timeline of Vaiṣṇava art, can change in meaning. More specifically, I examine how earlier Vaiṣṇava iconography is appropriated to express the Puṣṭimārga philosophical outlook. 5

Kṛṣṇa‟s alaukika („transcendent‟) realm of grace.

Methodology

The principal thrust of this thesis is concerned with the iconographic significance and aesthetic veneration of svarūpas. As such, I will be using both primary and secondary sources inorder to explicate the significance of the images from the perspective of the sect, as well as formally analyzing the images within the context of Vaiṣṇava iconography. This is accomplished by employing interdisciplinary sources such as hagiographic texts, sectarian literature, and studies conducted by western and non- western scholars that range the fields of anthropology, sociology, theology, and art history. Furthermore, the methodology of this thesis further consists of the formal analysis of select painted and sculpted works from the sect. In my discussion of

Puṣṭimārga history and philosophy I have largely avoided theoretical analysis in order provide an understanding based on textual and visual evidence from the sect itself.

Much of the primary sources were gathered from field research conducted in India during the summers of 2010 and 2011. During these periods I conducted research at significant Puṣṭimārga centers in the states of and . My aim was to experience the environments in which svarūpa veneration occurs, as well as gain a clarified insight into the application of Kṛṣṇa devotion on the daily life and structure of such centers. During my sojourn in Nathadwara I experienced the daily ritual cycle of the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji. This was further enhanced by the first hand information that I received from the chief ritual and personal attendant of the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji,

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Shriman Bade Mukhiyaji Narhari P. Thakar. In my discussions with him, and his assistants Mukhiyaji Indravadan and Siddheshwar Thakar, I was able to gather valuable information on the lavish methods and sentiments of svarūpa veneration. With their guidance I was able to see the production process of how svarūpa viewings are orchestrated and negotiated by different departments of the at Nathadwara, including floral, couture, and gastronomic arrangements for the deity. Such primary information provides this study with a nuanced understanding of Puṣṭimārga devotional ethos.

My research further extended to the centers of , Kota, and Baroda where

I was able to observe the dynamics of svarūpa veneration outside the Puṣṭimārga nexus of Nathadwara. Most significantly, my visits to these other centers and discussions with local devotees, afforded me with an insight of how such centers are interconnected by similarities in ritual practice and devotional outlook, as well as how their respective svarūpa images are invested with unique identities and histories.

Previous Studies

My current study of the sect has been informed and enhanced by previous scholarship that has focused on historic, sociological, philosophical, political, and artistic aspects. The works Richard Barz, Rajendra Jindal, Peter Bennett, and H.S. Verdia have been highly useful in outlining the history of the sect and its core tenets. Jindal and

Verdia‟s works on Nathadwara, have a fundamentally sociological thrust, focusing on

7 social organization, economic statistics, and the administration of the Śrīnāthji shrine. 9

Bennett‟s study, „The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a

Vaisnava Sect’, provides similar background information on the historical developments of the sect. However, with greater pertinence, Bennett discusses the ritual culture of svarūpa veneration as practiced in the Puṣṭimārga community of , thus offering insight into the sect‟s regional distribution beyond the well known western and northern network.

Anne Marie Gaston‟s study of the musical traditions of Nathadwara has also provided information pertaining to structured aspects of ritualized and how such practices are perpetuated through hereditary learning10. In my discussion of Puṣṭimārga philosophy I have relied on both primary and secondary sources. By consulting the writings of Vallabha, hagiographic texts such as the Śrīnāthji Ki Prāgatyā Vārta and instructional dictums for svarūpa veneration, I explicate how ritualized deity veneration in the Sampradāya distinguishes itself from the broader spectrum of Hindu practice, thus creating a unique relationship between the practitioner and the object of devotion. 11

Additionally, I have consulted David Kinsley‟s work, „The Divine Player: A Study of

9 See: Barz, Richard. The Sect of Vallabhacarya Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1992; Jindal, Rajendra. Culture of a Sacred Town: A Sociological Study of Nathdwara. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1976; Bennett, Peter. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect. Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation, 1993; Verdia, H.S. Religion and Social Structure in a Sacred Town, Nathdwara. Delhi: Researchco Publications, 1982. 10 See: Gaston, Anne Marie. ’s Musicians: Musicians and Music Making in the of Nathdvara, Rajasthan. Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1997. 11 I am using Shyamdas‟ translation. See: Shyamdas. The Amazing Story of . Pratham Peeth Publications, 2002. 8

Krsna Lila‟12 as well as the works of Jethalal Shah, James Redington, and Jeffery R.

Timm in order to expound upon Kṛṣṇa devotionalism and Vallabha‟s ontology of grace.13

Bhandarkar‟s classic study of Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism, as well as Charolotte

Vaudeville‟s study of the Govardhana myth, has provided a basic framework for the development of Vaiṣṇava practice in Indian history, including the rise and proliferation of

Vaiṣṇava myth cycles. 14 As I have noted previously, the svarūpas and their distribution across parts of India implicated them in the socio-political environments in which they were received and fostered. Such relationships that bonded the svarūpa to the state are discussed in varying degrees by Norbert Peabody in his discussion of the Puṣṭimārga center at Kota and by Shandip Saha.15 Both Peabody and Saha have unpacked the dynamic political history of the sect as it manifested in across western India.

Aspects of the rich output of Puṣṭimārga art have been charted by a handful of scholars who have mainly focused on the corpus of painted works and related artisan communities. Robert Skelton, Amit Ambalal, Kalyan Krishna, and Kay Talwar have devoted considerable research to pichhvāi („backdrop cloth‟) painting. Tryna Lyons has largely dealt with the painter communities at Nathdwara, expounding upon the dynamics of artistic creativity, production, and patronage that have sustained and shaped a major

12 See: Kinsley, David R. The Divine Player: A Study of Krsna Lila. Delhi: , 1979. 13 See: Shah, Jethalal G. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion. Nadiad: Pushtimargiya Pustakalaya, 1969; Redington, James D. Vallabhacarya on The Love Games of Krsna. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983; Timm, Jeffery R.“The Celebration of Emotion: Vallabha's Ontology of Affective Experience” Philosophy East and West, Vol. 41, No. 1, Emotion East and West (Jan., 1991), pp. 59- 75. 14 See: Bhandarkar, Sir R.G. Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems. Stassburg: Verlag Von Karl J. Trubner, 1913; Vaudeville, Charolotte. “The Govardhana Myth in Northern India.” Indo-Iranian Journal 22, no. 47 (1980): 1-47. 15 See: Norbert Peabody. “In Whose Turban Does Reside?: The Objectification of Charisma and the Fetishism of Objects in the Hindu Kingdom of Kota.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct., 1991), pp. 726-754; Shandip Saha. “Creating a Community of Grace: A History of the Pustimarga in Northern and Western India.” PhD, University of Ottawa, 2004. 9 facet of Puṣṭimārga visual culture. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Cynthia Packert, in her recent work on the role of adornment in the Kṛṣṇa sevā of Vraja, has provided a sensitive perspective of the sentiments and methods of image veneration in the Kṛṣṇa – centric Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavism of Vraja.16 For the visual analysis of select svarūpa images in Chapter Two, I use sources from the Purāṇas, as well as T.A. Rao‟s essential study of .17

While these sources indeed cover many topics related to the Puṣṭimārga

Sampradāya, my study provides a different look into the significance of svarūpa veneration by not only examining the iconographic contexts of the images, but also by revealing the philosophical and aesthetic modes of such veneration. Through my field research at Nathadwara and other Puṣṭimārga centers, I examine the continuities of ritual practice, and how each center and its related svarūpa legitimizes its own sense of authority. Thus, my thesis addresses a subject overlooked, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of image use, ritual practice, devotion, and veneration within the

Vaiṣṇava and broader Indic art historical context.

To commence this thesis, it is imperative to chart the genesis of Vallabha, his

Kṛṣṇa-centric philosophy, and the establishment of the Puṣṭimārga sect. Chapter one

16See: Ambalal, Amit. Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1987; Skelton, Robert. Rajasthani Temple Hangings of the Krishna Cult from the Collection of Karl Mann, New York. The American Federation of Arts, 1973; Goswamy, BN., Kalyan Krishna, Kay Talwar. In Adoration of Krishna: Picchwais of Shrinathji-Tapi Collection. Roli Books, 2008; Lyons, Tryna. The Artists of Nathadwara: The Practice of Painting in Rajasthan. Indiana University Press, 2004; Packert, Cynthia. The Art of Loving Krishna: Ornamentation and Devotion. Indiana University Press, 2010. 17 See: Rao, T.A. Gopinath. Elements of Hindu Iconography: Vols. 1, 2. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997. I use Puranic sources overviewed in Rao‟s volumes. 10 provides the necessary framework for understanding the broader regional practices and beliefs of the sect.

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Chapter 1: Vallabha‟s Vision of Grace and the Nascence of Svarūpa Sevā

While the focal point of this chapter is not on a general history of Kṛṣṇa, it is nonetheless imperative to outline some pre-suppositions of Kṛṣṇa-centric Vaiṣṇavism, the genesis of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya and its philosophical creed. Although it is not necessary to provide a biographical account of Kṛṣṇa, it is worth noting some general pre-suppositions about him as envisioned in the early devotional Vaiṣṇava movements.

Although in orthodox classical Kṛṣṇa is regarded as an of the deity Visnu, by around the eleventh century the presentation of a more universal image of

Kṛṣṇa developed, not as an avatāra („divine incarnation‟) but as the avatārin („cause of all divine ‟).18 While the date of this shift remains unclear, it is probable that this view arose in where the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, a compendium of the Vaiṣṇava and Kṛṣṇa myth cycle dated to the ninth century, was composed.19 Texts such as this provided an account of Kṛṣṇa‟s life that sought to imbue him with existential qualities as propounded in more philosophical scriptures such as the Upaniśads.

Consequently, the universal formless Brahmān of the Upaniśads was re-envisioned with attributes and personified in the image Kṛṣṇa. With the concurrent advent of such

Vaiṣṇava theologians as Rāmānujācārya and Madhvācarya, highly intricate theoretical

18 Sir R.G. Bhandarkar. Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems (Stassburg: Verlag Von Karl J. Trubner, 1913), 40. This belief was largely championed by Rāmānujācārya whose philosophical formulation included a marked emphasis on Kṛṣṇa-centric texts as the tenth canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa. 19 Bhandarkar. Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, 55. 12 structures were formed that defined Kṛṣṇa as the highest ontological reality within

Vedānta („end of the ‟), the last so-called orthodox school of Hinduism based on

Upaniśadic thought. Kṛṣṇa devotionalism of southern India also flourished under the patronage of the Vaiṣṇava , travelling saints, who composed verses extolling the bodily and spiritual glory of the deity, giving preference exclusively to Kṛṣṇa. Such fervent dedication to Kṛṣṇa was even recognized and shared with the non-Vaiṣṇava theologian Śaṅkarācarya who, in the eighth-century, composed the still popular poems

Bhaja Govindam and the Govindāṣṭakam, an octet that relishes the pastimes and beauty of Kṛṣṇa.20

By the advent of Vallabha in the late fifteenth-century, Vaiṣṇava bhaktī in nearly all parts of India regarded Kṛṣṇa as a figure beyond the mere role of an avatāra; he became a being of transcendent power in his own right. The Puṣṭimārga tradition, as well as many other Vaiṣṇava traditions, such as the Bengali Gaudiya Sampradāya established by the sixteenth-century mystic Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, understood this basic principle. Taking this into consideration, it should be asserted that the terms „Universal‟,

„‟, Paramātma, Parabrahmān, Bhagavān, and Pūruśottama Nārāyana, are all used to describe Kṛṣṇa. As such, they may be interchangeable when describing Kṛṣṇa and certainly they may be used as epithets for Śrīnāthji.21 In order to delve into how Kṛṣṇa‟s identity was formulated in the Puṣṭimārga sect, it critical to provide an account of

Vallabha and his establishment of the path of grace.

20 Dehejia. The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries Between Sacred and Profane in India’s Art (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 139. 21 Richard Barz. The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1992), 63- 64.

13

According to sectarian literature, Vallabha was not an ordinary person but a vacanamūrti („embodiment of Kṛṣṇa‟s spoken word‟). As the incarnation of the divine word of Kṛṣṇa, Vallabha could, through his devotional philosophy, convey transcendent knowledge to his followers. As such, he was regarded as the intermediary between the mundane world and the eternal realm of Kṛṣṇa‟s reality.22 Indeed, his very life story is peppered with auspicious markers that indicate that he was of divine make. A nineteenth- century miniature attests to this belief, depicting the birth of Vallabha who was thought to be stillborn, and with grief, subsequently left under a tree by his parents

(Figure 2). Suffering with anguish, Vallabha‟s mother returned to the spot where she had left his body and was astonished to see that her son was alive and well. Indeed, we see him suckling his toe, a similar visual trope employed in child images of Kṛṣṇa known as

Bālāji or Bālakṛṣṇa. Born into a noble South Indian family in 1479 at

Champaranya, , Vallabha grew up in an atmosphere rich in varying religious and philosophical traditions. His early exposure and mastery over the scriptures of Brahmanical Hinduism allowed him to participate in philosophical debates, affording him the opportunity to formulate his own views of Vedānta.23

22 Karsandas Mulji. History of the Sect of Maharajas or Vallabhacharyas in Western India. : Trubner & Co., 1865, 16. Mulji contests this claim, along with the inherent divine nature of Vallabha‟s descendants in his writings on the famous Maharaja Libel Case of 1862. See also: Peter Bennett. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect (Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation, 1993), 45-50 for a more in depth discussion on Vallabha‟s divinity and role as a divine intermediary. 23 Jethalal G. Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion (Nadiad: Pushtimargiya Pustakalaya, 1969), 3-4. 14

The highlight of his youth came when he participated in a theological debate sponsored by the king of , Kṛṣṇadevarāya I.24 His success as a young charismatic mediator between the dvaita („dualist‟) Vaiṣṇavas of Madhvācarya and the advaita („non-dualist‟) proponents of Śaṅkarācarya, created for him an esteemed reputation amongst Vaiṣṇavas and non-Vaiṣṇavas alike. Vallabha, still in his teens, was subsequently asked to stay and teach his views of Vedānta at the Vijayanagara court. His philosophical outlook would later form the basis of Puṣṭimārga ethos and aesthetics. He achieved this by translating the structured complexities of Vedānta into a visual realm where words became bereft of meaning and images represented a totality of spiritual experience. It is essential to briefly outline some of the primary aspects that compose

Vallabha‟s philosophic vision.

