FREDERICK M.

SMITH

 ARYA

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS. AN. A OF VALLABHAC

This essay will review the concept of nirodha as interpreted by

Vallabhacarya (14791531), the founder of the sect of Kr. s. n. a devotion
called the Pus. t.imarga and the Vais. n. ava system of vedantic theology

advaita.1 The basis of the present investigation is
known as Suddh
Vallabhacaryas treatise in twenty verses called Nirodhalaks. an. a (NL),
The Characteristics of Nirodha, one of his brief works that falls within
. (Sixteen Works). This study, which
the compass of his S. od. asagranthah
includes an annotated translation of the NL, will be supported by citations from other works of Vallabhacarya as well as from commentaries
on the NL, principally that of Purus. ottama. The greatest commentator
on Vallabhacaryas philosophical works, Purus. ottama, lived from 1657
or 1668 (genealogies differ) to 1725 C.E., and was a seventh generation
descendant of the founder. One of the goals of this study is to introduce
to a wider audience at least some of the technical sastraic terminology
of this comparatively understudied sect, which, as we shall see, is often
quite different from the terminology of other branches of Vedanta.
Nevertheless, I feel that a general synopsis of Vallabhacaryas philosophy and terminology is not necessary as a part of this preamble, but for
the purposes of this essay is better presented in piecemeal fashion as
the ideas and terms arise. Before venturing into Vallabhacaryas views,
however, the history of the term nirodha as used in Indian philosophical
texts must be briefly examined.
As is well known, the word nirodha occurs in several important
philosophical and religious contexts before it is picked up by the

. a (BhP) and integrated into the discourse of bhakti. The
Bhagavata
Puran
most prominent are its occurrences in the foundational texts of Buddhism
and Yoga. With respect to the former, it appears in the definition of
the third of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism, dukkhanirodho (Pali),
the cessation of suffering.2 As for Yoga, it is used in the definition


of Yoga presented in the second sutra
of the Yogasutras
of Patan~jali,
yogas cittavr. ttinirodhah. , yoga is the cessation of the modifications of
the mind. But nirodha appears elsewhere as well, e.g. in texts of the

Journal of Indian Philosophy 26: 489551, 1998.

c 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

490

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Trika system of Abhinavagupta, which are roughly contemporaneous



with its appearance in the BhP, as well
p as the Bhaktisutras of Narada.
Nirodha, derived from the verb ni rudh, bears the literal sense of
constraint, cessation, or termination.3 The dimensions of nirodha in
Sanskrit and of cessation in English are more or less congruent: it can
be either a process or a state of cessation. In both cases it indicates
a termination that assumes an absence of future effect. In this way

Patan~jalis use, and that followed in the yoga-sastra,
is consistent with
that used in Buddhist texts, though it can be argued that dukkhanirodho
in Buddhism is more definitively an ontological state, while the situation
is much more ambiguous in Yoga. As in Yoga, the bhakti schools of

advaita of Vallabh
Vedanta, particularly the Suddh
acarya, express an
ambiguity or, better, a duality in their use of nirodha. In Vallabhacaryas
understanding, at least, nirodha encompasses both a state of cessation
and an ironic sense of forward movement. It is both an ontological
state and an epistemological process, even an unexpected one. As
an ontological state it is a demanifestation and as an epistemological
process it is a manifestation or emanation, a condition of retreat into
the absolute and a process of ceasing forward into a state of highest
realization.
Without giving away too much, it is nevertheless important to note
at the outset that to Vallabhacarya nirodha denotes the very pinnacle of
devotional ecstasy and engagement. Most readers will be familiar with
certain unambiguous bhakti terms that denote deep devotional states,

such as prema or rati, terms for love, or bhava,
experiential state,
but would hardly consider it likely that a term with strong ascetic,
world-denying associations such as nirodha could denote these states.
In short, how can constraint or cessation, associated in Buddhism
. a) and in Yoga with the self realized
with the self blown out (nirvan
in isolation (kaivalya), signify a complex state of loving engagement
with a supreme deity? Keeping all these issues in mind, let us now
review the term in some of the important texts and schools of thought
that paved the way for Vallabhacarya.

BUDDHISM

 5.1.i.64 reads: That question which you ask, O Ajita,

The Suttanipata
I answer thus: All name and form terminate as a result of cessation (nirodha) of engaged consciousness.5 In this statement, nirodha is
ambiguous in that it could indicate the state in which engaged consciousness is stilled as well as the process which brings about that stillness.

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491

But because it was not a noteworthy point of contention in Buddhist

dialectics, it is likely that the assumed sense was that of an active process
of ceasing engaged consciousness. Half a millennium after the composition of the Pali texts, Vasubandhu (fourth century C.E.) obliquely
addresses this issue, distinguishing between different types of nirodha,
. ya (1.67). He speaks of three asam
in his Abhidharmakosabhas
. skr. tadharmas, unembellished, unconditioned, or elemental states or
platforms of substantiation or reification on which forty-six caittasam
. skr. ta-dharmas, mentally embellished, conditioned, or constructed
states of being are erected. His assumption appears to be that the three
 asa,
asam
. skr. ta-dharmas are expressions of emptiness. The first is ak
space, which, as an asam
skr
ta-dharma,
is
a
positive
substance,
free
. .
6
from obstruction, thus permanent, omnipresent, and immaterial. In
its omnipresence and inherent absence of materiality it expresses a
certain necessary quality of emptiness. The second asam
. skr. ta-dharma,

pratisam
is defined by Vasubandhu as disjunction from
. khya-nirodha,

impure dharmas (sasravair
dharmair visam
. yogah. ). It is to be real~



ized through clear discernment (prajnavises. as tena prapyo
nirodha).7
Vasubandhu states later in the same text, understanding nirodha in this
way, that it is cessation brought about by the termination of activity
 nirodhah. , 401.5). The third asam
(pravr. ttyuparamatvan
. skr. ta-dharma

is apratisam
khy
a-nirodha,
which
Vasubandhu
defines
as
a massive
.
 atyantavighnah

obstruction to arising (utpad
. ). This rather opaque definition is lucidly described by S. N. Dasgupta, following Vasubandhu, as
the non-perception of dharmas caused by the absence of pratyayas or
 Dasgupta continues, Thus when I fix
conditions (pratyayavaikalyat).
my attention on one thing, other things are not seen, not because they
are non-existent but because the conditions which would have made
them visible were absent.8 Because these three are forms of negation,
they are labeled asam
. skr. ta, subject to neither construction, transforma
tion, nor dissolution. The difference between pratisam
and
. khya-nirodha

apratisam
is that the former is realized through deliberate
. khya-nirodha
processes of discrimination and meditation while the latter is a natural
artifact of mental selection. It is through the Noble Eightfold Path that
the state of pratisam
. khya nirodha is realized. It is this that is the goal
of Buddhism, rather than an unwitting state of emptiness expressed as
pratisam
. khya nirodha.
Evidence of nirodha as both a process and a state appears in the
 (1.184), which contains the terms san~n~avedayitanirodha,
Digha Nikaya
cessation of perception and feeling, apparently indicating a process,

and nirodhasamapatti,
absorption in cessation, indicating a state

492

FREDERICK M. SMITH

devoid of bodily, mental, or verbal functions.9 The basic conundrum



 a (2nd
regarding nirodha is highlighted in the Mulam
adhyamikak
arik
century C.E.), Cessation of elements or conditions which had not
arisen is impossible. Since there can be nothing succeeding cessation,
how can one have any idea of it? (anutpannes. u dharmes. u nirodho

nopapadyate / nanantaram
ato yuktam
. niruddhe pratyayas ca kah. //
_ avat
 aras
 utra

1.9). The Lank
(2nd century C.E.) attempts to locate this
 10 within the body
cessation, this emptiness, in the body: One vyama
there is a realm which is none other than the arising of the world; I
teach to the son of the victorious one the path (pratipad) that leads to

 ca lokam
the cessation of this (sarre vyamam
atre
. vai lokasamudayam

 pratipad desyami
 jinaurasam // 151.16). These few
/ nirodhagamin
references to Buddhist texts, which reveal attempts to locate nirodha
as a state, a process, and a physical substance, while recognizing its
difficulty as a viable subject for reflection, are sufficient for our purposes
here.11

YOGA


The well known definition of yoga in the Yogasutras,
yogas
cittavr. ttinirodhah. (1.2) indicates that nirodha is a state of cessation.12


Yet YS 3.9 articulates a process: vyutthananirodhasam
. skarayor



 ..
abhibhavapradurbhavau nirodhaks. an. acittanvayo nirodhaparin. amah

The translation of this very difficult sutra
should read, The mental
transformation called nirodha is the permeation of the mind by that
moment of nirodha, occurring when latent impressions of excitation
disappear and latent impressions of quiescence arise.13 Here nirodha
is both an actual transformation, indicating a process, as well as a state,
the moment of cessation. In fact, different scholars have argued for the
exclusivity of one or the other. Ian Whicher, in an earlier article in this
journal, is perhaps the only scholar who has explicitly argued in favor
of the dual nature of nirodha in the YS. Supporting Whicher, and citing

the evidence of nirodha as a parin. ama
or transformation, I must also
conclude that it was intended by Patan~jali and Vyasa as both a process
and a state. In YS 3.9, the ontological state of nirodha or cessation,
indicative of the action of ceasing engaged consciousness, is observed


to naturally follow two other processes cum states, samadhiparin
. ama





and ekagrat
aparin
ama.
In
the
first
of
these,
sam
adhiparin
ama
(YS
.
.
3.11), the impressions which arise in the mind are settled down, while



in the second, ekagrat
aparin
(YS 3.12), the mind becomes fully
. ama
absorbed in the object of meditation. Nirodha is the culmination of

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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these processes and a final perfected state. As a process it clears space

 sam


and nirodha sam
or creates a gap between vyutthana
. skaras
. skaras.
This gap occurs as an unmodified moment (nirodhaks. an. a) between
ever-arising impressions and the counterforce of restraint, and it is in
this gap that unmodified reality abides and can be witnessed by a mind
in which movement (i.e., transformations) has ceased.
The similarities between the dual nature of nirodha in the YS
and Vallabhacarya are so striking that it is easy to speculate that
Vallabhacarya must have known this text, in spite of the fact that he
does not mention it by name in any of his writings. As we shall see, in

advaita, he is explicit in describing nirodha as both a state and
his Suddh
a process. Indeed, Vallabhacarya asserts, nirodha comprises a subtly
nuanced series of states and processes emblematic of enlightenment,
though he and his followers in the Pus. t.imarga would vigorously reject
the word enlightenment, with its connotations from classical Yoga
 av
 ada

and Advaita Vedanta (the much maligned may
of Vallabhacarya
and other Vais. n. avas).


TRIKA AND SAIVA
AGAMAS

I turn now to a cursory examination of the Kashmiri Trika and South



Indian Saiva
Agama
systems. We may not be unduly reckless in suggesting that these systems shared with the system of the BhP (to be discussed
below) a certain middle ground between the explicit world-denying
sense of nirodha in Buddhism and Yoga and the devotional and ecstatic
sense used by Vallabhacarya. From our vantage point of reflecting on
many centuries, indeed millennia, of usage, the sense of nirodha in the

Saiva
systems appears transitional.
With respect to the classical sense of constraint, limitation, or
cessation, Mark Dyczkowski quotes Rajanaka Ramas Vivr. ti on the
 a:
 [O]nes own nature (svabhava)

Spandakarik
is not subject to limitation (nirodha) anywhere because it forever remains true to its essential
unconditioned state.14 This reveals a basic agreement with the sense
of nirodha in Buddhism and the YS. Here nirodha bears the implication
that the unconditioned self cannot qualify for limitation or cessation. It
 of the Spandakarik
 a
cannot cease if it is not conditioned. The svabhava
is then comparable to the liberated purus. a of the YS when the modifications of the mind have ceased. The act of cessation, of nirodha, is

what highlights the individuals svabhava,
the self in kaivalya, or the
Buddhist freedom from dukkha.

494

FREDERICK M. SMITH


A further use of nirodha occurs in the Kashmiri Saiva
description

of the movement of nada,
or sound, towards manifestation. In one
 an energy or sakti of
of its stages it becomes nirodhin or nirodhika,
15
cessation. The sound energy is termed by that name, because, we
are told, this is the level beyond which the gods, such as Brahma and
the others, do not go, unable to move higher because they have not the
16 Here,

capacity to grasp the pure undifferentiation of the supreme Siva.
cessation is actually an energy, a sakti, a feminine force or manifestation

controlled by the masculine Siva.
Nirodhin, for the Netra Tantra, is
also that level where appears the dynamism peculiar to the mantras
 The Svacchanda Tantra says it is called nirodhin
(mantrakala).
because
it causes obstruction, in the form of three energies called Rundhan and
Rodhan, obstructing, and Raudra, fearsome .17 The personification
and feminization of cessation, then, in this usage, confers on it an ironic
capacity to move forward, to manifest, to subtly concretize. Nirodhin,
then, is a relatively refined state in the manifestation of phonic energy,
in the movement of consciousness and sound towards emanation.
Along the same lines, Helene Brunner-Lachaux, in her introduction


to the Somasambhupaddhati, a late tenth century Saiva
Agama
text
(thus practically contemporaneous with Abhinavagupta and slightly

postdating the BhP), briefly discusses a tirobhava-,
hidden, sakti,
 sakti or nirodhasakti, a sakti or designated
otherwise called tirodhana

function of Siva
which binds the individual soul (pasu) in preparation
to eventually receive grace.18 This approaches the usage of nirodha in
Vallabhacaryas system. While neither the BhP nor Vallabhacarya go
quite so far as to consider nirodha (as a feminized nirodha or nirodhin)
as a sakti of Kr. s. n. a, it does take on nearly the same function, becoming
 or energetic manifestations of Kr. s. n. a.
equated with the llas

A third use of nirodha, this found in certain South Indian Saiva



Agama texts (but not to my knowledge in the Saiva or Sakta texts
of Kashmir19 ) is in ritual. Brunner-Lachaux says in her notes to the
Somasambhupaddhati that the final step in the ritual for constructing a

throne or an image (murti)
is sam
. nirodhana, stabilization (BrunnerLachaux: detention).20 Brunner-Lachaux states that according to

the Aghorasivapaddhati, sam
. nirodhana is a regularized part of Saiva
 ahana),


ritual, following ritual invocation (av
installation (sthapana),
21 To this


and enlivening (sam
nidh
ana,
Brunner-Lachaux:
pr
e
sence).
.

end, the commentator on the Mr. gendragama
(14th century?) describes
 called nirodhin
a hand position (mudra)
mudra and vessel for pouring


water called nirodharghyap
atram,
which presumably are to be employed

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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in this rite.22 These applications of nirodha clearly represent a shift

from its classical ascetic, world-denying meaning and signification.