Vallabha, in his Soḍaśagranthāḥ („sixteen-verse treatise‟), propounded the belief that the universe arises out of only one entity who is none other than Kṛṣṇa. In his formulation of supreme reality as a sole entity, he was in accord with the of

Śaṅkarācarya. Both Vallabha and Śaṅkarācarya propounded the belief that the notion of māya („illusion‟) causes the single entity to appear as the seemingly disparate components of the universe.25 Unlike Śaṅkarācarya, Vallabha was greatly opposed to the notion of māya as being unreal and not a connected aspect of the supreme reality as God.

24 Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion, 9-10. 25 The term māya has come to mean many things in the various paths of and practice. While it is generally translated as „illusion‟ or „wiles, it has nonetheless been used to describe the binding cosmic ignorance that keeps an individual sentient being from attaining release from the cycle of birth and death. For Vallabha, māya is Kṛṣṇa‟s illusory and cosmic power that he uses to express his play and divinity for the sake of his devotees. For further definition, see: Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 811. 15

For him, the view that a component could be considered distinct, or even false, from the universal entity, regarded as Kṛṣṇa, was not a true advaita view.26

Vallabha‟s austere interpretation of advaita philosophy, called śuddhādvaita

(„pure monism‟), asserted that māya is part of Kṛṣṇa as his inherent power of manifestation, śakti.27 Vallabha utilized four scriptures as pramāns („proofs‟) to justify his philosophical conception. They included the Vedas, the Bhagavata Gītā, the

Vyāsasutras, and the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Based on these four pramāns, Vallabha propagated his innovative Kṛṣṇa-centric theology. Vallabha was keen on maintaining the relationship between Kṛṣṇa as the supreme godhead and devotee as pristine as possible.

In Vallabha‟s view, such a relationship invests the adherent with spiritual insight, affixes the seal of redemption through grace, and imparts on the devotee an eternal role in the

Kṛṣṇa‟s divine realm. According to śuddhādvaita the mundane world is a creation of Parabrahmān and Kṛṣṇa is as supreme as Brahmān in the Upaniśads.

The whole of creation is Kṛṣṇa‟s unity diffused along the spectrum of his self revelation through the function of his power māya. This notion was manifested in a three- fold understanding of Kṛṣṇa‟s constituents as sat („being‟), citta („‟), and

ānanda („bliss‟).28 Thus, these three elements compose the very body of Kṛṣṇa, as the matter of the universe, the shared consciousness of all things, and the bliss of Kṛṣṇa‟s

26 James D. Redington. The Grace of Lord Krishna: The Sixteen Verse-Treatises (Sodasagranthah) of Vallabhacharya. Delhi: Sri Publications, 2000. 54,56. 27 Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 61. 28 Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion, 142. Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 65. 16 revelation.29 Indeed, for Vallabha, the entire universe with its infinite continuum is believed to be a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. As such, all things are real because they are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa‟s reality, his lilā. For Kṛṣṇa, all of is his eternal play in which he participates in for no gain of his own, but so that others may realize his bliss.

Kṛṣṇa himself asserts in the Bhagavata Gītā, “For Me, son of Prtha, there is nothing to be done in the three worlds whatsoever. Nothing unattained to be attained; and yet I still continue in action.”30 Kṛṣṇa desires that all jīvas („sentient beings‟), be awakened so that he may be cognizant of himself through the jīva realizing its inherent identity with him.

Because each jīva is entangled in saṃsāra („cyclical existence‟), due to Kṛṣṇa‟s māya, so too is it through his grace that the jīva can obtain emancipation by recalling its inherent connectedness with him. Vallabha‟s path to Kṛṣṇa, as the final goal trumping even mokṣa („release from saṃsāra‟), is stated clearly,

“Persons who live an objectionable life have to suffer and

to serve in the cycle of the world. Those who perform

(the maryada marga) for the fulfillment of

desires or get rewards accordingly go to heaven, if desired,

by the path of the manes, and have to return to the world of

mortals when their merit is exhausted. When a person

performs Vedic sacrifices without any desire, he assumes

spiritual happiness (atma-sukha) and later on…assumes a

29 David L. Haberman. Acting as a Way of : A Study of Raganuga Bhakti (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 32. 30 David R. Kinsley, The Divine Player: A Study of Krsna Lila (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979), 1. 17

new body. In this new birth he gets the knowledge of God,

and ultimately qualifies himself for union with Him by

passing through the different stages of the path of the .

The liberation in the maryada marga is gradual, and one is

required to move spiritually by the path of the gods.

Immediate liberation is possible only through the grace of

God.”31

Puṣṭi („grace‟) is achieved through specific components that a devotee should acquire. This includes sevā towards Kṛṣṇa by surrendering oneself and all of one‟s resources to him. This was believed to facilitate the cultivation of bhaktī through a successive series of devotional awareness, manifested in stages. The seven stages of bhaktī serve as a chart of spiritual development with each stage signifying a fuller stage of devotional awareness and love for Kṛṣṇa. Within Puṣṭimārga philosophy, the last aspect, vyasana („obsessive addiction‟) represents the highest attainment and is far greater than the search for mokṣa. For Vallabha, the intensity of vyasana for God, which constituted the deepest manifestation of affection, is the absolute inability to remain without God. It is verily an unshakable addiction, and it is not possible for a devotee with such attachment to stay at home and carry on ordinary worldly duties. Every moment outside the presence of Kṛṣṇa, and his svarūpa image, is to be felt with the most profound sorrow and longing, expressed rapturously by the sentiments of Kṛṣṇa‟s beloved consort

31 John C. Plott. A Philosophy of Devotion: A Comparative Study of Bhakti and Prapatti in Visistadvaita and St. Bonaventura and Marcel (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1974), 495-496. 18

Rādha and the gopīs („milkmaids‟) of Vraja.32 This idea is taken to the extreme where even the moment of an eye blink, an infinitesimal fraction of time where one is deprived of the vision of Kṛṣṇa, is equivalent to thousands of years of separation. The performance of sevā facilitated this process of reaching the final step in bhaktī. We shall see how

Vallabha‟s early views become consolidated by the words of Kṛṣṇa himself.

After forming his philosophic trajectory, Vallabha stayed for some time in

Vijayanagara before embarking on a to the area of Vraja in northern India, the land of Kṛṣṇa‟s childhood and youth. According to sectarian vārta („‟), at this time of personal pilgrimage, in the year 1494, Vallabha received a divine vision of

Kṛṣṇa who revealed to him directly the means by which all sentient beings could attain

God. 33 This dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Vallabha was written down in the fifth verse of

Vallabha‟s sixteen-verse treatise. The verse expounds some of the methods to facilitate

Kṛṣṇa realization, which would later serve as the basis for the Puṣṭimārga notion of sevā,

“Impurities can be removed in no other way other than by

rejection of all things that have not been dedicated to Sri

Krsna. Those who have dedicated themselves to Sri Krsna

must hand over every one of their actions to Sri Krsna […]

Everything that is dedicated to Sri Krsna becomes divine in

32 Jeffery R. Timm. “The Celebration of Emotion: Vallabha's Ontology of Affective Experience” Philosophy East and West, Vol. 41, No. 1, Emotion East and West (Jan., 1991), pp. 59- 75. 68. 33 Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion, 18. The account of Śrīnāthji‟s appearance is largely informed by hagiographic literature that was composed a century or so after the demise of Vallabha. These texts are not concerned with historical veracity as much as conveying the philosophic trajectory of the sect couched in a narrative „historical‟ mode. Thus the accounts of Śrīnāthji, his appearance, and early history, are colored with miraculous events that affirm the divinity of the deity and those associated with him. 19

nature in just the same way that all waters, both those that

were pure and those that were impure, which enter into the

Ganga become part of the and so share the sacred

essence of Ganga…”34

The revelation was followed by an instruction from Kṛṣṇa for Vallabha to immediately go to Mount Govardhana and reveal the identity of a divine svarūpa, a 1.3 meter black stone statue engaged within a rectangular stele (Figure 3). The left arm is raised above the head aligning with the action of lifting a mountain. The right hand rests at the hip and the lower portion of the figure shows a draped vanamāla („ of forest ‟). The rectangular stele, carved in stylized rock formations with figures of animals and sages, frames an ovular hollow in which in the image of the svarūpa is centered.35

Possibly attributable to the fifth-century, the image had appeared out of the mountain at the exact same time of Vallabha‟s birth years before. However, the up-raised arm of the image had appeared sixty-nine years before Vallabha‟s birth, and this portion of the image was initially worshipped as Devadamana („the one who subdued the gods‟) before it was identified by Vallabha as a svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa. Furthermore, there are some claims, tentatively affirmed by textual evidence, that the image may represent the pre-

Vaiṣṇava nāga („serpent‟) cults of , although the iconography of the image

34 Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 18. 35 Kalyan Krishna, Kay Talwar. Indian Pigment Paintings on Cloth: Volume III Historic Textiles of India at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad (Ahmedabad: B.U. Balsari, 1979), 128. 20 overwhelmingly conforms to the Kṛṣṇa Govardhana theme.36 Nonetheless, though the attribution of the image remains a point of contention, it does not negate the fact the svarūpa has been the focus of ardent Kṛṣṇa devotion, and remains so to this day.

The scene of Vallabha‟s revelation and retrieval of the svarūpa is often portrayed in paintings (Figure 4).37 It was for the purpose of establishing the svarūpa under its true name Śrī Govardhananāthaji („Lord of Mount Govardhana‟), simply known as Śrīnāthji, that Vallabha had come to Vraja. Vallabha went to Govardhana, took darśana („sight‟) of the svarūpa, and subsequently revealed to the locals that the image was the living form of Kṛṣṇa shown with an upraised hand lifting the mountain.38 A rudimentary shrine was constructed, veneration of the svarūpa began immediately, and priests were employed to

36 Krishna, Talwar. Indian Pigment Paintings on Cloth: Volume III Historic Textiles of India at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad. 128-129. Krishna and Talwar briefly discuss the previous hypothesis surrounding the dating of the image. They state that Robert Skelton attributes the image to the 16th-17th century and that it is of Rajasthani make, thus refuting the earlier claims of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy who posits a Kusana attribution. Both scholars do not address the attributes of the image or the other imagery present on the stele. Furthermore, the proportions of the image do not align with the more elongated and angular forms found in 16th-17th century Rajasthani work, nor does the specificity of image‟s iconography align itself with a Kusana attribution. Krishna and Talwar mention that the early research of Dr. Susan L. Huntington has revealed a possible a connection to the eastern Indian sculpture of Bihar and Bengal. This idea may be bolstered by the strong presence of Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas in Vraja from the 15th century onwards, and may point to an artistic connection between the north and east. Despite this, such claims are tentative and require a thorough examination of the image itself. Furthermore, it has been suggested by Whitney A. Sanford that the image may have had a previous life in a nāga cult context, although, as mentioned in the text, this does not corroborate with the image‟s iconography of Kṛṣṇa Govardhana. See: Sanford, A. Whitney. “Negotiating for Śrīnāthajī, Daūjī, and Jakhaiyā: Narrative as Arbiter of Contested Sites in Vraja” International Journal of , Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 2002), pp. 19-45. However, an excerpt from Chapter Seven Book Ten of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa mentions ophidian worship in Vraja during the time of Kṛṣṇa, “Whatever sacrificial offerings had formerly been allotted here for the snakes each month, and placed as oblations at the foot of the tree by the snake-worshippers, were now all for …” See: Edwin F. Bryant. Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God: Srimad , Book X (Penguin Books, 2003), 89. 37 Amit Ambalal. Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara (Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1987), 69-70. 38 The term darśana, in the broader Hindu context, has come to mean a reciprocal process of viewing the sacred; taking sight of the divine or auspicious, (darśana lenā), and conversely the divine or auspicious giving sight back (darśana denā). In the Puṣṭimārga context, both a giving and taking is implied since the svarūpa is always living and thus fully cognizant of the devotee‟s desires, actions, moods, and emotions. For more information on the concept of darśana in the broader Indic context, see: Eck, Diana. Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. 21 perform basic sevā for the image.39 Thus, in Vraja, Vallabha had established the beginnings of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya, propounding his philosophy of śuddhādvaita which, as previously mentioned, sought to counter the orthodox knowledge based methods of systemic rationalizations engrained in other Vedānta sects. Several years after the founding of the shrine, a wealthy merchant who had been initiated into the sect sponsored the construction of a permanent shrine, the construction of which was completed in 1520.40

The image of Śrīnāthji, as Govardhana Kṛṣṇa, is not without precedent. The

Govardhana theme in Vaiṣṇava art was based off the childhood exploits narrated in such previously mentioned texts as the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa. This particular form of

Kṛṣṇa, as the lifter of the mountain, essentially involves Kṛṣṇa‟s rejection of ritual to the Vedic storm deity , who, out of his wrath, began to inundate the area of Vraja with torrential storms. Kṛṣṇa, seeing the bewilderment and suffering of his townsfolk lifted the nearby mountain of Govardhana with the minimal effort of his lotus- like hand, thereby providing shelter for the people of Vraja. Indra, realizing that Kṛṣṇa was none other than God incarnate, repented and offered his obeisance to Kṛṣṇa. We see this particular episode commonly used in Hindu sculpture prior to the establishment of the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya.