Thus, in these Saiva
texts nirodha is used in three ways: as a philo
sophical term, as a term denoting a function or sakti of Siva,
and as a
ritual term. What previously denoted simple cessation, albeit in the
dual (and rather complicated and subtle) directions of epistemology
and ontology, is now more fully embodied. This embodiment is to
continue in Vallabhacaryas hands. This is not to say that Vallabhacarya

knew these Saiva
texts, because there is no evidence that he did. It is
simply to say that Vallabhacarya was a recipient of a term that was in
transition, and whose world-denying significations were already being
recast.

 A AND BHAKTISUTRAS

BHAGAVATA
PURAN
.

While the word nirodha does not occur with great frequency in the BhP,
it does appear in one significant passage, BhP 2.10.6a, in which the
author outlines and provides summary characterizations of the Puran. as
 sayanam atmanah

contents. The passage reads: nirodho syanu
. saha
saktibhih. , nirodha is the withdrawal (anusayanam) of the individual
self along with its powers. In this passage, nirodha is the activity
ascribed and simultaneously the name given to the tenth canto; but
 collected in that canto.
more specifically it is the name given to the llas
By no accident, it is, according to the unique theology of the tenth canto
 that are of the greatest value in the
(followed by Vallabhacarya), the llas
attainment of the state of highest bhakti, called (again, by no accident)

nirodha. This will be expanded at length below. The Bhaktisutras
of
 arany

 . (sutra
 8), dedication
Narada define nirodha as lokavedavyap
asah

of worldly and spiritual activities (to the Lord). The preceding sutra

(7) states that bhakti, previously defined as paramaprema (sutra
2),
supreme love, cannot encompass ordinary physical desire, because it

 a nirodharupatv

 23
assumes the form of nirodha (sa na kamayam
an
at).
The sense in which bhakti is cessation will become clear from the
following discussion.
 ARYAS

VALLABHAC
VIEWS

A synopsis of Vallabhacaryas understanding of nirodha will prove valuable before fully explicating the technicalities of the Nirodhalaks. an. a
and its commentaries. According to Vallabhacarya, nirodha is explicitly a state as well as a process; indeed, as mentioned above, it is a

496

FREDERICK M. SMITH

subtly nuanced series of states and processes emblematic of advanced

devotional engagement. What defines this engagement as advanced
is the degree of devotional intensity, of one-pointedness, particularly
the intensity of longing for the Lord in his absence. It is this intense
engagement which provides the framework for the devotees entrance

into the supramundane (alaukika) form and divine (adhidaivika)
realm
of the Lord. This intense longing is the substance of nirodha and is
the vehicle or passageway to the Pus. t.imarga counterpart of liberation,
which, as we shall see, is none other than nirodha itself. This liberation,
this nirodha, is not, however, the final destination, as Vallabhacarya
 which represent the completion
posits two possible states (avastha)
 mukti and
of nirodha, namely, the two final stages of the Lords lla:
 apatti).

asraya (or asrayabhav
Mukti, the lower of the two, is a state
of union with the aks. arabrahman. This is described as a lesser state
 av
 adins,

of nirodha, and is often identified as the liberation of the may
 nkar
_

the Advaitins of the tradition of Sa
acarya. Asraya, a higher state
 denotes, on the other hand, realization
of merging into the Lords llas,
of nirodha in its most complete form.
Vallabhacarya and his followers regularly employ two definitions
of nirodha. The first is drawn verbatim from BhP 2.10.6a: nirodho
 sayanam atmanah

syanu
. saha saktibhih. . Following the interpretation

  Caitanya24
of Srdharasvamin (ca. 1325, praised fulsomely by Sr
and adhered to rigorously in the popular Gita Press translation by
C. L. Goswami) the definition continues, parenthetically but without
parentheses, : : : into Hari after falling into the unity of cosmic disso In his commentary on the BhP entitled Subodhin
lution (yoganidra).
,
however, Vallabhacarya interprets this quite differently. He posits that

the individual self (atman)
referred to here is that of the Supreme Lord,
of Kr. s. n. a, who abides in himself in a concentrated state along with his
 which
saktis or special powers and who from this state creates llas,
 . ava, a
are the source and substance of nirodha. The Prameyaratnarn




late 17th century primer of Suddhadvaita by Lalu Bhat.t.a, explains this
in relatively simple terms: nirodha is the play of the Lord, along with

his saktis in the manifest world, and the atman
mentioned is none other
25

than the Lords. In other words, anusayana is given the technical
 Vallabhacaryas Bhagavat


meaning of lla.
arthaprakaran
. a (included


as the third and final division of his Tattvarthad
panibandha), which
summarizes his interpretation of the BhP, affirms his unique viewpoint
that nirodha is the play of Hari in the relative world; this indeed is
the characteristic of Kr. s. n. a along with his unimaginable powers.26 The
latter includes all the powers mentioned in BhP 2.9, listed as creative

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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 a),
 motive force (iccha),
 knowledge (jn~ana),


action (kriya),
power (may

substance (dravya), time (kala),
and the three fundamental tendencies
(gun. as) of primordial materiality (prakr. ti), namely sattva, rajas, and
tamas.27 Nirodha is also explained in the same text literally (vyutpatteh. )
as arriving at a state in which one has entered permanently into the
 which is to say constrained into the Lord, for the sake
Lords lla,
of liberation.
Assuming this interpretation, Vallabhacarya introduces a further
distinction, between nirodha as means and nirodha as effect. The
Lords nirodha, which we must now understand as the Lords llas), is

given the technical name sadhananirodha,
nirodha as means, medium

or process. The effect of the Lords sadhananirodha
on the bhakta
is given the name phalanirodha, nirodha as the final fruit of bhakti.
 are the sadhananirodha

 is the
The llas
and the effect of these llas
 are
phalanirodha. It is important to understand, however, that the llas

not just Bhagavans sadhananirodha,
but also the devotees. Though
 are generated by Bhagavan, and are therefore his medium,
the llas
they are also the medium by which the bhakta obtains nirodha. Norvin
Hein describes lla as the central term in the Hindu elaboration of the
idea that God in his creating and governing of the world is moved not
by need or necessity but by a free and joyous creativity that is integral
to his own nature.28 Thus, from the outside looking in, lla denotes
process or activity. But what the Lord sees from within is his own

sadhananirodha
in the form of a series of blueprints to be applied to

the bhakta as his or her sadhananirodha.
To state it slightly differently,
 or sadhananirodha,

the Lords divine activity, his llas
corresponds

to the bhaktas sadhananirodha
in the form of intense longing and
devotional service. The end result of this, the phalanirodha, is that the
 which is to say the bhakta shares in
devotee engages in the Lords lla,

the Lords free and joyous creativity. Finally, then, sadhananirodha

merges with phalanirodha in the sense that the Lord and his llas



are the highest ontological realities. Thus, lla as sadhananirodha, as
the bhaktas epistemological compulsion, becomes phalanirodha, the
devotees final state of ontological realization.
The second and most widely employed definition of nirodha

advaita or Pus. t.im
within the Suddh
arga tradition, first appearing in



the Bhagavat
arthaprakaran
. a, is: prapan~cavismr. tibhagavadasaktih
.,
attachment to the Lord accompanied by forgetfulness of the created
universe.29 This definition, which will be discussed at length below,
can also apply to both an epistemological process and an ontological
state.