From Khmer art to the Hoysala temples of , this theme no doubt asserted the rāsa („aesthetic essence‟), of vīrā, („heroism‟) in large Vaiṣṇava

39 Originally, Bengali Gaudiya priests were employed in the service of the image. This proves interesting since it bolsters the connection between northern and eastern image veneration, and possibly artistic production. 40 Shah. Shri Vallabhacharya: His Philosophy and Religion, 19. 22 iconographic programs (Figure. 5).41 It maybe that the earlier Govardhana images served to simply convey the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa or even his divine strength, but within the

Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya this particular image takes on philosophical import. Given the message of the story it is not surprising that Vallabha would appropriate such a theme that perfectly correlated with his own philosophical rejection of early Brahmanism. Such an episode encapsulated the triumph of bhaktī as embodied in Kṛṣṇa over Vedic ritualism as signified by Indra. Again, for Vallabha, the path of non-devotional prescriptive ritualism had severe limitations that only offered temporal rewards. One could not simply reach a perfected state of existence joined with Kṛṣṇa by merely following scriptural law. Such a view assumed a dependency on the ritual for benefit rather than the object of reverence. By surrendering one‟s egoism to Kṛṣṇa, and seeking śaraṇāgati

(„refuge‟) in him, bhaktī is able to evolve within the devotee who ultimately achieves a spiritual transformation. As mentioned above, this culminates in the total dissolution of the self and a merging with Kṛṣṇa, a non-dual state of bliss realization. All of these underpinnings were loaded within the image of Śrīnāthji who externally expressed the interior world of . The svarūpa of Śrīnāthji remained in Vraja until its removal to

Nathadwara over a century later.42

After Vallabha‟s death in 1531, the survival of his form of bhaktī was secured by the establishment of a lineage of ācāryas („spiritual preceptor‟), which was descended

41 George Michell. and Architecture (London: Thames & Hudson, 2000), 112-114. Phillip Rawson. The Art of (London: Thames & Hudson, 1967), 28-29. For more information on classical Indian aesthetic theory, see: Baumer, Bettina. Baumer, Bettina. Vastusutra Upanishad: The Essence of Form in Sacred Art. : Motilal Banarasidas, 1996. 42 Peter Bennett. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect (Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation, 1993), 27. 23 patrilineally.43 This paramparā („lineage‟) was further justified in the established belief that Vallabha would remain pragata („manifest‟ or „ever-present‟), through this line of successors, thereby continuing to serve as an intermediary between the mundane world and Kṛṣṇa. Furthermore, Vallabha‟s rejection of asceticism allowed for his followers to lead householder lives in the manner of Kṛṣṇa and the residents of Vraja.

In addition to the form of Śrīnāthji several other svarūpas were established within the sect. However, the foremost of these svarūpas, Śrīnāthji, was taken care of in the line of Vallabha‟s second eldest son Viṭṭhalnāthaji (1516-1586) who became Vallabha‟s spiritual successor. Viṭṭhalnāthaji, as the inheritor of Vallabha‟s spiritual legacy, in turn gathered the other svarūpas established during his father‟s lifetime.44 Subsequently, these supplementary forms of Kṛṣṇa were assigned to Viṭṭhalnāthaji‟s seven sons, each of them representing a different gādi („seat‟ or „diocese‟) of the larger Puṣṭimārga sect. All of the dioceses continue to thrive today, and model their ritual practice off of Śrīnāthji‟s sanctuary in Nathadwara, which represents the first gādi of the sect. As Vallabha was responsible for providing the philosophical framework for the sect, Viṭṭhalnāthaji was responsible for its application in an aesthetic and ritual setting, ultimately refined at

Nathadwara.

The establishment of Śrīnāthji in Rajasthan in 1672 presents an interesting series of events that combines elements of well-documented history along with the sect‟s devotional affirmation of Śrīnāthji‟s power. In 1669, after over a century of being

43 Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 52. 44 Rajendra Jindal. Culture of a Sacred Town: A Sociological Study of Nathdwara (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1976), 19-21. 24 established by Vallabha, Śrīnāthji‟s svarūpa was removed from the Govardhana shrine of

Vraja with the intention of finding asylum within one of the Rajput kingdoms. 45 The priests of Śrīnāthji wanted to protect the svarūpa from the menace of the orthodox iconoclast Mughal emperor Aurāngzeb who had spent much of his reign reversing the more religiously harmonious atmosphere created by his great grandfather, .

Aurāngzeb issued a series of imperial edicts that sanctioned the destruction of any recently established Hindu shrine, and caused the cessation of extensive Hindu practices in the areas surrounding both Mughal capitals of Delhi and . This proved highly problematic for the followers of Vallabha, as the sacred land of Vraja was directly situated between these two capitals. According to the hagiographic account, Śrīnāthji Ki

Prāgatyā Vārta, the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji was taken by cart from Vraja and entered into

Rajasthan.46 Here Śrīnāthji and his priests were rejected from several kingdoms that feared a wrathful onslaught from imperial Mughal forces. After multiple rejections and three years of wandering around northwest India, the cart arrived near the village of

Sinhad in the kingdom of Mewar in 1672. Subsequently, the cart carrying Śrīnāthji became lodged in a muddy pit beneath a tree. For the priests of the deity this was taken as a sign that Śrīnāthji wished to reside at that very spot, and the subsequent shrine and city of Nathadwara („the of the Lord‟) was established (Fig. 6). The town was soon

45 Jindal. Culture of a Sacred Town: A Sociological Study of Nathdwara, 22. 46 Shyamdas. The Amazing Story of Shrinathji (Pratham Peeth Publications, 2002), 103. 25 recognized by the official Mewar court under the rule of Rāna Singhji who provided

Nathadwara with royal protection as a pilgrimage site.47

The account of Śrīnāthji‟s establishment in Nathadwara, according to the Śrīnāthji

Ki Prāgatyā Vārta, proves interesting for several reasons. Besides the actual historical evidence that corroborates Puṣṭimārga and Mughal relations, the vārta of Śrīnāthji presents a version of the svarūpa‟s history that not only affirms the power of the svarūpa, but also bolsters the sect through divine legitimacy.48 The vārta asserts that Śrīnāthji had desired to go to Rajasthan because of a woman named Ajaba Kunvarī who was a staunch

Puṣṭimārga devotee and member of the Mewari royal family. It was the wish of Ajaba

Kunvarī that Śrīnāthji would remain in Rajasthan so that she could serve him and relish in his divine grace. From the Puṣṭimārga perspective, the iconoclastic mood of

Aurāngzeb was inspired by none other than Śrīnāthji who orchestrated the whole series of tumultuous events in order to please a beloved devotee‟s wish.49 Therefore, the account demonstrates that the sect employed very real aspects of political history to assert claims of sect and svarupa authority. Thus, according to the Puṣṭimārga view, the svarūpa as the living embodiment of God is able to control even the actions of emperors

What is fascinating about such accounts are the ways in which they fully reflect

Puṣṭimārga notion of the svarūpa as an embodiment of grace and , and in this instance, the fulfillment of a devotee‟s heartfelt request. Furthermore, the notion that the

47 Norbert Peabody. “In Whose Turban Does the Lord Reside?: The Objectification of Charisma and the Fetishism of Objects in the Hindu Kingdom of Kota.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct., 1991), pp. 726-754; 727-728. 48 For more information on historical accounts and evidence of Mughal, Rajput and Puṣṭimārga relations, see: Saha, Shandip. “Creating a Community of Grace: A History of the Pustimarga in Northern and Western India.” PhD, University of Ottawa, 2004. 49 Shyamdas. The Amazing Story of Shrinathji, 74-75. 26 svarūpa instigated the move endows the event with the tinge of Kṛṣṇa‟s playful lilā; indeed, actions that are above all law and governance. By examining such stories from the perspective of the sect we may begin to understand how svarūpa images are invested with power through narrative. Chapter Two continues to survey this notion by exploring how the appropriation of visual and iconographic themes further bolsters such investments.

Dāmodarji, known as Bade Dāuji, who lived from 1655-1704, served as the mūkhiyā („head priest‟) during Śrīnāthji‟s migration to Mewar. 50 Within the Puṣṭimārga tradition he is accorded with special honor for bringing the svarūpa to Rajasthan and establishing the city of Nathadwara. The head priest of Nathadwara, and the direct descendants of Viṭṭhalnāthaji‟s sons, thereafter retained the titular of Tilakāyat, denoting those who were anointed with the vertical Vaiṣṇava forehead mark. Although Dāmodarji and his successors retained strong ties with Vraja, the cult of Śrīnāthji soon developed a distinct visual vocabulary that appropriated trappings of Rajput court culture, while at the same time retaining traditional methods of Vaiṣṇava ritual.51 This is aptly seen in the early twentieth-century portrait of Tilakāyat Govardhanlālji painted by Ghasiram Sharma

(Fig. 7). The portrait conveys the sense of erudition characteristic of Rajput ruling elite, which is fully expressed through the patrician stance and gaze of Govardhanlālji.52

Govardhanlālji‟s tidy minimal dress is contrasted with rather opulent jewels, including a sprayed turban ornament and a pearl choker fitted with a substantial diamond pendant.

50 Ambalal. Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 167. 51 For an in-depth discussion on Rajput and Puṣṭimārga relations, see: Peabody, Hindu kingship and polity in precolonial India, 50-80. 52 Joanna Williams. Kingdom of the Sun: Indian Court and Village Art from the Princely State of Mewar (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2007), 200. 27

Not only in priestly appearance was this sense of royalty conveyed but also in the titles that were bestowed upon them. By around the eighteenth-century the head priests of

Srinathji were referred to as mahārāja („great king‟), an epithet shared by Indian kings.53

Thus, it may be argued that Śrīnāthji, as a divine ruling child, aided in the legitimization of the priests who assumed the role of powerful spiritual vassals. This patterning of

Rajput kingship further extended to the establishment of Śrīnāthji‟s own physical residence.54

Modeled after Rajasthani and Gujarati palatial courtyard mansions known as havelī, the abode of Śrīnāthji is markedly distinct from traditional structures. Since Śrīnāthji is regarded as the living manifestation of Kṛṣṇa, he is housed within a veritable model of his pastoral home in Vraja. The architecture, a mélange of

Rajput styles, combines the function of a temple and a royal residence. As Kṛṣṇa was historically born to Mathuran royalty, he is the divine child ruler of Nathdwara, who has at his disposal all of the accoutrements enjoyed by those of noble blood. The havelī is fully functional and is replete with kitchens, storage rooms, wardrobes, gardens, music rooms, cowsheds, a treasury, audience halls, as well as other elements befitting a palace.

Moreover, the belief that Śrīnāthji enjoys the function of his home is attested by painted works from Nathadwara (Figure. 8). Such works depict the svarūpa in multiple forms engaging in activities that suited the childhood of Kṛṣṇa, and it is here, within the space of the havelī, that sevā, is rendered to the svarūpa. From engaging in multiple daily

53 Anne-Marie Gaston, Krishna’s Musicians: Musicians and Music Making in the Temples of Nathdvara, Rajasthan (Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1997), 28. 54 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 19. 28 activities, to serving as the focal point for ritual ceremonies, the image of the svarūpa is able to activate the space with its inherent self-manifest powers. It is also the bhāva

(„devotional attitude‟) of the disciple that compels the svarūpa to make the realm of lilā manifest in the laukika („mundane‟) world, thus engaging the devotee in Kṛṣṇa‟s alaukika

(„transcendent‟) reality. These ideas are further explored in Chapter Three.

By charting Vallabha‟s philosophical outlook and the beginnings of the

Sampradāya, Chapter One has provided a necessary framework for understanding the basic culture of Puṣṭimārga devotionalism. The primary svarūpa of Śrīnāthji is woven into sectarian accounts that assert the divinity of such images, blurring the boundaries between devotional sentiments and historical reality. Accordingly, the stories that surround the image of Śrīnāthji‟s svarūpa attest to the penchant that the Sampradāya has for using hagiographic narrative to convey, and claim, their theological perspective.

Such proclivities for establishing spiritual authority are also expressed through visual means and within the svarūpa images themselves. Chapter Two explores svarūpa images, their iconography, and the appropriation of artistic themes in order to illuminate the significant role these components play in transmitting Puṣṭimārga beliefs.

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Chapter 2: The Iconography and History of Puṣṭimārga Svarūpas

Since its inception, Puṣṭimārga ethos has revolved around the nucleus of svarūpa veneration. Chapter One outlined the beginnings of the sect by focusing on the superlative svarūpa archetype of Kṛṣṇa as Śrīnāthji. While his physical appearance as

Govardhana Kṛṣṇa seamlessly aligns itself with Vallabha‟s theological structure, it would be insular to divorce this theme from examples outside the sect. Although the

Govardhana story is in many respects crucial to Puṣṭimārga doctrine, it is nonetheless only one part of an often overlooked range of themes that have been attached to lesser known svarūpa images. By studying these images, their created identities, characteristics, and the devotional sentiments attached to them, we see a rich spectrum of variation within an essentially united framework. This chapter focuses on such a spectrum found within the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya. I begin this chapter by outlining aspects of pre-

Puṣṭimārga Vaiṣṇava iconography that relates to the extended range of svarūpa images.

As mentioned in Chapter One, in addition to the image of Śrīnāthji several other svarūpas were discovered and established by Vallabha. Though all of these svarūpas invariably relate to Kṛṣṇa, some of them visually express themes that align with well established Vaiṣṇava imagery, often including four-armed Viṣṇu images that do not fit the standard two armed images of Kṛṣṇa. While the catūrbhuja („four armed‟) svarūpa images have synthesized with the multivalent identity of Kṛṣṇa, it is nonetheless pertinent to chart the iconographic theme in pre-Puṣṭimārga history. My analysis begins with the 30 particular iconographic theme of the twenty-four vyūha („emanatory‟) forms of Viṣṇu as related to svarūpa images of the sect. From this, I expound on the significance attached to these images which, though steeped in antique themes, are nonetheless quintessentially

Puṣṭimārga.