498

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Vallabhacarya recognizes several stages of bhakti, culminating

in vyasana, a state of one-pointed passionate love for the Lord (cf.
Bhaktivardhin). Vyasana as a living reality is called nirodha, whether
realized in sam
. yoga, the joy of union with the Lord, or in viprayoga,
the extreme grief of separation from Him.30 The archetypal bhaktas
who have realized nirodha are the milkmaids of Vraja, the gops or

s,31 whose actions and attitudes (little distinction is drawn
svamin
between them: their actions are attitudes and attitudes actions) reflect

both prapan~cavismr. ti and bhagavadasakti.
The agony of a moments
separation (viprayoga) from their beloved Kr. s. n. a is felt as if it were
a hundred yugas. While viprayoga is painful because separation is by
nature painful, it is also ironically a blissful experience of supreme
longing for the Lord; indeed, despite the pain (or perhaps to some extent
because of it), viprayoga is filled with the highest ecstasy.32 The very
 which are the true substantiation of nirodha, of the
purpose of the llas,


tenth canto of the BhP, is to confer total surrender (sarvatmabh
ava)
 in their celestial
on those bhaktas uniquely capable of seeing the llas
forms.
Individual souls (jva) cannot by themselves alter their fundamental

natures (svabhava),
which is to say they cannot perceive the lla world
unassisted, through their own efforts. According to Vallabhacaryas

Balabodha,
Jvas are by nature defiled. In order to eliminate this stigma,
listening to the stories of the Lord, etc., must be continually cultivated.
Every goal [of the practitioner] is achieved through the love that arises

from these practices.33 In the Balabodha
and elsewhere, Vallabhacarya
emphasizes that self-effort (svatah. prayatna) is fruitless, and the only
practical path is complete dependence on the will and effort of the Lord
(paratah. prayatna). So the Lord endows fully surrendered jvas with
 with nirodha materialized in its celestial (adhidaivika)

llas,
forms, in

 thus allowing them to overcome
order to confer on them sarvatmabh
ava,

 are deliberately constructed for
their own svabhava.
Individual llas

bhaktas of particular constitutions, to such an extent that no svabhava
is neglected. The Lord and the bhakta tune in to each other through
 through nirodha, and eventually (phala-)nirodha is achieved a
lla,
statement which receives exemplification in NL verse 10 (see below).
In fact Bhagavan continuously plays in the world, continuously enacts
 Occasionally, however, his l
 are envisioned by a devotee
his llas.
las
 to the Lord. The power of
established in his or her service (seva)
this envisioning entices the devotee into a state of prapan~cavismr. ti,
forgetfulness of the material world. All the senses of this devotee become
absorbed in Kr. s. n. a. As will be made clear in the NL (especially verses

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1719), when every sense is attached to Bhagavan (bhagavadasakti),
all else drops away because it is false, prapan~ca.
As a process, then, nirodha is both a cessation from ordinary reality
 As a
and a ceasing forward into the creative matrices of Kr. s. n. as llas.

state, it indicates the consummation or full integration of saccidananda,
the actualization of the highest state of bhakti. This state is further

characterized as bhajanananda,
the joy of praising Kr. s. n. a and of
 and is distinguished from brahmananda,

enjoying his llas,
the joy
of merging with the impersonal form of the Lord, the brahman or

aks. arabrahman. Vallabhacarya regards the latter, brahmananda,
as the

moks. a of the Advaitins, in which the atman
is realized as identical

with the aks. arabrahman, and the former, bhajanananda,
as a state
in which the Lord is realized as a separate entity above and beyond
the aks. arabrahman. In this state ones individuality is retained, albeit
expanded.

Vallabhacaryas autocommentary, the Vivaran. a, on his Sevaphalam
. ) describes three
(the last in the traditional order of the S. od. asagranthah
fruits that may be enjoyed by bhaktas of different levels of attainment:

The fruit of seva is threefold: divine power (alaukikasamarthya),

mergence into the Lords form as the impersonal absolute (sayujya),
or
the gift of a divine body suitable to serve the Lord (sevopayogideha)
 am
 . phalatrayam
in Vaikun. t.ha or other supramundane realms (sevay


 . u). The
alaukikasamarthyam
s
ayujyam
sevopayogideho
vaikun
.
.
. .thadis

commentaries (there are twelve on this text) interpret sayujya
as either


mergence into lla or mergence into the formless, impersonal absolute
(aks. arabrahman). They interpret deha variously. The body may be of
any kind but should inhabit Vaikun. t.ha or Gokula. Most say Gokula,
where Kr. s. n. a enjoyed his greatest period of lla activity. Some say that
the three fruits are for bhaktas with special, but differing, levels of
 or eligibility.34 Of these three, nirodha achieves its highest
adhikara

fulfillment in alaukikasamarthya,
as it is in this state that one experiences
divine service, seva in the celestial world through all the senses. It is

 seva or celestial service. This is
a permanent state of adhidaivik
the jvanmukti of the Pus. t.imarga, variously called phalanirodha (full
 sarvatmabh

 (seeing Kr. s. n. a everywhere), vyasana
engagement in lla),
ava
(addiction to Kr. s. n. a), tanunavatva (obtaining a new body with which
 and manasi

to perform seva),
seva (abiding in a continual state of
 or devotional sentiment), depending on the aspect or emphasis
bhava

desired. Sayujya,
as mentioned above, is complete immersion in the
Lords manifestation as the impersonal, attributeless aks. arabrahman.

Nevertheless, alaukikasamarthya
is the highest fruit to be enjoyed after

500

FREDERICK M. SMITH

the experience of nirodha in this life, because it is the divine power

of total intimacy with the Lord, a state in which both devotee and Kr. s. n. a
coexist in mutual loving dependence.
 
One who is on the path of nirodha is called a nirodhamarg
ya a
person who follows the path of forgetting everything except the blissful
form of Bhagavan; indeed they approach Hari in their attributes and
joyfulness, and it is for this reason that Hari plays with them in a more
personal and intimate manner than he would otherwise. They have rasa,
a fully conscious and embodied aesthetic enjoyment, pouring through
all their senses. The affliction of these souls is a divine affliction;
as mentioned, it appears painful, but it is blissful pain because it is
symptomatic of the special viraha or viprayoga which defines a loving
relationship with the Lord. Thus Vallabhacarya sometimes glosses viraha


as paramananda,
supreme bliss. Because intense viraha forces lla.
One possible contradiction in the doctrine of nirodha, doubtless based
on empirical experience that one may risk labeling universal, is that
 viprayoga and sam
viraha and lla,
. yoga, separation and union are

indissoluble dualities that naturally and irrevocably alternate. In lla,
which is only possible in moments of sam
yoga
or
union,
the
Lord
.
appears externally, whether it is the actual appearance of the Lord
 ala)
 as recorded in the tenth canto of the BhP or the present
(avatarak
 ala
 by virtue of seva on ones own
moment transmuted into the avatarak

material image of Kr. s. n. a, Kr. s. n. as svarupa,
his own form manifest for
the purpose of the devotees divine service. Conversely, in viprayoga
the Lord appears internally, thus forging an ever oscillating pattern of
union and separation (sam
. yoga and viprayoga), divine service on the
adopted image of the Lord and singing his praises or recollecting his
 enjoying his l
divine qualities (seva and katha),
la on the one hand and

cultivating his virtues, his name, and his attitude (bhava)
on the other.
Bhakti reaches its apotheosis when the Lord appears externally; this
is phalanirodha. But this is only possible, as Vallabhacarya points out
frequently, if the Lord has first become manifest in the minds eye of
the bhakta.
Thus nirodha encompasses both phases of this alternation: it is
a cessation from ordinary activity due to the pain of separation, as
 This is what is meant
well as a movement into sam
la.
. yoga and l

by prapan~cavismr. ti-bhagavadasakti.
In the former phase a jva is
constrained naturally and inwardly into the qualities of the Lord
(bhagavaddharma, cf. verse 15 of NL). In the latter phase the bhakta
realizes the states of love catalogued by Vallabh acarya in works such
as Bhaktivardhin, in which the highest state of love is said to be

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501

vyasana. The Bhaktivardhan explains: One with a legitimate occu . tta) should fix ones thoughts on Hari, always engaged
pation (vyavr
in listening to His glories and other devotional practices. As a result,
love (prema) (for Kr. s. n. a) will arise, followed by passionate attachment

(asakti)
and addiction (vyasana).35 In this way, nirodha is necessarily
an experience of great immediacy. Indeed, as a general observation,
it might be stated that all meditators, bhaktas, and other spiritual and
religious practitioners crave for experience in the present; the notion
of being saved by the guru after the body dies rarely generates total
confidence.


Nirodha grows out of the experience of sanubh
ava,
a state of divine
participation in which both body and mind are immersed in the experi This differs from samadhi

ence of the Lords lla.
as described in Yoga
texts, in which only the mind fully participates in the nature of the

object perceived. In other words, samadhi
as known to Yoga is included

 or nirodha. The individual in a state of nirodha is an
within sanubh
ava
 sin, immersed in or possessed of all of the possibilities of the
aks. arave
 What distinguishes
jva, including the subtlest experience of divine lla.
 is the same
nirodha from the state of nityalla or continuous lla
experience, but after the permanent passing away of the body. Nityalla
is a state bestowed on special devotees after their death by the Lord,
who gives them a body suitable for permanent seva in celestial worlds
 . u). In this case the
such as Vaikun. t.ha (sevopayogideho vaikun. .thadis
body is said to partake of the nature of the all-pervading impersonal

 Because it no longer has a
form of Kr. s. n. a (i.e. it is aks. aratmakat
a).
connection with the physical world, it lacks the range of possibilities
 . .ta, of a living physical body which is so
of a body which is aks. aravis
immersed in the personal and impersonal aspects of the Lord that it
experiences nirodha. Therefore the state of nirodha experienced by an
 sin is regarded as greater than a state of nityal
aks. arave
la experienced

by an aks. aramakat
a devotee, one whose nityalla is a product of the
Lords grace after death of the body. Both, no doubt, amount to the
same experience in the end, but nirodha is regarded as superior because
it is this state which satisfies the bhakta in this world. It is important to
remember that the here and now is the only state in which we actually
live; thus enlightenment (or its counterpart) in the here and now is
the only certain manner of its experience. This is why Vallabhacarya
constantly emphasizes that what counts most is the intensity of devotion.
Intensity is not something which one can plan on in the future; it is
something which must be experienced in the living moment. And, of
course, it too is a gift of grace.

502

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Vallabhacaryas final position is that nirodha is possible for one who

experiences ecstasy borne of listening to the names and exploits of
 a),
 who sings the glories of the Lord
the Lord (sravan. ajanyabhavan

(krtana), is a householder (gr. hasthiti), and is a pure soul and a highly
developed bhakta chosen by the Lord for this destiny from the very
beginning (pus. .tibhakta).36 This state is regarded as induced by grace
 anugraha), and is emphatically not possible solely through
(kr. pa,
ones own efforts. Vallabhacarya divides aspirants into two categories,
those who see moks. a as self (svatah. ) induced and those who see it as
induced by another (paratah. ).37 Those who regard nirodha as the result
of self-effort, says Vallabhacarya, have developed a relationship with the
four-armed form of Kr. s. n. a, the form known conventionally in the world
and the Veda (lokavedaprasiddha), rather than the fully transcendent
 ta) two-armed form of Kr. s. n. a of the BhP (also see below on
(lokavedat

NL 9). What this indicates esoterically and what lokavedat
ta means
 is not exactly that Kr. s. n. a is beyond the world and
in the sampradaya
the Veda, but rather that he contains both within him as aspects of
aks. arabrahman. In short, Kr. s. n. a encompasses the abstract absolute
brahman, and is therefore beyond it.
The embodied soul (jva) is regarded as an am_ sa or spark of the
aks. arabrahman, the all-pervading but not wholly abstract form of
Bhagavan. The aks. arabrahman is thus a subtle substance which is
eternally complete in that it does not diminish or lose energy as jvas
emanate from it. It is that part of the Lords being which penetrates
and envelopes the physical world. Because of its organic descent from
this aks. arabrahman, the jva is fully identified with it. The instrument

of this identification and the recognition of identification is the atman,

the interior aspect of the jva that mediates between the aks. arabrahman
and its evolutes, including the body and mind. Vallabhacarya often uses



the term jvatman,
the atman
as the jva or (more likely) the atman
of the jva, to indicate this particular relationship between jva and


atman.
In other words, it is the atman
that resides in the body (deha)
. a), mind (manas),
and controls the senses (indriya), life-breaths (pran
etc.

 
This is clarified in two verses from the Siddhantamukt
aval
, the third
. : Now, turning to the subject of the individual
of the S. od. asagranthah

self (atmani),
[normal] cognitions imposed on the aks. arabrahman are
like holes in the sky. When the condition of ignorance is annihilated,
an individual realizes that brahman is ones own nature, just as one
_ a sees the divine form [of the water]
standing on the bank of the Gang
in that [river]. In this way, one who truly knows sees Kr. s. n. a, the

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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503

Supreme Brahman, in himself.38 These verses require considerable

unpacking that is not necessary for the present essay. But the point here

is that the atman
is perceived as an internal power that encompasses
and organizes the senses, life-breaths, and other perceptual faculties,
and, in its crucial position as mediator or conductor for the jva in its
connection with (aks. ara-)brahman, enables the perceiver to discern
his or her true relationship with brahman. But, it must be emphasized,
this relationship is envisioned not as one simply between the jva and
the brahman; indeed, both are shadowed by Kr. s. n. a in his true celestial

form, the adhidaivika
Purus. ottama, the supreme being beyond form
and formlessness. So the true self of the jva must reach out not simply

to the brahman through the atman,
but must also reach out to Kr. s. n. a in
his highest form. This cannot be successfully accomplished, however,
without reciprocation from the Supreme Kr. s. n. a, who reaches out to the
 through l
 Thus,
devotee by extending his grace (anugraha, kr. pa)
la.

lla is the Lords mediating organ, as the atman
is of the jva. Jvas
cannot initiate this communication or perceive it without Kr. s. n. as grace,

because they cannot alter the fact that their inner nature (svabhava),
their very constitution as living beings, arises from the three gun. as,
which is to say the physical world, which does not have the capacity

by itself to perceive the adhidaivika
Kr. s. n. a. So the Lord endows jvas


with lla in order to confer on them total surrender (sarvatmabh
ava),
to

overcome their own personal nature (svabhava),
and to provide them
with a vision of their ultimate role in the central creative matrix of the

Lords llas.