It is commonly believed that Viṣṇu possesses a thousand and one epithets which expound upon the best of his most unfathomable characteristics. The Viṣṇusahaśranāma

(„1001 names of Viṣṇu‟) found in the Mahābhārata deals with these names, attaching protective qualities to its recitation. Among these thousand and one significant names of praise relating to Viṣṇu, twenty-four are considered to be the most important and are daily repeated by Vaiṣṇavas. Attached to these names are twenty four forms of Viṣṇu that vary in the arrangement of attributes placed in each of the four hands, namely the

śaṅkha („conch‟), cakra („discus‟), padma („lotus‟), and gadā („mace‟) (Figure 9).55 The mathematical formulation of hands and attributes, inclusive of the possible permutations that the variables may produce, have resulted in the set number of vyūha images. Though each figure is assigned a distinct name, and point of emanation from the primary form of

Viṣṇu, the iconography is unwaveringly consistent with general four armed depictions of

Viṣṇu. As such, without a textual guide or trained eye, the images in this set often become confounded with one another. Here, the common traits that bind the forms are the

55 Each of these items is associated with the notions of salvation, protection, creation, and destruction. Furthermore, it is known that each has its association with the four elements of air, fire, water, and earth. Although these attributes have been known as standard iconographic traits of Viṣṇu from the pre-Gupta period, it is not clearly known as to why the mālā („rosary‟), commonly found in many sculpted works, is not included as an attribute within the vyūha corpus. 31 frontal, standing postures as well as the ubiquitous ornamental motifs that are closely associated with Viṣṇu‟s celestial authority.56

The earliest description of the twenty four forms of Viṣṇu appears in the Agni

Purāṇa. The north Indian treatises Rūpamaṅḍana and Aparājitapṛcchā of Bhūvanadeva list the same order of images found in the Agni Purāṇa, and thus they may be used interchangeably when discussing the vyūha forms. 57 Though found in many iconographic programs from the major regions of India, the origin of this group and the reasoning behind their respective order system is not usually dealt with in most texts.58

According to the Paṅcarātrāgama, from each of the four primary vyūhas of Viṣṇu were formed three sub-vyūhas, thus accounting for sixteen out of the group of twenty four.59

Each of these sub-vyūhas, totaling twelve, is associated with the seasonal phases of the sun aligned with the twelve months of the year. More details pertaining to these images appear in later literary and epigraphic sources.

56 Gopinath T.A. Rao. Elements of Hindu Iconography: Vols. 1, 2. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997), 227- 228.These ornamental attributes are inclusive of the śrīvatsa („diamond shaped tuft‟) motif on the breast of Viṣṇu, the draped vanamālā, and the kirtīmukuta crown, in addition to an abundance of jewels. 57 Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography: Vols. 1, 2, 230-231. Both the Rūpamaṅḍana and Aparājitapṛcchā are dated from around the 12th century, and largely deal with architectural planning, theory, and method, as well as sculptural iconography. Furthermore the earlier Hayaśirṣapaṅcarātra treatise (9th-10th centuries) offers a list of the forms of Viṣṇu in its eighteenth chapter. 58 Here Rao cites the Chennakesavasvamin temple at Belur, Karnatka. More examples, in some cases complete sets, are present at sites in Northern and Western India. For an example in Gujarat, see: Mankodi, Kirit. The Queen’s at Patan. Franco-Indian Research Pvt. Ltd, 2006. Although Rao discusses the vyūha forms in the context of Puranic literature by citing examples from South India, the fact that the theme is found commonly in northern India, and that the list of vyūha forms exists in iconographic treatises from northern India, might bolster the idea that some of the miraculously found Puṣṭimārga svarūpas may have had some physical existence within earlier Vaiṣṇava iconographic programs. 59 These primary four and their sub-emanations are as follows: Śaṅkarśana -, Viṣṇu, Madhusūdana. -Keśava, Nārāyana, Mādhava. -Trīvikrama, Vāmana, Śrīdhara. -Hṛśīkeśa, Padmanābha, Dāmodara. The rest of the eight are: Pūruśottama, Adhokṣaja, Nṛsiṃhā, Acyuta, Janārdhana, Upendra, , and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. For the Puranic lists please see: Rao, 229-233. 32

As mentioned in Chapter One, by the ninth-century, the devotional Vaiṣṇavism of southern India had already produced , epics, and scriptures. Thus, the list of

Viṣṇu‟s innumerable names was already well known to Vaiṣṇava adherents.60 In the contemporary epigraphic records of the Pallavas and the Pandyas, Viṣṇu is invoked under various names, some of which are those included among the twenty-four forms. The names of Nārāyana and Viṣṇu are found in ubiquity, whereas the names of other forms occur occasionally. While it is not completely known as to why some forms are given preference, it is known that the lists are not completely consistent with the order of the names given. Some of the lists place the attributes of the images in a way that differs from the proscribed order of recitation, that is, against the clockwise pattern. The Agni

Purāṇa, having the most emulated list of forms, is clear in the direction it imposes upon the order of the attributes, which follows from the proper lower right, to upper right, upper left, to lower left. Besides being used as signifiers for the vyūha forms, the placement of these attributes had also been invested with spiritual significance.

The Paṅcarātrāgama, though not a primary Vaiṣṇava text, provides an account the origin of the vyūha forms, shedding some light on the spiritual importance of the group. The text conveys the spiritual and mystic properties of Viṣṇu as Paravāsudeva who possesses six guṇas („qualities‟) that distinguish his status as the supreme form of the divine. These include wisdom, energy, strength, divine majesty, heroism, radiant splendor, and vicelessness.61 The genesis of the other vyūha forms relates to these

60 Bhandarkar. Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, 70. 61 These are as follows: Jnāna, śakti, bala, aiṣvarya, vīrya, tejasa, and nirdośa. See, Rao. Elements of Hindu Iconography: Vols. 1, 2, 234-235. 33 qualities in that the six were divided into three pairs of two, with each of the three pairs representing Śaṅkarśana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. The fourth and primary vyūha form of Paravāsudeva retains all six qualities, and it is from him that the previously mentioned three emanate. The division of these guṇas amongst the forms relates to the conception of

Viṣṇu as being approached through numerous ways. Indeed, as Rao states, “Evidently, all these various forms of the Supreme Lord are representative of the attributes with which His worshipper endows him according to the mood and needs of his own prayerful mind.”62 Though it is hardly novel to assign such multivalency to Viṣṇu, it is nonetheless significant in the Puṣṭimārga context. My research at various Puṣṭimārga centers, including the Śrī Kalyāṇrāijī Haveli in Baroda, has revealed that the svarūpas are not just separate forms of Kṛṣṇa but are individual aspects of him that appear as a multiplicity.

Thus, like the vyūha forms of Viṣṇu, the svarūpas are not just endowed “according to the mood and needs” of a devotee, but are indicative of the moods of Kṛṣṇa himself.63 This notion is discussed in the following exploration of the Puṣṭimārga svarūpas. I begin with a brief discussion of the concept of a svarūpa image as viewed from the Puṣṭimārga perspective.

The general process of establishing an image within a Hindu Temple involves the performance of a series of invocatory rituals by a Brahmin priest. Through these rites the image of the deity is invested with vital life force that enlivens and activates the space,

62 Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography Vols. 1,2, 235. 63 This aspect of svarūpa ideology was introduced to me at the Kalyāṇrāiji Haveli in Baroda where the catūrbhuja svarūpa of Kalyāṇrāiji, belonging to the sixth gādi of Viṭṭhalnāthaji, resides. At Baroda, several devotees informed me that all the Puṣṭimārga svarūpas represent different aspects of Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā and thus associated they are associated with his particular moods and identities. Moreover, this includes identities outside of Śrīnāthji‟s role as the child Kṛṣṇa. 34 serving as receptacle for the divine.64 Thereafter, the image having attained a state of , becomes fit for veneration by devotees. In the Puṣṭimārga context, an image, miraculous or not, can be invested with the title of a svarūpa if it consecrated by a direct descendant Vallabha. Furthermore, the process of creating a non-discovered svarūpa involves the bathing of the image in paṅcāmrīta („five-nectars‟) and offering it sanctified food from an extant svarūpa.65 As the image is consecrated, it is no longer simply a piece of stone but a fully living entity that requires all the attention and care that a devotee can afford. Thus, for devotees it is imperative that the sevā of an image should never be neglected, even if the image is completely worn down due to centuries of use. On the contrary, as Puṣṭimārga devotees point out, if a non-Puṣṭimārga image, and therefore not a svarūpa, is destroyed or damaged then it becomes useless for veneration as the power of the deity has left the image.66

Of all the Puṣṭimārga svarūpas, the nine that Viṭṭhalnāthaji passed on to his seven sons are given a primary status (Figure 10). These nine images include Śrīnāthji, Śrī

Madanamohanaji, Śrī Navanitapriyāji, and Śrī Viṭṭhalnāthaji of Nathadwara; Śrī

Mathureśji of Kota; Śrī Dvārkādhīśji of Kankroli; Śrī Gokulnāthaji and Śrī

Gokulcandramāji of Kamavana, Vraja, and Śrī Bālakṛṣṇaji of Surat (Figure 11).67 Peter

Bennett categorizes three distinct characteristics used to describe such images. First, they considered are svayambhu („self-born‟). Second, they are widely refered to as sevya-

64 For more information on the process of image invocation, see: Eck, Darsan, 51-55. 65 These „five-nectars‟ primarily include: clarified butter, curds, , honey, and sugar, though some of the components may be substituted for other substances. 66 Bennett, The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, 93.

67 For a list of the nine images, and their brief descriptions, see: Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 73-78. 35 svarūpa („previously served svarūpas‟) of Vallabha and Viṭṭhalnāthaji, meaning they were personally venerated by them and their immediate family. Finally, these images in a group are called as nava-nīdhi svarūpa („nine-treasure svarūpa‟) which distinguishes them as store-houses or receptacles of treasure.68

Although these categories are used to point out the exalted position of the nine svarūpa forms, they are also used by non- Puṣṭimārga adherents to glorify other images. Indeed, the prestige of many images is often enhanced in the view of devotees if their accounts include them being in the possession of, or venerated by, legendary or spiritually significant personages. Furthermore, this notion is true if they appeared under miraculous circumstances. Like the story and image of Śrīnāthji mentioned in Chapter

One, it is a firm belief of devotees that svarūpas, mysteriously retrieved from lakes, fields, or wells, are self-manifested rather than man-made. This of course is fundamental in the image theory of the sect, serving to legitimize spiritual authority by claiming to have direct access to Kṛṣṇa through his miraculous and forms. I now focus on the relevant connection between the svarūpa images, as iconographically linked to the vyūha forms of Viṣṇu, and the examples from hagiographic texts. Firstly I will consider examples from the Śrīnāthji Ki Prāgatyā Vārta, which details various biographical

68 Bennett. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, 94-95. Here the notion of the svarūpa as nīdhi is somewhat interesting. On the one hand, they may be considered as receptacles of the treasure of grace, or puṣṭi. On the other the term nīdhi literally has the connotation of that which stores treasure, relating to the cult of yakṣas in early Indic history. Whitney A. Sanford discusses three images in the Vaiṣṇava context of Vraja, including Śrīnāthji. Her research explores the idea of yakṣa and nāga cults that were present in the pre-Krsna culture of Vraja, and how such earlier traditions were appropriated in the Vaiṣṇava context. See: “Negotiating for Śrīnāthajī, Daūjī, and Jakhaiyā: Narrative as Arbiter of Contested Sites inVraja” International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 2002), pp. 19-45. 36 incidents that are centered on the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji. From here I will look at other that relay the events of other images.

According to the Śrīnāthji Ki Prāgatyā Vārta, four emanations of Kṛṣṇa, regarded as manifestations of his divine potency, appeared concurrent to the discovery of

Śrīnāthji‟s svarūpa. These four forms, directly relate to the vyūha forms of Viṣṇu as described in Puranic literature. The account continues with the description of the four emanatory forms and identifies them as Śaṅkarśana, Govinda, Śrī Danirāiji, and Śrī

Haridevāji, all of which miraculously appeared from lakes and hills around the landscape of Vraja. Moreover, and most significantly, these forms are aligned with the four primary emanations of Viṣṇu as Śaṅkarśana, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha as related in the Rūpamaṅḍana, Agni, and Viṣṇu Purana.69 Although these images and their own subsequent emanatory forms have been venerated singularly or in sets, it is unknown whether they ever served a subservient role closely related to any one of the daśavatāra

(„ten incarnations of Viṣṇu‟). In the Puṣṭimārga context, the vārta of Śrīnāthji not only names these four emanations, but also explicates their roles as the protector of Śrīnāthji as the child svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa. This not only confirms the belief that the svarūpa is a living entity requiring constant care, but also points to a striking interconnectedness that binds the revelation of these forms, inclusive of the person of Vallabha himself, in a system of sevā. As the vārta states,

69 Shyamdas, The Amazing Story of Shrinathji, 35.

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“In the center of these four protective deities resides

Purushottam, Who has appeared as Shri Nathji. For Shri

Nathji‟s seva, Krishna appeared as Shri Mahaprabhuji.

Only Purushottam can know Purushottam. In the tenth

chapter of the Gita it is said, „Neither gods or demons can

comprehend Your manifestation, You Yourself know

Yourself through Yourself‟.”70

The passage not only demonstrates how these pre-Puṣṭimārga forms of Viṣṇu had been subsumed as part of the persona of Śrīnāthji, but also how they were re-appropriated to fit Puṣṭimārga philosophy. Further, their identity as being facets of the whole that is

Śrīnāthji is affirmed by their veneration in the other Puṣṭimārga gādis that have stemmed from Vallabha. Though these images are bonded to one another in their function as

śāsanadevatā („guardian deities‟), it is tantalizing to consider other images recognized by the sect that share the same iconographic patterns.

The svarūpa of Śrī Mathureśji, an image of the first gādi, is a catūrbhuja image of

Viṣṇu that is engaged within a stele with a rounded top (Figure 12). Like the miraculous appearance of Śrīnāthji and his related potencies, Śrī Mathureśji is said to have appeared to Padmanābhadās, a devotee of Vallabha, on the banks of the River. The importance of this image is conveyed in the affirmation that at first it appeared to be one hundred feet tall, and then became small enough to fit into Padmanābha‟s lap (Figure 13).