THE NIRODHALAKS. AN
. AM

The NL (as with all the works included in Vallabhacaryas S. od. asa is succinct and pithy, striking a balance between mythic
granthah)
remembrance, theology, and philosophy. Certainly this compact style
constituted a deliberate pedagogic strategy, one that encouraged easy
referencing within the tradition, and therefore easy memorization,
while still encouraging extensive commentarial exegesis. Vallabhacarya
commences the NL with a reference to the central narrative of the

sampradaya,
the life story of Kr. s. n. a as presented in the BhP, which is
expected to be internalized and experienced by the bhakta. In summary
fashion, Purus. ottama states in the introduction to his commentary that

nirodha is a highly developed state of bhakti (bhaktipravr. ddhyatmaka)
in
one who worships the Lord, regardless of whether the bhakta is a renunciate or a householder. Hariraya, who vies with Purus. ottama as the most

504

FREDERICK M. SMITH

influential commentator on Vallabhacaryas work.39 provides the standard

definition of nirodha in his introduction to the NL: prapan~cavismr. tisahita

asaktir
nirodhah. , forgetfulness of the created universe accompanied
by attachment to the Lord. Hariraya supports this definition by noting
that the Bhaktivardhin states that indifference to the home arises from

passionate attachment (asakti)
to the Lord.40 But nirodha, he adds, is not
simply forgetfulness of the world; in fact it is the ability to experience
with the senses what lies beyond the relative world.41
In addition to the Sanskrit commentaries of Purus. ottama and Hariraya,
I shall also cite the Braj Bhas. a commentary by Nr. sim
alj, who
. hal
lived about a century after Purus. ottama, around the beginning of the
nineteenth century.42 His commentary is much more devotional than
sastraic, following more or less the commentatorial approach of
Hariraya. Nr. sim
. halaljs commentary attained great popularity in the
Pus. t.imarga, although copies of it are difficult to locate at present.43 It is
important to recognize that for Vallabhacarya and his successors the BhP
. a (proof in the form of divine word), on a par with,
was sabdapraman

if not more authoritative than, the Upanis. ads (sruti), the Bhagavadgta,

and the Brahmasutras
of Badarayan. a. Thus the commentaries routinely
cite the BhP as their preferred source of textual corroboration.
Among Vallabhacaryas most important subtexts, woven into the
very fabric of the NL, is the extent to which different devotees are
inherently eligible to realize nirodha; in other words, the capacity for
God realization possessed by devotees of different mental constitutions.
For explication of this in the NL we are completely dependent on
the commentators unpacking of Vallabhacaryas often cryptic and
unadorned verses. Determination of different levels of natural talent
assumes different prescribed means for the realization of that talent.

In the case of eligibility (adhikara)
for nirodha, the issue revolves
around what types of devotees will excel at singing the names of the

Lord and praising his divine attributes (krtana and gun. agana),
and
which ones are better suited to performance of seva on an image of

 As we shall see, however, the issue is much
the Lord (svarupasev
a).
more nuanced than this simple division suggests.
Though this interest in stratification and, ultimately, predestination
may appear curious, tiresome, or oppressive to the sensibility of modern
scholarship, which usually sees justice in leveling presumed unfair
distinctions recognized by our (also presumed) benighted predecessors in
the name of a modern egalitarian ideal, it is essential not to underestimate
the importance of these distinctions in the Pus. t.imarga or the writings
of Vallabhacarya in general. For a clear understanding of this issue, the

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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NL must be read together with several other works of Vallabhacarya

. which address
including at least seven other texts of the S. od. asagranthah
44
types of devotees. In addition, different types of devotees, their levels
 for different levels of love for the Lord, modes of worship,
of adhikara
and realization of nirodha are often discussed in the commentaries,
which see a deliberate layering of these images in the text of the NL.
 was one of
It appears that assignation of different levels of adhikara
Vallabhacaryas strategies for dealing with what he saw as Kr. s. n. as
 each soul was
causeless and unfathomable grace (anugraha, kr. pa):
destined, indeed predestined from the moment of creation as a result
 to realize a particular
of Kr. s. n. as incomprehensible anugraha and lla,
level of love, devotion, and nirodha, or none at all. According to
Vallabhacaryas Subodhin on BhP 10.35, called the Yugalagta, all


objects and beings, from clouds to birds to the gops or svamin
s of
Vraja, are capable of divine realization. Indeed, Vallabhacarya extols
the nirodha achieved not just by the Vrajasvamins, who were absorbed
 for the highest
by Kr. s. n. a into his divine reality (and whose adhikara
nirodha is also addressed in the first few verses of the NL), but also
by the birds of Vraja (on 10.35.11), who attained nirodha after their
minds came under complete yogic control.
Purus. ottama opens his introduction by reminding the reader that
. ,
the renunciation described in the previous text of the S. od. asagranthah
45

the Sam
. nyasanirn
. aya (SN), leads naturally to nirodha. In that text,
Vallabhacarya explained that the singular purpose of renunciation
for someone on the path of bhakti is to experience deeper states of
separation from the Lord.46 This notion represents a dramatic reversal
in the concept of renunciation as it is usually conceived in India,
where the purpose of renunciation is generally expressed in terms of an
uncomplicated attempt to get closer to God. The question then arises:
is Vallabhacaryas conception of renunciation as an expression of the
effort to achieve a perfect state of separation from the Lord substantially
different from renunciation as an expression of an effort to achieve
proximity to the Lord? Bearing in mind Vallabhacaryas conviction
that sam
. yoga and viprayoga are irrevocable alternating currents in
life, both of which are necessary and mutually supportive, it may be
understood that renunciation confers energy on both halves of this
indissoluble whole. Vallabhacarya understands that sam
. yoga can be
realized anytime, at least fragmentarily, but that the elegance, fullness,
and intensity of sam
. yoga is powered by the elegance, fullness, and
intensity of viprayoga (and vice versa). And it is this viprayoga, in

506

FREDERICK M. SMITH

particular, this intensely loving and anxious separation from the Lord,
that for some devotees can be located only through renunciation.
Echoing the SN, Purus. ottama says that the means for the deep love

that leads to profound states of separation is bhava,
and the only means





for achieving this is bhavan
a (bhavan
asiddhasya
bhavam
atrasyaiva


sadhanatvam).
Bhava,
essentially an emotional and cogitative gestalt
that, in the present context, both indicates and arises from a deeply
felt receptivity towards Kr. s. n. a as the supreme Lord,47 is defined by

Purus. ottama simply as love towards ones deity (ratir devadhivis
. ayah.
 bhidhyate). Bhava
 is necessarily unforced and effortless; it
bhavo

becomes bhavan
a once effort is introduced, once an attempt is made,
from outside so to speak, to tamper with it. The role models on the path
to pus. .ti or grace, pace the tenth canto of the BhP, are the Vrajabhaktas,
 . in
the denizens of Vraja, especially the svam
s, who worshipped Kr. s. n. a
 ala).

at the time of his actual appearance (avatarak
Indeed, emulation
 and bhavan

 This creates in the pus. .ti or pure
of them is both bhava
a.
devotee, the one already encouraged and indeed chosen by Kr. s. n. a an
 in which a loving relationship with the
exceptional (vilaks. an. a) adhikara
Lord is characterized by a sense of profound and unbearable separation.
 cannot be created from an empty slate, but is innate to
Such an adhikara
certain devotees and can be matured or fructified by the Lords grace.
This is termed by the commentators bhagavatkr. tanirodha, nirodha


impelled by Bhagavan. This is described as a nih. sadhanam
arga,
a path
that cannot be practiced, but one in which Bhagavan goes into the well,
 Opposed to
so to speak, and pulls out the devotee drowning in sam
. sara.