70 Shyamdas. The Amazing Story of Shrinathji, 35. 38

The image was then later returned to Vallabha, who entrusted the svarūpa to

Viṭṭhalnāthaji.71 According to hagiographic accounts, this svarūpa, like that of Śrīnāthji, was moved to Rajasthan during the reign of Aurāngzeb, finding refuge in the kingdom of

Kota, where he resides today.72 The most significant aspect of Śrī Mathureśji‟s account, however, is not the manner in which he was revealed but the very reason behind his manifestation. The account continues with a dialogue from Viṭṭhalnāthaji explaining the svarūpa‟s attributes, form, and his own lilā, thus demonstrating direct ties to the life cycle of Kṛṣṇa. “Then when Shri Krishna becomes a young lad and begins to herd His cows, that for of Shri Krishna is Shri Mathuradish.” The narrative continues with a particular incident that describes the svarūpa going to the home a gopī in order to steal butter. Rādha, here referred to as Śrī Svāminīji caught Mathureśji with two hands and threatened to reveal his theft to his mother Yaśodā. Mathureśji then submits to Rādha,

“At that moment, Shri Mathuradish manifested two

additional arms and with folded hands prayed to Shri

Svaminiji, „I am under your control. Always keep Me with

you. I hold this conch in my lower right hand because it is

the form of Your neck. In My other lower hand I hold a

lotus because Your face is like a lotus. In My upper left

71Shyamdas. The Path of Grace (Pratham Peeth Publications, 2004), 179-180. See also: Krishna; Talwar, Indian Pigment Paintings on Cloth: Volume III Historic Textiles of India at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad, 129-130. 72 For an in depth discussion on the political aspects of svarūpa veneration in Kota, see: Norbert Peabody‟s work, and: Taylor, Woodman Lyon. “Visual Culture in Performative Practice: The Aesthetics, Politics and Poetics of Visuality in Liturgical Practices of the Vallabha Hindu Community at Kota.” PhD, University of Chicago, 1997.

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hand I hold the mace because it is like the form of Your

breast. My upper right hand holds the discus. It is like the

on Your belt. The bangles on Your wrist, I worship

them and put them on my own wrist. Now please release

Me.‟ When she did, He gave Her a taste of His nectar lips.

This is the lila of Shri Mathuradish.”73

This textual example reveals several significant aspects in understanding the context of Puṣṭimārga images within Vaiṣṇava iconography. First, the image shares the same attributes and order with the vyūha of Trīvikrama. According the vyūha descriptions found in the Paṅcarātrāgama, the forms of Viṣṇu are also divided according to the suitability of the form for veneration among specific groups of people within the Puranic conception of a society. Here it is said that for farmers it is particularly beneficial to adore the form of Trīvikrama.74 We can see from this that not only does the svarūpa of

Śrī Mathureśji fit the iconographic description of Viṣṇu as Trīvikrama, but Mathureśji‟s lilā, closely associated with Kṛṣṇa‟s rural position as a cow herder is remarkably consistent with Trīvikrama‟s association to the Vaiśya caste which represents the farming and agrarian professions.

The svarūpa of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji, of Kankroli, shares a similar miraculous account to

Śrī Mathureśji. The svarūpa itself resembles Mathureśji, except that the attributes align with the vyūha of Vāmana, and that the stele is flat at the top and not rounded (Figure

73 Shyamdas. The Path of Grace, 180. 74Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography Vols. 1,2, 238. 40

14). Furthermore, the vyūha of Vāmana is also associated with the Vaiśya caste, thus providing a pastoral link between the svarūpa and Kṛṣṇa‟s role as a cow herder. The accounts of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji reveal that the image had had a long life prior to its

Puṣṭimārga appropriation. According to sect accounts, the image was originally worshipped by the deity Brahmā and was then passed on to the sage . From Kapila, the svarūpa of Dvārkādhīśji was passed to several other Vaiṣṇava personages before it was established in a shrine during the rule of the legendary king Ambriṣa.75 The vārta accounts further state that the image was revered by a whole number of mythic characters including Daśaratha of the Rāmāyana and Yudhiṣṭira of the Mahābhārata. However, over the centuries, the svarūpa and its shrine, purportedly located on , was abandoned and left to ruin.76 The svarūpa was eventually retrieved by a tailor from

Kannauj, who was instructed by Kṛṣṇa in a dream to do so. The image eventually passed to Viṭṭhalnāthaji who entrusted the svarūpa to his third son Bālakṛṣṇalāl. Like most

Puṣṭimārga svarūpas, the image of Dvārkādhīśji was taken out of Vraja due to unsafe political conditions in North India in the year 1670. Then the svarūpa was enshrined in

Asotia, a small village in the Mewar kingdom, where it remained until 1719. Finally the svarūpa was permanently installed in the palatial havelī at Kankroli near Nathadwara in

1720, where it has remained ever since. 77 These textual accounts demonstrate how

75 I was partially informed of these accounts during my visit to Kankroli. 76 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 181-182. It is interesting to note that the image and shrine were said to have been located on Mount Abu. This could suggest that the image had a historical life prior to its appropriation in the Puṣṭimārga context, although such hypotheses warrant further investigation. 77 Krishna; Talwar, Indian Pigment Paintings on Cloth: Volume III Historic Textiles of India at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad, 130. 41

Puṣṭimārga adherents are able to legitimize such svarūpa images by applying long, miraculous, and often mythic pedigrees to them.78

Similar to Śrī Mathureśji, the lilā of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji involves an incident with

Rādha, and specifically corresponds to the episode of Kṛṣṇa playing aṅkh-mīconi („hide and seek‟) with Rādha and other gopīs.79 As Viṭṭhalnāthaji himself narrates,

“When Shri Krishna danced with the , the form of

Shri Dwarkadhish suddenly appeared to them by the banks

of the Yamuna river [silently gesturing to the other gopīs to

not call attention to ] . Then Shri Dwarkadhish, with

His two lotus hands, covered Shri Svamini‟s eyes [in order

to make her guess who it was covering her eyes] and then

manifested two additional hands and pleased Her with His

flute playing. Shri Dwarkadhish‟s lila is filled with

nectar.”80

The episode bears little relation to the more mystical nature of Viṣṇu‟s vyūha forms.

The various attributes in the four hands of the svarūpa of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji have symbolic interpretations related to this story, thus demonstrating a pattern of iconographic appropriation in Puṣṭimārga visual culture. Furthermore, the various weapons and

78 For more information about aspects of image retrieval, appropriation, and their use as political devices see Richard Davis‟ fascinating study: Davis, Richard H. The Lives of Indian Images. Princeton University Press, 1999. 79 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 76. 80 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 182. 42 attributes in the hands of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji are interpreted with the same symbolic associations related to Śrī Mathureśji; those associations involving devotional lilā with

Rādha. In the case of Dvārkādhīśji‟s svarūpa, the lower right hand of the image holds a lotus, which is compared to Rādha‟s palm trying to push Kṛṣṇa‟s hand away from her eyes. The upper right hand holds a mace, said to be Rādha‟s hand moving up to embrace

Kṛṣṇa when she saw his four armed divine form. The upper left hand holds a discus, representing the impressions left by Rādha‟s bracelets, during her embrace. Finally, the lower left hand holds a conch, identified as Rādha‟s ringed neck as it was when Kṛṣṇa pressed her eyes with his palms. 81 Consequently, while retaining the physical characteristics of Viṣṇu‟s vyūha forms, the svarūpas in the Puṣṭimārga context are full expressions of devotional ideals, as well as Kṛṣṇa‟s divine pastimes.

We can see from these two cases of Śrī Mathureśji and Śrī Dvārkādhīśji how traditional Vaiṣṇava iconography is translated into a reflection of Puṣṭimārga devotional ethos. Furthermore, the trained devotee contemplates these lilās in conjunction with taking darśana of the svarūpa‟s various attributes. Thus, the iconography serves as a tool for devotional and meditational , allowing the practitioner to become immersed in the svarūpa‟s respective lilā.

While the two previously mentioned examples may correlate to more canonical images of Viṣṇu, the Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya includes other four armed forms that do not conform to any pre-Puṣṭimārga iconographic standard. The svarūpa of Śrī Gokulnāthaji

81 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 76.

43 aptly demonstrates a unique visual theme that references the catūrbhuja idiom, but is fully indicative of Kṛṣṇa‟s bhaktī laden lilā.

The svarūpa of Śrī Gokulnāthaji is a rather small four armed aṣṭadhātu („eight elements or metals‟) image with two female attendants, the gopīs Rādha and Candrāvalī, on either side (Figure 15). The image is shown with the right hand in a lifted gesture, referencing the highly important Govardhana story. The lower left hand holds a conch shell and the other two hands play the flute. According to vārta accounts, the svarūpa of

Gokulnāthaji belonged to the family of Vallabha‟s wife who gave the image to Vallabha upon their marriage. For a while, due to the already mentioned political atmosphere of northern India, the image was moved to Jaipur before it permanently returned to Vraja in the mid nineteenth-century.82 The svarūpa of Gokulnāthaji is significant because it employs multiple identities and visual tropes, including a conch or lotus bearing Viṣṇu,

Venugopāla Kṛṣṇa („Kṛṣṇa who plays the flute‟), and Govardhana Kṛṣṇa (Figure 16).

Furthermore, and not surprisingly, the image is also associated with a particular devotional lilā,

“The form of Shri Gokulnathji appears when Shri Krishna

lifted the Hill and protected all the Braja

bhaktas. He picked up the hill with His left hand and then

held it with His right hand and played the flute with His

other two hands and filled all the residents of Braja with

nectar. Sometimes He even held the hill with the end of His

82 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 76. 44

flute. Shri Gokulnathji‟s lower left hand holds the conch or,

the divine form of water [lotus].”83

The passage reveals something that is foundational to the conception of lilā in

Puṣṭimārga philosophy. Not only are the traditional Vaiṣṇava iconographic attributes affixed to such narratives, but also as the previous passage reveals, the lilās are cyclical.

Thus the quote, “Sometimes He even held the hill with the end of His flute” implies that symbolic attributes, though at times repetitious, can change according to the divine whim of Kṛṣṇa who delights his devotees with his spontaneous grace.

From these examples we can surmise that Puṣṭimārga images reflect the multivalency of Kṛṣṇa‟s character, which spans a multitude of identities, from heroic child to seductive youth. This notion has even extended to non-Puṣṭimārga forms of

Kṛṣṇa that are patterned off of Puṣṭimārga examples. The svarūpa image of Śrī

Dvārikādhīśji, of Gujarat, not to be confused with Śrī Dvārkādhīśji, represents Kṛṣṇa in his role as the kingly ruler of Dwarka (Figure 17).84 The temple and its image are not affiliated with the Puṣṭimārga sect. However, the many aspects of ritual image veneration that occur in the temple directly reflect the sevā modes established by

Vallabha and Viṭṭhalnāthaji (Figure 18). Both Figures 17 and 18 provide a rare and interesting opportunity to examine the actual image in its context as a sculptural object as well as devotional image. While photographic restrictions are strictly enforced in

83 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 183. 84 The Puṣṭimārga svarūpa of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji of Kankroli and the image of Dvārikādhīśji of Dwarka share the exact same vyūha identity. 45

Puṣṭimārga centers, the images from the Dwarka temple show that behind hagiographic narratives, and ritual offerings, it is possible to begin contextualizing these images in a historical timeline by examining their stylistic and formal qualities.85

In addition to the svarūpas discussed, there are several other minor Puṣṭimārga, and non-Puṣṭimārga, images that conform to the catūrbhuja theme. The Kalyāṇrāiji

Havelī of Baroda, Gujarat, houses the svarūpa of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji, a four armed form of

Viṣṇu with an angular topped stele (Figure 19).86 The image belongs to the lineage of

Viṭṭhalnāthaji‟s sixth son, Yadunāthji. My research at the Kalyāṇrāiji Haveli, as well as my conversations with devotees there, revealed several interesting aspects about the svarūpa of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji.87 One of my informants told me that the image of Kalyāṇrāiji was originally venerated by pre-Puṣṭimārga Vaiṣṇavas as the goddess Kalyāṇīdevi.88

Subsequently, the image became known to Vallabha who re-identified the svarūpa as

Kṛṣṇa in his form as Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji, thus changing the goddess into a god. My informant justified this account by pointing out that the eyes of the image are feminine, thus establishing the belief that the image was previously revered as a goddess. After its appropriation into the Puṣṭimārga sect, the image of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji was invested with a hagiography that justified its title as a svarūpa. According to Puṣṭimārga devotees of

85 Due to the amount of restrictions placed on the access to such images, it is not the aim of this thesis to conduct such rigorous historical and formal contextualizations. For more information on the implications of photographic restriction in the Vaiṣṇava temple context, see: Packert, Cynthia. The Art of Loving Krishna: Ornamentation and Devotion. Indiana University Press, 2010, 184-188. 86 The image of Kalyāṇrāiji correlates to the vyūha form of Vāmana, although my informants told me that the svarūpa is also related to Kṛṣṇa‟s son Aniruddha who was known as Kalyāṇa („the fair one‟). 87 There are no scholarly publications that focus on the Puṣṭimārga center in Baroda, or its related svarūpa. As such, my information was gathered from conversations with devotees, and what general information there was written in the . 88 My primary informant, Mr. Chandrakant J. Patel, is a resident of the Mandvi district of Baroda where the Haveli is located. 46

Baroda, Kṛṣṇa appeared to a devotee named Bāpā Venu in a dream and told him to retrieve an image out of a pond located near the outskirts of Bāpā‟s village. Bāpā Venu was then instructed to set up a shrine and present ritual offerings to the image that was later revealed by Vallabha as the svarūpa of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji and not Kalyāṇīdevi.89 These fascinating narratives highlight the phenomenon of image reclamation. Although it is difficult to assign svarūpa images to an actual time period, it is the idea that they existed prior to a Puṣṭimārga context that invests them with power. Moreover, the keeper of such images is mutually endowed with spiritual authority by possessing these miraculous forms.