this is sadhanakr
. tanirodha, in which the devotee uses ropes, which is
to say practices. When bhagavatkr. tanirodha sets in, singing praises of

the Lord and absorbing his attributes (gun. agana)
becomes the bhaktas

sole purpose in life. It is this gun. agana that places the heart and mind
of the devotee on a platform suitable to receive Bhagavans grace and
 Just as Bhagavan endowed the svamin


lla.
s, each one with a unique
 and adhikara
 resulting in a different experience, each bhakta
svabhava
experiences the grace of the Lord according to his or her own unique
capacities.
Purus. ottama continues with a battery of questions to be answered

in due course: What are the levels of eligibility (adhikara)
of different

 is to be practiced
bhaktas? What type of meditative discipline (bhavan
a)
 is to be experienced? And
by which bhakta, and what type of bhava

from these bhavas,
what flavors of love and what experiences of viraha
may be realized?48 Purus. ottama provides five reasons why the NL is

a remainder (ses. a) of the Bhaktivardhin (BV), the Sam
. nyasanirn
. aya

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(SP; though this work stands at the end of the
(SN), and the Sevaphalam
. , immediately following the NL), in other words why
S. od. asagranthah
. ,
the four works, comprising the last four books of the S. od. asagranthah
must be read together. The NL (1) provides further explicit contexts for

bhavan
a on the Lords form, as described in the SN; (2) provides the
means for stabilizing the gun. as or attributes of the Lord; (3) exposes the
true form of the Lord to whom ones devotion must grow, as indicated
in the BV; (4) describes how that celestial seva articulated in the SP
is to be brought about; and (5) provides a context for the concept of
 the deep or pervasive expectation or longing reflected in the
asam
. sa,

act of praising the Lord,49 as well as a context for gun. agana,
praising
the Lords qualities. Besides these reasons, the NL serves the devotee
by allowing him or her to recognize states of nirodha as they arise.
As noted, the highest stage of bhakti described in the BV and its
commentaries is vyasana, a state in which the devotee is compelled to
return the Lords deep love. This requires that there be a healthy native

tendency towards devotional love (bjabhava),
and that the devotee
moves through two prior levels of love: prema, ordinary love for the

Lord, and asakti,
passionate attachment to the Lord. Once the state

of vyasana is achieved, the devotees perspective shifts from the lla,

immersion in the narrative of Kr. s. n. as love sports, to the svarupa,
the
true form of Kr. s. n. a. Once the main focus in the life of the devotee

becomes the achievement of the svarupa,
more intense expressions of
humility (dainya) and devotion naturally arise. This then gives rise to
50 in other words to nirodha.

prapan~cavismr. ti and bhagavadasakti
Hariraya augments Vallabhacaryas text by explaining near the end
of his introduction that nirodha can be realized in two ways, paralleling
the distinct realizations of brahman with form (sagun. a) and without
form (nirgun. a). With respect to sagun. anirodha, which is the only one
considered here, nirodha is expressed through the body of a bhakta.
The bhakta first turns away from worldly engagement by following the

teachings and practices of the path of devotion (bhaktimarga).
Only
then can the mental and physical transformations occur which enable
 According to ones
the bhakta to engage in Kr. s. n. as supramundane lla.
success in achieving sagun. anirodha, two levels of engagement in lla

are possible. First, after establishing oneself in that transcendental lla,
one becomes totally liberated (vimocayati) as a result of identifying
 Second, once ones enjoyment in
oneself with the intention of the lla.
that lla is established, one takes refuge, which is to say finds comfort
and confidence, in its flow.51

508

FREDERICK M. SMITH

As was the case with most of Vallabhacaryas short works, the NL

was composed in response to the questions and needs of disciples. At
 Vais. n. avan k
 a,

least this is the process recounted in the Caurasi
Vart
52
the stories of eighty-four disciples of Vallabhacarya, composed in
Braj Bhas. a by Vallabhacaryas grandson Gokulanathaj, and augmented
two generations later by Hariraya.53 According to this account, the
NL was composed for two brothers, Raja and Madho Dube, who were
given nirodha by Vallabhacarya as a gift of grace. The Dube brothers
met Vallabhacarya almost immediately after their parents passed away.
Vallabhacarya recognized them as divine souls and granted them the
inner experience of Kr. s. n. as appearance lla, his birth and subsequent
escape to Nandababas house. Shortly thereafter Vallabhacarya initiated
them into the mantras of the Pus. t.imarga, instructed them in proper
 54 and advised them that they could achieve nirodha through
seva,
 The diction and context of this Braj
exclusive absorption in their seva.
Bhas. a account of nirodha is of some interest, and is therefore included
in translation as an appendix to this essay.

TRANSLATION OF THE NL

As mentioned, the NL, in a mere twenty verses, describes, albeit

concisely and occasionally obliquely, the different states or levels
 necessary for attaining nirodha,
of nirodha, the levels of adhikara
Vallabhacaryas own claim of attainment, and the manner in which the
senses are to be marshalled in order to bring about the ironic state of

cessation, which is equivalent to ecstatic engagement in Kr. s. n. as llas.
Verse 1
 a nandad
 nam
 . ca gokule /
yac ca duh. kham
. yasoday
 am
 . tu yad duh. kham
 mama kvacit //1//
gopkan
tad
duh
kham
.
.
. syan
That suffering of Yasoda, Nanda, and others which was experienced
in Gokula, as well as the suffering of the gops, let that suffering
somewhere be mine.
According to Purus. ottama, mention of Yasoda, Nanda, and the gops
 or experienin this verse refers to three distinct kinds of bhava
tial framework: Yasoda and Nanda experienced different shades of

 (love for the Lord as a child), while the svamin


vatsalyabh
ava
s or

 (romantic love). Purus. ottama undermilkmaids experienced kantabh
ava
stands these as experiences of vyasana.55 It is relevant to mention here

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509

that Vallabhacarya and his followers understand that in the path of




_
knowledge (jn~anam
arga),
usually meaning Yoga or S
ankara
Advaita,


the full experience of the self (sarvatmabh
ava)
is always expressed

in the form of santarasa,
quiescence; but in the path of devotion

_ ararasa,

(bhaktimarga)
it is in the form of s.rng
fully embodied love. In
_ ararasa

the Pus. t.imarga and other bhakti traditions, s.rng
is said to take
a number of different forms. In the Pus. t.imarga, three are emphasized:

vatsalya,
as experienced by Yasoda and Nanda and others of Vraja;

sakhya, as experienced by the cowherd boys; and kanta,
as experienced
by the milkmaids.
The question arises: why should suffering (duh. kha) be praised?
Because, the commentaries agree, the suffering described here is of
a special supramundane (alaukika) quality that is the very heart of