Like the earlier example of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji of Dwarka, the non- Puṣṭimārga images of Śrī Jagdīśji and Śrī Raṇchodrāiji are also examples of catūrbhuja images linked with Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Jagdīśji is enshrined in a large temple in Jagdish Chowk,

(Figure 20). Constructed by Mahārāna Jawan Singh, who ruled Udaipur from 1628-53, the shrine is built according to the traditional mode of nāgara („northern‟) temples. The image itself, though not refered to as a svarūpa, is nonetheless visually related to

Puṣṭimārga catūrbhuja svarūpas.90 Figure 20 shows a painted image of Mahārāna Jawan

Singh venerating the image of Śrī Jagdīśji. The central image of Jagdīśji shows the catūrbhuja attributes of a conch and mace with the addition of a crescent moon in the proper upper left hand and bow and arrow, sword and shield, in the lower hands. On the right hand side of the painting is the two armed image of a fluting Kṛṣṇa that conforms to

89 See notes 84, 85. 90 Due to the fact that there is no scholarly published work on Śrī Jagdīśji, much of my information was gathered from informants in Udaipur, including Mr. Hemant Sharma of Jagdish Chowk. 47 the iconography of the nava-nīdhi svarūpa Śrī Gokulcandramāji.91 On the left hand side of the painting is an image of the goddess Lakṣmī. Interestingly, the presence of a sword and shield, bow and arrow, correlates to the role of Kṛṣṇa as a warrior king, possibly reflecting the fact that Śrī Jagdīśji was the tutelary deity of Mahārāna Jawan Singh.

Furthermore, the type of lavish dress and adornment worn by Śrī Jagdīśji, as well as the ritual setting, is no doubt an influence of the sevā traditions of such Puṣṭimārga centers as

Nathadwara (Figure 21).92

The non-Puṣṭimārga image of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji Dakor, like that of the svarūpa of

Śrī Gokulnāthaji mentioned earlier in this chapter, represents a multitude of identities that link the image to Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā as a flute playing cow herder and king (Figure 22). The

Raṇchodrāiji temple, which was built in 1772, is a major center of religious and commercial activity in the Charotar region of Gujarat.93 The form of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji aligns with the catūrbhuja theme, though the lower right is held up in the abhayamudra

(„non-fear granting gesture‟), and often a flute is attached to it, thus referencing Kṛṣṇa as a flute player. However, according to a few devotees from Dakor, there may be a lotus imprinted on the hand, but it is impossible to confirm unless granted closer inspection.

The lower left hand holds a conch. Unlike the kingly resonance of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji or

Śrī Jagdīśji, as discussed previously in this chapter, the image of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji is regarded as a more youthful form of Kṛṣṇa, although the upper right and left hands hold the mace and discus respectively. For the most part, it is difficult to observe these

91 Śrī Gokulcandramāji is a black wooden two-armed fluting figure of Kṛṣṇa. 92 For a comparison of adornment and ritual setting, see: Figures 11, 20 and 22. 93 My information was gathered from various lay devotees in Dakor, as well as informational signs displayed on the temple walls. 48 attributes, since during the viewing periods the hands are encased with chased sheets of gold set with jewels.

The story of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji characterizes the image as a svarūpa due to the fact that the devotional accounts have invested the image with a legendary pedigree.

According the devotional narratives, after the great war of the Mahābhārata and the downfall of the Yadu Dynasty, Kṛṣṇa promised his devotees that he would return in the kālīyuga („dark-age‟) in the form of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji. The image was said to have been originally discovered in Dwarka, until it mysteriously disappeared and was later found by a Vaiṣṇava devotee in the Gomti lake near Dakor. Thus, the temple of Śrī Raṇchodrāiji was established.94 We can see from these two examples of Sri Jagdishji and Śrī

Raṇchodrāiji that the Puṣṭimārga conception of a sacred image proved popular and efficacious enough to be applied to non-Puṣṭimārga images. Thus, such non- Puṣṭimārga

Kṛṣṇa -centric centers as Dwarka and Dakor, through their respective sacred images, were able to claim spiritual legitimacy in the broader context of devotional Vaiṣṇava sects.

This notion of establishing spiritual legitimacy, through the creation of hagiographic accounts and the appropriation of iconographic tropes, is further affirmed by the Puṣṭimārga event of Saptasvarūpa Mahotsava („seven svarūpa festival‟) (Figure

23). As mentioned previously in this chapter, the Puṣṭimārga svarūpa images served a dual function as personal family deities of the Vallabha lineage as well as the deities of the broader Puṣṭimārga and Vaiṣṇava community. As such, the occasional reunions of

94 See note 90. 49 these images, at one site, are significant events in sectarian history. Such events not only reflect the confluence of the svarūpa’s powers but also serve as a reiteration of the spiritual authority of Vallabha‟s family dynasty. After the dispersing of the svarūpas around western and northern India, a tradition of reuniting the images on certain festival dates began.95 The first reunion of these sacred images, after Śrīnāthji‟s removal from

Vraja, was held at Nathadwara; Nathadwara being the primary and central pilgrimage site of the Puṣṭimārga community. Moreover, the first recorded account of such a reunion was in 1739, under the priesthood of Govardhaneśji. Figure 23 shows a painted image dated to 1739 that records the first festival. The assembled host includes a number of

Rajput rulers, including Jagat Singh II of Mewar who is identified by a nimbus and a turban ornament held in his left hand. 96 In addition to the seven svarūpa images present in the painting, two other images are shown in the lower register of Śrīnāthji‟s throne, thus completing the nava-nīdhi svarūpa set. This momentous occasion is still considered to be one of the most memorable events in Puṣṭimārga history and was depicted as a historic event in later Nathadwara paintings. Ultimately, this tradition of reunion not only brings to light the importance of devotional veneration within the sect, but also how such devotional practices conveyed the power of svarūpa images through rich artistic works.

Chapter Two demonstrates the rich and prismatic nature of Puṣṭimārga, and related, svarūpa images. By examining iconographic precedents, hagiographies, and

95 For the political implications of such reunion events and image displays, see: Taylor, “Visual Culture in Performative Practice: The Aesthetics, Politics and Poetics of Visuality in Liturgical Practices of the Vallabha Sampradaya Hindu Community at Kota.” 40-85. 96 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 63. 50 artistic works, this portion of the thesis brings to light the way in which Vaiṣṇava imagery had been appropriated to echo the devotional sentiments and theological underpinnings inherent in Vallabha‟s doctrine of grace. As Chapter Two has overviewed some of the more significant examples of svarūpa history and iconography, Chapter

Three explores how such images are used in the context of sevā. It is through the application of sevā that the images serve as site for envisioning lilā, thus allowing the devotee to transcend into Kṛṣṇa‟s beatific realm.

51

Chapter 3: Created Eternities: Aesthetic Vision and Svarūpa Sevā

“Always reflect on Hari‟s form with conviction. See and touch Him directly. Always make every movement for Him.”97

In Puṣṭimārga ethos, Kṛṣṇa appears according to the devotional sentiments of the devotee. However, his own form, lilā, and inner mood are accessed only when it perceives the sincerity and complete conviction that the devotee cultivates. The veneration of the Puṣṭimārga svarūpas affords the sensitive devotee a precious opportunity to experience Kṛṣṇa‟s multifarious nature within this world. All of Kṛṣṇa‟s svarūpas, according to Puṣṭimārga thought, are equally Kṛṣṇa.98

In many religious traditions, images have been perceived as intermediaries between the human and celestial realms, creating a communicative link between the two. The, the contentions and debates that surround the employment of images in the Judeo-Christian-

Islamic trajectories of the west are not a major issue in the focus of Indic image veneration. As has been demonstrated in the previous chapters, in the Puṣṭimārga context there are no such preoccupations that attempt to rationalize the visual means of accessing the divine. Much like the evident reality of the natural world, the conception of divinity

97 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 174. 98 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 175. 52 in the Puṣṭimārga and broader Indic context is accessible to all by cultivating the devotional faculty of subtle sight.99

Thus, the intimate rapport between the image and adherent is shaped and grounded by ones‟ emotional investment, to the extent that one perceives all of the desires and needs of the image. If the temperature in the shrine is too cold the svarūpa may get sick, if the food is too spicy then it will upset the deities‟ digestion. The profound care and attention demonstrated in Puṣṭimārga image veneration allows for such sentiments to germinate in the heart and mind of the devotee. In order to explore the sevā that is expressed towards a svarūpa it is imperative to understand the svarūpa from an emotive perspective.

As mentioned previously, the svarūpa image is perceived through the emotions. The sevā that one conducts for an image is compounded with cultivating the bhāva

(„devotional attitude‟) of relishing the experience of personally attending to Kṛṣṇa. For the devotee, the svarūpa though understood as omnipotent, exhibits visible weaknesses, for example, exposure to sickness. Thus, such understanding affords the devotee with experiences of concern for the svarūpa‟s well-being, strengthened by regarding Kṛṣṇa as a dependent being in need of care and attention. Moreover, in Vallabha‟s philosophy, one‟s devotional attitude as an emotional experience trumps even the most nebulous and systematic aspects of philosophical inquiry and speculation.100

99 Again, I use the term darśana to indicate both a taking and giving of sight. 100 For more information on the veneration of Kṛṣṇa as a child, see: White, Charles S.J. “Krsna as Divine Child” History of , Vol. 10, No. 2 (Nov., 1970), pp. 156-177.

53

Though not immediately experienced, the capability to express the ultimate devotional attitude gradually increases by attending the image. Whether one approaches the image with the sentiment of a parent, friend, or lover, is a choice that reflects the capability of the devotee. Therefore, as this conviction increases, the image that is the object of such devotion becomes, in the eyes of the devotee, a fully present embodiment of Kṛṣṇa. Thus, the relationship between devotee and svarūpa is reciprocal, involving the care of the devotee to activate the image and the image to inspire such in the devotee. Moreover, devotion is actualized through physical acts of veneration and established in the image as the object of veneration. The image responds to this care by developing a distinct personality.101 Ultimately, a profound with the image manifests and, as mentioned in Chapter One, such a relationship is cultivated through the successive stages of bhaktī. It is this notion of the svarūpa an eternal form that accounts for the belief that Nathadwara and other Puṣṭimārga centers are believed to be veritable manifestations of Vraja, and that Śrīnāthji is the living form Kṛṣṇa. Furthermore, the very image of svarūpa and its attributes serve as a tool for envisioning and experience lila, thus allowing the devotee to participate in Krsna‟s reality and ultimately merge with it.

Lilā smaraṇa („remembrance or recounting lilā‟), is a highly significant aspect of

Puṣṭimārga practice. It is a foundational concept that facilitates an adherence to sevā which, ultimately, as mentioned above, cultivates transcendent bhaktī.102 In the context of Śrīnāthji and in the extended svarūpa centers, lilā smaraṇa is not just an individual

101 Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 47. 102 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 133-138. 54 meditational endeavor but, rather, it involves the entire community. Indeed, lilā smaraṇa forms the largest facet of ritualized sevā within the sacred precincts of the svarūpa.

As previously mentioned, Vallabha‟s son Viṭṭhalnāthaji was responsible for the development of ritualized devotional sevā, which entailed lilā smaraṇa through a highly aesthetic filter. He established a system of devotional service that synchronized rāgasevā, śṛṅgāra, and indeed the finery of life, all of which aided in the re-creation of

Kṛṣṇa‟s daily life. The order of this sevā system at Nathadwara is the prototype for all sevā in other Puṣṭimārga centers but, as discussed in Chapter Two, these centers and their respective svarūpas exist simultaneously as separate facets of a single entity.

It must be stressed that in the development of Puṣṭimārga practice there was a clear distinction between the concepts of the broader Hindu practice of pūja and sevā.

According to Puṣṭimārga thought, pūja is characterized by ritual worship that involves some sort of offering for the accrual of worldly or spiritual benefit. In contrast, sevā is service that is done with no thought of its rewards.103 It is executed out of sheer attachment and love, simply to please Kṛṣṇa.104 Thus, it can be argued that, although sevā may take on the ritualized external mode of pūja offerings to a deity, sevā is done only for the pleasure of the svarūpa and nothing else.105 As seen in the dialogue between

Kṛṣṇa and Vallabha, mentioned in Chapter One, all things offered to Kṛṣṇa lead to grace.

For Viṭṭhalnāthaji this included channeling the love of all beautiful and pleasing things to

103 For an interesting comparison on the concept of image veneration in the Gaudiya Sampradāya, see: Valpey, Kenneth Russell. Attending Krishna’s Image: Chaitanya Vaishnava -seva as Devotional Truth. Routledge, 2006. 104 Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 51 105 B.N. Goswamy; Kalyan Krishna, Kay Talwar. In Adoration of Krishna: Picchwais of Shrinathji-Tapi Collection. (Roli Books, 2008), 18-23. 55

Kṛṣṇa. Furthermore, this notion accounts for the lavishness of svarūpa sevā which is not meant to be a meticulously executed rigid exercise in ritual but, rather, a sincere expression of devotion. Although these sentiments are implicit, much of the sevā is actually highly composed through jhankīs („visual tableaus‟ or „glimpses‟) of great elegance, such as Kṛṣṇa‟s daily schedule, perpetuated at all Puṣṭimārga centers, though most notably at Nathadwara.106

Sevā is divided into a daily, monthly, and annual schedule that perpetuates the life cycle of Kṛṣṇa (Figure 24). At eight periods during the day, the nijmandīr („inner sanctuary of the svarūpa‟), is opened and devotees are given the opportunity take darśana of the svarūpa. Each of the darśana periods corresponds to the daily life cycle of

Kṛṣṇa in his pastoral youth as a gopa („cowherd shepherd‟) of Vraja. It is through the repetition of these cycles that devotees gradually transform their vision from the laukika

(„mundane world‟), to Kṛṣṇa‟s alaukika („transcendent‟) realm of grace. Within the

Puṣṭimārga tradition, darśana is also synonymous with the term jhankī, denoting a visual revelation or glimpse of a divine spectacle. Thus, while taking darśana of the sacred image, or performing service to an image in a household shrine, devotees strive to actualize, with heart, mind, and , the sublime experience of sharing space with Kṛṣṇa as the supreme ontological reality. As darśana is a reciprocal process of vision, the devotee sees the divine, and the divine, through the faithful eyes that activate the image, also sees the devotee.

106 Robert Skelton. Rajasthani Temple Hangings of the Krishna Cult from the Collection of Karl Mann, New York. (The American Federation of Arts, 1973), 21-23. 56

Everything during these viewings is focused on the achievement of aesthetic enjoyment, toward the formation of a certain rāsabhāva („aesthetic mood‟).107 I explore this cycle as it is manifested in the sanctuary of Śrīnāthji, which serves as the model for the sevā systems of other svarūpas. The day commences with the maṅgalā darśana

(„dawn viewing‟) where Kṛṣṇa is awakened with and music that is synchronized to the sentiments of the morning. This includes abhiśeka („ritual bathing‟), before Kṛṣṇa is dressed. Following this is śṛṅgāra („adornment‟), where Śrīnāthji is outfitted for the day with clothes, jewels, and other accessories. Because the svarūpa is regarded as a sentient being, śṛṅgāra is changed daily and in accordance with seasonal shifts, festivals, and other events (Figure 25).108

Although there is no documentation of Śrīnāthji‟s śṛṅgāra, we may look at some parallels in Indian decorative arts that can provide a context for the extravagance of such adornments. These ornaments can be seen in depictions of Śrīnāthji, such as the tipara head ornament, bejeweled padukas („sandals‟) and silver toys (Figures 26, 27, 28).109

Indeed such costly articles are not meant to be frivolous decorative items, but outward expressions of devotional service, and as a reminder of the unblemished radiant abode of

Kṛṣṇa. Thus, each darśana period and its related ritual implements are a physical activation of that abode, where each component is designed to please Kṛṣṇa and stimulate the devotion of his worshippers by being in perfect mystical accord with each other, the time of day, the season of the year, and the mood of an associated divine episode.

107 Goswamy, Krishna, Talwar. In Adoration of Krishna: Picchwais of Shrinathji-Tapi Collection, 17. 108 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 21. 109 Molly Emma-Aitken. When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry From The Susan L. Beningson Collection (New York: Asia Society, 2004) 57

The extent to which each and every ritual article and piece of adornment is consciously chosen, was revealed to me during my stay in Nathadwara. In my conversations with the chief personal attendant of Śrīnāthji, Shriman Bade Mukhiyaji

Narhari P. Thakar, each article of the svarūpa‟s clothing and jewelry is selected to suit the time of day, festival event, and season.110 For example, the Mukhiyaji explained to me that during the summer the svarūpa is only adorned with diamonds and pearls because those gems are associated with water, thus offering a cooling effect to Śrīnāthji during the hot summer months. Conversely, rubies, gold, and emeralds are preferred for the cooler months due to their warming properties.111 The textiles adorning the image, made exclusively from fine cotton and silk, are also changed according to comfort of the deity. Select flowers and perfumes are also employed based on their seasonal characteristics. Most significantly, the Mukhiyaji explained to me that for a true devotee, each of these physical components of the svarūpa‟s adornment, including the space in which the image resides, is personified in a devotional context. According to the

Mukhiyaji, for an experienced practitioner, the jewels and clothes do not enhance the image of the svarūpa because the svarūpa is the supreme source of beauty. Thus, it is the beauty of the svarūpa that is responsible for igniting the fire of the gemmed ornaments and the sheen of fine textiles. Furthermore, during the darśana periods, it is not uncommon to hear devotees exclaim their jealously towards an article of clothing or ornament that has the privilege of being in physical contact with the deity. By having

110 I am incredibly grateful to Shriman Bade Mukhiyaji Narhari P. Thakar, Mukhiyaji Indravadan, and Siddheswar Thakar who took time out of their priestly duties at Nathadwara in order to field my barrage of questions. 111 For more information on the cooling and warming properties of offerings, see: Bennett. The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, notes: 8, 12, 14, pages 119-120. 58 such bhāva, one is able to perfect their devotional endeavors and process such darśana scenes before them as a vision of lilā.

Following śṛṅgāra is the gvāl darśana, where Kṛṣṇa takes his cows out to pasture. This darśana can be considered an example of activated lilā where the keeper of

Nathadwara‟s stables actually comes into the sanctum and informs Śrīnāthji that his cows are well and ready for grazing. Next is rājbhoga („the grand lunch‟) where Kṛṣṇa takes a meal with his friends who are enacted by the priests. It is believed that Kṛṣṇa would adorn himself with a lotus garland at this time of day, and so during this period the priest declares to the congregation of devotees that Śrīnāthji requests a fresh garland.112 This act, known as the māla begi lāiyo („fetch the garland‟), is performed everyday with a devotee who rushes to retrieve a new garland at the request of Śrīnāthji.113 Utthāpana darśana is the close of the afternoon pasture period and signals of Kṛṣṇa back to his home. Bhoga darśana re-enacts the anticipation of Kṛṣṇa‟s arrival home. Saṅdhyā darśana is the homecoming of Kṛṣṇa, who is lovingly received by his foster parents

Nanda and Yaśodā. This period marks the reunion of Kṛṣṇa with his devotees, who wait for him while he is tending his cattle. It further gives the opportunity for the Tilakāyat, as the embodiment of Kṛṣṇa‟s foster parent, to express vatsalya bhāva („parental affection‟) to the svarūpa. The last darśana, śāyana („night-slumber‟), is when Śrīnāthji is put down to rest. He is attended by Radha and the gopīs who fan him and offer him betel nut refreshments. Śrīnāthji‟s bedchamber is furbished with the accoutrements he may need

112 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 144-146. 113 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 24. 59 during the night, such as water, extra clothes, jewels, cooling balms, perfumes, and snacks.114

Additionally, a small passage is left open for him so that in case Śrīnāthji wishes, he may travel to Vraja during the night and engage in pastimes with his beloved gopīs.

Although the devotees can take darśana eight times a day, each period only lasts for fifteen minutes or so before the sanctum doors are shut until the next period. This is due to the mostly pan-Indic belief that a small child shouldn‟t be overexposed to outside elements for fear of catching the malevolence of the evil eye. Moreover, this belief further re-affirms the notion of the svarūpa as a living entity. In all of these eight periods music is also offered to Śrīnāthji. Although it is an entirely separate study, bhaktī poetry and music, is a highly integral facet of Puṣṭimārga sevā.

Historically, Puṣṭimārga rāgasevā was established by the aṣṭachhāpa („eight seals‟) who were poet devotees of Śrīnāthji. These poets, including the famous sixteenth- century blind composer Sūrdās, were each assigned to a different period of Śrīnāthji‟s daily schedule. They composed thousands of verses that corresponded to the mood and sentiment of each time period, heavily influenced by the rāga, or melodic, system of classical Indian music.115 Each of these compositions extolled the events of Kṛṣṇa in both past and present tense. This included eulogizing Kṛṣṇa‟s childhood pranks told in the form of a past-tense musical narrative. In some cases, however, the words of these

114 For more information on the darśana schedule, see: Bennett, The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, 104-107; Krishna, Talwar, Indian Pigment Paintings on Cloth: Volume III Historic Textiles of India at the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad, 6-10. 115 Gaston, Krishna’s Musicians: Musicians and Music Making in the Temples of Nathdvara, Rajasthan, 56. Gaston‟s study further discusses the training process that musicians and singers go through in order to serve in the shrine. 60 verses indicate a present tense whereby, it can be argued, the verses expressed regular, perpetual actions consistent with Kṛṣṇa‟s schedule, such as eating or dressing. These were sung in remembrance of such lilā. However, at the same time they may have served as instructional devices to the priests and devotees who performed the corresponding sevā.116 In a verse by one of the aṣṭachhāpa, Paramānandadās, we see how such verses could serve as present tense activations of lilā,

“My heart waves the morning Aarti lights. It removes the

doubt of the night and welcomes the morning. The cymbals

chime in auspicious beat, and Krishna‟s auspicious form

awakes. The auspicious vina and mridang resound, as do

the sweet flute and auspicious upanga drum. Everyone

gathers in a line and sings as the auspicious lights and

are lit…auspicious is the mind of

Paramanandadas.”117

We can see from this verse that its recitation could correspond to the actual morning darśana of Śrīnāthji where priests would ritually awake the svarūpa with music, lamps, and incense. Additionally there are verses that correlate with other events, so that within a day‟s cycle the entirety of Kṛṣṇa‟s schedule is not only narrated through but also acted out by the priests and affirmed by the devotees. We see this again in a

116 Selina Thielemann, Singing the Praises Divine: Music in the Hindu Tradition (New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp., 2000), 61-62. For more information on the related musical traditions of Vraja, see: Thielemann, 38- 50. 117 Shyamdas, Krishna’s Inner Circle: The Ashta Chaap Poets (Pratham Peeth Publications, 2009), 115- 116. 61

śṛṅgāra verse, “Karata sringara maiya mune bhavata…”. “Please help adorn me mother

[Yaśodā], I [Kṛṣṇa] very much enjoy it…”118 Verily, for the Puṣṭimārga devotee, any and every moment was an opportunity to enter into this realm of lilā. By examining some of the artistic works produced in Nathadwara we may see how this notion of lilā activation was further affirmed.

With the solid establishment of śṛṅgāra and rāgasevā traditions, Śrīnāthji sevā also came to include the prolific production of painted works. Much of these are manifested in large scale pichhvāi („backdrop cloth‟) paintings (Figure 29). These paintings have been the most popular aspect of study in contemporary research on

Nathadwara, and certainly deserve further study in the larger context of Indic painting.119

Like the dress and adornment of Śrīnāthji, the subject of pichhvāi paintings range greatly and are used in context with the changes in darśana. Pichhvāi, literally meaning „that which hangs in the back‟, are large scale cloth backdrops that frame the image of the svarūpa within the sanctum.

Furthermore, such hangings were occasionally placed in front of the shrine doors, signifying the veil of Kṛṣṇa‟s mother Yaśodā. The employment of such cloth hangings as a revealing device aligns itself with the fact that many temple sanctums in India are refered to as garbhagṛha („womb-chamber‟). In the context of Hindu temple architecture, the term specifically refers to the central point of a sacred space, the spot from which the consecrated image emanates power. As previously mentioned in this chapter, all of the

118 Popular verse known to the author. 119 For excellent studies on the artists of Nathadwara and the technical production of pichhvāis see: Desmond Peter Lazaro, Pichhvai Painting Tradition of Rajasthan: Materials, Methods and Symbolism (Mapin Publishing Gp Pty Ltd., 2006); Tryna Lyons, The Artists of Nathadwara: The Practice of Painting in Rajasthan (Indiana University Press, 2004). 62 ritual implements employed during the darśana periods of the svarūpa, including pichhvāis, are invested with devotional attributes. In my conversations with the priests of

Nathadwara, I was told that every ritual implement serves a symbolic function. The upholstered seat upon which the svarūpa image stands is considered to be the lap of

Yaśodā, and the two bolsters on the side of svarūpa indicate her embracing arms (Figure

30). Additionally, the curtain that separates the viewers gaze from the image, is indicative of Yaśodā‟s veil covering the infant Kṛṣṇa while she breastfeeds him.120 Thus, the application of such cloth hangings within ritual spectacles reaffirms the belief for sect adherents that Śrīnāthji indeed rests in the conceptual womb or of his mother who, through the priests, reveals to the devotees the living form of God.121

In the ritualized sevā of Śrīnāthji, the pichhvāi can have multiple functions. On the one hand, each pichhvāi is, theoretically, an image of the space in which the actual svarūpa of Śrīnāthji resides in Nathadwara. This is affirmed by the practice of decorating the inner sanctum according to the times of the day, seasons, and festivals. For example, the pichhvāi of Śrīnāthji during the vasaṇtapūśpadolotsava („spring festival‟) shows the image under a pavilion covered with jasmine buds (Figure 31). My research at

Nathadwara reveals that the sevā system is divided by departments that are responsible for orchestrating different components of a darśana period. These departments are operated in couture, floral, and gastronomic divisions. My visit to the phūlagarh („flower house‟) in middle of the summer season afforded me with the experience of witnessing the construction of an elaborate pavilion composed entirely out of jasmine buds, similar

120 Bennett, The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, 118. 121 Refer to note 104. 63 to the one as seen in Figure 31.122 Thus, the same sort of decorative śṛṅgāra, as seen in

Figure 31,would have been employed within the sanctum itself, implying that the lilā of the svarūpa on that particular day can, and was, mirrored within the space of the painting.

However, closer inspection of such painted works reveals that often artists employed multiple elements that provide a more subtle understanding of the painted sacred space.123

The śaradapūrima pichhvāi („full autumnal moon pichhvāi‟) is one of the most common themes in the corpus of painted pichhvāi. The image shows the ritual veneration of Śrīnāthji during the night of the autumnal full moon when he performed the famous rāsalilā („circle dance‟) with the gopīs of Vraja.124 The lower register of the composition shows the residents of Vraja offering foodstuffs to the personified form of Mount

Govardhana, while the perimeter of the work is punctuated with small images of the various darśana periods at the Śrīnāthji shrine. The central portion of the composition shows Śrīnāthji wearing a kachhāni („flounced skirt‟). He is flanked by three gopīs on either side, all of whom with upraised arms suggest the motions of a rapturous dance. The central space is further divided by a screen of plantain trees that separate the figures from the azure midnight sky, set ablaze with flowered stars and the celestial conveyances of the gods. The foreground of the central portion shows priests offering lighted lamps to

122 Interestingly, I was informed by the head of this department that only jasmine buds were used because they resembled pearls, and hence would have a cooling effect on the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji. 123 Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara, 72. 124 Listopad, John. “In the Service of Kṛṣṇa: Paintings from Nathdwara under Dāmodar II and Govardhanlāl in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.” Ars Orientalis, Vol. 30, Supplement 1. Chāchājī: Professor Walter M. Spink Felicitation Volume (2000), pp. 115-126, 119. 64

Śrīnāthji.125 As mentioned previously, a close inspection of this work reveals that the boundaries between Kṛṣṇa‟s realm of lilā, and the worldly realm, are blurred. The priests, who occupy the very real space Śrīnāthji‟s shrine in Nathadwara, gaze upon the svarūpa.

However, the svarūpa overlaps the boundaries of its niche and physically extends into the verdant night space of Vraja. Furthermore, the hands and hems of the two central gopīs‟ skirt extend into the space of the svarūpa, thus offering the contemplative devotee with a point of entry into Kṛṣṇa‟s realm. The temporal experience of darśana and the space of the devotee is reflected in the space of the svarūpa who reflects his own realm of eternal play. Thus, such boundaries are blurred in the space of the painting where indeed one cannot distinguish if the hem of an attendant‟s skirt is part of the shrine background or indeed a manifest reality linking the mundane to the divine. Such visual subtleties were no doubt employed to facilitate the contemplation of lilā at all times, as well as the envisioning of oneself within that space of Kṛṣṇa‟s play.

At the same time, pichhvāi paintings often serve as a veritable substitute for the svarūpa in the context of household , thus allowing the environment of Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā to be activated outside the context of the primary shrine. Additionally, it can be argued that there is even a tertiary element to the pichhvāi as a reminder of the actual life events of Kṛṣṇa as he would have celebrated these occasions and seasonal changes in his original home of Vraja. Again, this is congruent with the Puṣṭimārga emphasis on engaging in lilā smaraṇa at all times. This is facilitated by spatial conventions employed in some works, as this previous example has shown, where the hierarchy of figures and

125 Goswamy, Krishna, Talwar. In Adoration of Krishna: Picchwais of Shrinathji-Tapi Collection, 76. 65 elements are each given their own emphasis, while at the same time the whole composition retains an articulated . Ultimately, being given each an inner light source, these figures set the space of the painting alight with radiance, recalling the eternal cycles of Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā. Furthermore, such devotional revelations are cultivated through sevā, which in turn progresses one on the bhaktī path, and with each progression, the lilā of Kṛṣṇa becomes all the more poignant and realized. Thus, through the application of contemplation and devotional service, the svarūpa image is able to transform ordinary space into an etherealized reality.

The performance of sevā is defined not by the physical or formal properties of the svarūpa, rather its significance is created by the very perception that is imposed on it by the devotional eye. Due to the fact that the image occupies the physical space of the mundane realm, its importance as a gateway into spiritual transcendence is not initially realized. However, through the focused cultivation of devotion and conviction in the image‟s transcendence, the svarūpa begins to reveal its power and personality as a living divine entity, thus facilitating an intense intimate relationship between the practitioner and deity.

The application of contemplative practices, envisioning the deity, and the rituals of sevā allow for the perpetual state of lilā smaraṇa, where every aspect of Kṛṣṇa‟s life and identity may be relished without bounds. Thus, for Pustimarga adherents, the performance of the ritual cycles is critical because it manifests Kṛṣṇa‟s eternal realm in the everyday and ordinary. Consequently, through such faith and with the bestowal of puṣṭi („grace‟), an advanced devotee may perceive Kṛṣṇa within their own space, as a

66 living breathing entity capable of the entire range of human emotion and experience.126

Thus, the image no longer functions a representation or visual tool to experience an inward metaphysical truth. Rather, the svarūpa, like the pichhvāi, functions as an entry point into another dimension where the conviction of the svarūpa‟s identity as the manifest Kṛṣṇa, allows for devotees to be swept away in rapturous bliss and placed into that transcendental realm of divine play. Having achieved such a subtle and profound state of spiritual awareness, devotees are invested with a purified consciousness that affords them an unfiltered rapport with Kṛṣṇa as first experienced by his family and companions in his pastoral home of Vraja.127 Taking this into consideration we may begin to fully understand the aesthetics behind Puṣṭimārga svarūpa veneration and its visual expressions.

Ultimately, in the experience of Puṣṭimārga sevā, the visual complexity of artistic works and the physical presence of the svarūpa as an image and god are coupled with the sensations of music, the glimmer of jewels, and the fragrance of flowers. The aesthetic elements of svarūpa veneration and sevā work together and allow for the devotee to be immersed in a realm of addictive love divorced from time and space. A realm where the onlooker can become a gopī who waits with longing eyes and where the floating notes of

Kṛṣṇa‟s flute stops the spinning firmament in its tracks.

126 Bennett, The Path of Grace: Social Organisation and Temple Worship in a Vaishnava Sect, 82, 85-86. 127 Shyamdas, The Path of Grace, 133-138. 67

Conclusion

This thesis has examined the complexities of Puṣṭimārga svarūpas by exploring their significance in the context of history, art, and ritual veneration. In doing so, this thesis has demonstrated the strong interconnections between Vallabha‟s philosophy of grace and the praxis that is derived from it. For a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, the performance of sevā and contemplation of lilā are essential aspect of gaining access to his realm of salvific grace.

Chapter One of this thesis outlined the examination of the Hindu deity Kṛṣṇa in a pre-Puṣṭimārga context. In doing so, it provided a platform to expound upon the Kṛṣṇa- centric philosophical structure created by Vallabha. Through the examination of

Vallabha‟s biography I provided an appropriate point to chart the genesis of the

Puṣṭimārga Sampradāya and its primary svarūpa image of the deity Śrīnāthji. Here, I explored Śrīnāthji‟s connection to earlier conceptions of Kṛṣṇa in pre-Puṣṭimārga texts and how the particular artistic theme of Govardhana Kṛṣṇa reflects Puṣṭimārga ethos.

Accordingly, the stories that surround the image of Śrīnāthji‟s svarūpa attest to the penchant that the Sampradāya has for using hagiographic narrative to convey, and claim, their theological perspective. Such proclivities for establishing spiritual authority are also expressed through visual means and within the svarūpa images themselves.

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Chapter Two of the thesis examined the Puṣṭimārga appropriation of images and themes characteristic of previous Vaiṣṇava imagery. By analyzing such works, as well as related hagiographic texts, Chapter Two investigated the context and significance of

Puṣṭimārga svarūpa images within the context Vaiṣṇava vyūha imagery. Using iconographic treatises as the Rūpamaṅḍana, I demonstrated how svarūpa images, may be contextualized within the extended framework of Indic stone sculpture, and how such iconographies were appropriated by the Puṣṭimārga sect to express their own philosophical and devotional outlook. This was shown by highlighting the Puṣṭimārga svarūpas of Śrī Dvārkādhīśji, Śrī Mathureśji, Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji, and the non-Puṣṭimārga images of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji, Śrī Jagdīśji, and Śrī Raṇchodrāiji. Thus Chapter Two contributes to an aspect of Indic art historical research that intersects formal analysis with an investigation of sect base traditions. Moreover, my research, though by no means exhaustive, begins to rectify a gap in the known scholarship of Vaiṣṇava artistic traditions, especially the highly understudied Puṣṭimārga sect. Furthermore, the analysis of these svarūpa images revealed that the Puṣṭimārga pattern of creating hagiographies allowed for svarūpas to become legitimized as objects of lavish veneration. This pattern is also invested in non-Puṣṭimārga images, as demonstrated through select examples.

Chapter Three discussed how svarūpa sevā, through such aesthetic modes as

śṛṅgāra and rāgasevā, expresses the spiritual envisioning of lilā. My research demonstrated that while the visual nature of sevā may have shared characteristics of the act of pūja, it is in fact a concept that asserts pūja as merely one aspect of a larger, and more complex, mode of devotional practice. Thus, this portion of the thesis served to

69 illustrate the variants within broader Hindu devotionalism, and how the divine is perceived. My field research at Nathadwara allowed me to examine and expound upon the significance of the daily ritual cycle of the svarūpa of Śrīnāthji. Additionally, through the investigation of musical traditions and pichhvāi paintings, I showed how the aesthetic and visual expressions of the sect are focused in the re-creation of Kṛṣṇa‟s lilā. Such re- creations are fulfilled by the application of intimate physical sevā towards the svarūpa image, which in turn engenders Puṣṭimārga devotees to dismantle the edge between the laukika („mundane‟) realm and Kṛṣṇa‟s alaukika („transcendent‟) realm of grace.

By examining a multitude of sources that range various disciplines, this thesis ultimately demonstrated how Vallabha‟s śuddhādvaita philosophy is thoroughly echoed in both svarūpa imagery and the ritual expressions of the sect. Ultimately, the Puṣṭimārga relationship between aesthetic practice and theology marks the sect as a distinctive devotional tradition that beautifully reinterprets the dynamics between the ordinary and divine.

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Appendix A: Figures

Figure 1. Śrī Vallabhācārya. Nathadwara. Early 20th century. Cotton, painted with pigments and gold. Tapi Collection.

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Figure 2. The Birth of Śrī Vallabhācārya: Mahāprabhu Prāgatyā. Mewar, Rajasthan. Early 20th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 3. Svarūpa image of Śrīnāthji. Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Early 20th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 4. Vallabha receiving Śrīnāthji from Mount Govardhana. Mewar, Rajasthan. 19th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 5. Kṛṣṇa Govardhana. , Karnataka, India. Hoysala dynasty. 12th century. Chloritic Schist.

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Figure 6. Śrīnāthji's flight to Nathadwara.

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Figure 7. Tilakāyat Govardhanlālji. Ca. 1918. by Ghasiram Sharma. Nathdwara, Rajasthan. Opaque watercolor on paper with graphite or lead underdrawing.

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Figure 8. Śrīnāthji's havelī. Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Late 19th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 9. Catūrbhuja Viṣṇu. , India. 12th century. Stone.

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Figure 10. Nava-nīdhi svarūpas and their centers.

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Figure 11. Nava-nīdhi svarūpa darśana. Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Late 19th/ early 20th century. Pigment and gold on paper. Collection of John C. & Susan L. Huntington. The names of the images include: from the viewer’s left to right, top row: Śrī Madanamohanaji, Śrī Dvārkādhīśji, Śrīnāthji, Śrī Mathureśji, Śrī Gokulcandramāji, and unknown. Bottom row: images placed on the lower platform: Śrī Gokulnāthaji, Śrī Navanitapriyāji, and Śrī Viṭṭhalnāthaji.

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Figure 12. Śrī Mathureśji. Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Early 20th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 13. The appearance of Śrī Mathureśji. Modern calendar print.

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Figure 14. Śrī Dvārkādhīśji. Modern calendar print.

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Figure 15. Śrī Gokulnāthaji. Modern calendar print.

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Figure 16. Govardhana Kṛṣṇa with four arms (Śrī Gokulnāthaji). Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Late 19th century. Pigment and gold on cotton.

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Figure 17. Photograph of stone image of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji of Dwarka.

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Figure 18. Photograph of Śrī Dvārikādhīśji of Dwarka of Dvarka in adornment.

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Figure 19. Svarūpa of Śrī Kalyāṇrāiji from Baroda. Kishangarh, Rajasthan. 19th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 20. Maharāna Jawan Singh of Mewar performing pūja of Śrī Jagdīśji. Mewar, Udaipur. Here attributed to the artist Ghasi, Ca.1830. Pigment, gold, and silver on paper.

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Figure 21. Photograph of Śrī Jagdīśji in adornment.

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Figure 22. Śrī Raṇchodrāiji of Dakor.

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Figure 23. Saptasvarūpa Mahotsava. Jagat Singh II Celebrating the Annakuta festival. Mewar, Rajasthan Ca. 1739. Pigment and gold on paper.

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Figure 24. Gvāl lilā („daily cow-herding pastimes‟). Nathadwara. Early 19th century. Pigment and gold on paper.

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Figure 25. Sevā rituals at Nathdwara. Mewar, Rajasthan. Late 18th century. Pigment on paper.

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Figure 26. Tipara, or fan shaped turban ornament similar to ones worn by Śrīnāthji. Jaipur. Early 19th century. Gold, enamel, and gems.

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Figure 27. Padukas („sandals‟) for a deity. Deccan 17th – 18th century. Sheet gold over lac, set with gems.

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Figure 28. Toys for Kṛṣṇa. 18th century. Gilded repousee silver.

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Figure 29. Venugopāla pichhvāi. Deccan, India. 17th century. Pigment and gold on cotton.

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Figure 30. Śrīnāthji. Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Early 19th century. Pigment on Paper.

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Figure 31. Vasaṇta pichhvāi. Srinathji is shown under a pavilion of jasmine flowers dressed in cloth of gold. Mid-19th century, Nathadvara. Pigment and gold on cotton.

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Figure 32. Śaradapūrima pichhvāi („full autumnal moon pichhvāi‟). Nathadwara, Rajasthan. Late 19th century. Pigment and gold on cotton. Tapi Collection, Surat.

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Appendix B: Image Credits

Figures 1, 32: Goswamy, BN.; Kalyan Krishna, Kay Talwar. In Adoration of Krishna: Picchwais of Shrinathji-Tapi Collection. Roli Books, 2008. pgs. 32, 77.

Figure 2: http://www.samastvaishnav.com/images/Mahaprabhuji_Pragatya01.jpg

Figure 3. Obtained from: Cleveland Museum of Art.

Figures 4,7: Williams, Joanna. Kingdom of the Sun: Indian Court and Village Art from the Princely State of Mewar. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2007. pgs. 54, 58.

Figure 5: http://uropinion.sulekha.com/mstore/uropinion/albums/default/DSC00607.JPG

Figure 6: Gaston, Anne-Marie. Krishna’s Musicians: Musicians and Music Making in the Temples of Nathdvara, Rajasthan. Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1997. pg. 20.

Figures 8, 12, 25, 30-31: Ambalal, Amit. Krishna as Shrinathji: Rajasthani Paintings From Nathdvara. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1987. pgs. 28, 73, 96, 97. 114, 122.

Figure 9: American Institute of Indian Studies.

Figures 10, 13-18, 20-22, 24, 29: Hemant Sharma and author.

Figure 11: Collection of Susan L. and John C. Huntington.

Figure 19: Spink, Walter M. Krishnamandala: A Devotional Theme in Indian Art. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies: The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1971. pg. 4.

Figure 23: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Baroda, Gujarat.

Figure 26: Gem Palace Jaipur.

Figures 27-28. obtained from: Aitken, Molly Emma. When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry From The Susan L. Beningson Collection. New York: Asia Society, 2004. pgs. 59, 62.

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