nirodha. This duh. kha is in fact a deep longing (asakti)
that can be
experienced only in a state of intensely agonizing separation from the
Lord (viraha, viprayoga). Such a separation is possible only after union
(sam
. yoga) has been achieved and its value recognized. After inwardly
 a bhakta then returns to the
immersing oneself in Kr. s. n. a and his llas,
ordinary (laukika) world and is baffled by Kr. s. n. as absence. Purus. ottama
supposes that the purpose of Yoga is to destroy duh. kha, but that the
duh. kha of Yoga is ordinary worldly suffering, not the alaukika duh. kha
of viraha. It is the supramundane duh. kha that confers on the bhakta
more profound states of both separation and union. Thus the suffering
of the bhakta can help in understanding the play of Kr. s. n. a.
Nr. sim
. halalj, in his Braj Bhas. a commentary, reiterates Purus. ottamas
point. Bhagavan first appeared to the devotees of Vraja because of the
power of their duh. kha, which is to say their viraha. Only after this
did he appear again because of their joy (sukha). Thus, following that
example, the special duh. kha for those bhaktas searching for nirodha
is viraha, separation itself. Indeed, says Nr. sim
alj, this duh. kha is
. hal
very blissful and exalted, thus very difficult to attain. For one who
seeks the Lord everywhere in the world, this experience is a blissful or
divine affliction through which one can experience the one-pointedness
necessary for the manifestation of the Lord. Let it somewhere be
mine (kvacit) means not all the time, not everywhere. It should and
must be intermittent due to the natural alternation of sam
. yoga and
viprayoga. Though it is unpredictable, the heart should always be ready
to experience this duh. kha. This state is much more blissful and profound
than the bliss of mukti or liberation. Because this exalted state cannot
be adequately conceptualized, one cannot even pray for it. The only

510

FREDERICK M. SMITH

recourse, then, is to emulate the devotion of the archetypal denizens

of Vraja.
Verse 2
 am
 . tu sarves. am
 . vrajavasin
 am
 /
gokule gopkan
 tan me bhagavan
 kim

yat sukham
//2//
. samabhut
. vidhasyati
Will the Lord bestow on me that pleasure which the gops as well as
all the residents of Vraja enjoyed in Gokula?


Purus. ottama introduces this verse by invoking the asaktibhramany
aya
or maxim of delirium resulting from deep attachment. As a result
of deep attachment and longing, it is possible to become delirious and
behave as if the individual coveted and yearned for is really in ones
presence. Under the circumstances, this is not regarded as a delusional
state, but a state of devotional intensity. Thus, the textbook definition of
bhrama as error, unsteadiness, or mistaken perception is given an ironic
positive flavor of joyful delirium or giddiness. Yet this joyful, even
delirious, attachment is founded on the unbearable pain of separation.
The classic example, which Purus. ottama cites, is the longing of the
milkmaids for Kr. s. n. a after he has disappeared from the great circle dance
 
 BhP 10.2933). After Kr. s. n. a disappears, one of the milkmaids
(rasal
la,
begins to play with her comrades, acting as if she were herself Kr. s. n. a
and they were Yasoda. Following her example, the others reciprocate.
To whatever extent this might be drama or ritual, the point made in
both text and commentary is that it was a spontaneous manifestation
 or experiential state.
of their bhava

Verse 3

 utsavah. sumahan
 yatha /
uddhavagamane
jata

vr. ndavane
gokule va tatha me manasi kvacit //3//
Let that magnificent celebration which arose on the arrival of Uddhava
arise in my mind wherever I am in Vr. ndavana or Gokula.
Among the subtleties of this text are the implied correspondences in the
first three verses. The text appears to express and reiterate a narrative of
the suffering and joy of Yasoda, Nanda, the Vrajavasins, and Uddhava,
and to recognize them equally as exemplars and models of nirodha.
However this might be, within these verses is embedded a delicately
enunciated doctrine of different levels of nirodha and their respective
exemplars. This doctrine is best understood if the process leading to

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511

nirodha is first explained. Once vyasana, the highest practicable level

of divine love, is achieved, the devotees attitude shifts from being
primarily focused on Kr. s. n. as lla to exclusive devotional attention on

the svarupa,
which is to say an iconic embodiment of Kr. s. n. a.56 This is
achieved by cultivating greater humility (dainya) and intensity of bhakti,
as illustrated in the first four chapters of the tenth book of the BhP,
called by Vallabhacarya the Janmaprakaran. a, the Section on Kr. s. n. as
Birth. It is these chapters that recount the birth of Kr. s. n. a in Vraja and
his escape from the evil Kam
. sa. Most importantly, the Janmaprakaran. a
describes the joy that Yasoda, Nanda, the citizens of Vraja, the gods,
demigods, and others expressed upon Kr. s. n. as advent. Only after the love
borne of joy, humility, and devotion develops do prapan~cavismr. ti and

bhagavadasakti
arise in the devotee in order to eradicate duh. kha. It is
this intense love that drowns worldly (laukika) duh. kha and coincidentally
opens awareness to the recognition of the Lord. This is the nirodha of
the devotee reciprocating the nirodha of the Lord, or, in the technical

formalization of Purus. ottama and others, the karyalaks
. an. a or effect
of nirodha. This effect is twofold: the contemplation of that state of
being, arising according to the grace and will of the Lord, in which
the devotees deep longing for the Lord constitutes the sole suffering


 upam),

of the jva (prastuyam
anaduh
and the expectation of
. khasam
. sar

 upam).

this in ones life (tadbhavan
ar
This effect manifests in both the
nature of ones longing or desire and the nature of ones suffering. The
bhaktas sole desire is now to abide constantly in the presence of the
Lord. The suffering is reflected by the intensity of dainya, true humility.
Yet even after devotion to the Lord becomes all-consuming, it is still
possible that one may never come face to face with the Lord. There
is no loss, however, because this breeds even greater dainya. In this

case, loving humility, surrender, desire, separation, intensity of bhava,
a feeling of helplessness, and total dependence on the grace of the Lord
all converge.
The first three verses of the NL surreptitiously repeat one of


Vallabhacaryas primary arguments in the Bhagavat
arthaprakaran
.a
and the Subodhin on the tenth canto: the jvas equipped with differ
ent skills (adhikara)
have different exemplars and realize different
flavors of nirodha. Indded, Vallabhacarya sees an outline of graduated
 as the main organizing principle of the nirodhaskandha or
adhikara
tenth canto. Verse 1 of the NL expresses Vallabhacaryas desire for the
suffering experienced in Gokula by Yasoda, Nanda, and the milkmaids,
among others. This otherwordly (alaukika)57 suffering occurred during
 ala,
 the period during which the fully embodied Kr. s. n. a
the avatarak

512

FREDERICK M. SMITH

incarnated in Vraja. The only bhaktas fortunate enough to realize this

type of suffering where those alive during this auspicious time, meaning specifically Yasoda, Nanda, the milkmaids, and a few others. On
what basis, then, can Vallabhacarya desire it for himself and, we must
infer, cast it as an example for others? In the practicalities of history,
in order to be eligible for this level of bhakti, and the corresponding
state of nirodha, the bhakta must be able to conduct regular divine
 to the Lords svarupa
 and relate the
service (ritual worship or seva)
 Seva is the activity of separation (viraha,
stories of Kr. s. n. as life (katha).
 ala.

viprayoga), evoking the time of the Lords absence, the anavatarak
The activity of katha indicates the ability to live ones life in accor The paradigms for this
dance with the goals expressed in ones seva.
order of bhaktas are Yasoda and the others mentioned above, called

by Vallabhacarya tamasa
bhaktas, bhaktas who are extremely stubborn
and unyielding in their devotion yet free from the pride of knowledge.
They are exemplified, according to Vallabhacaryas division of the tenth
canto, in the Tamasaprakaran. a (BhP 10.5-35).
The second verse of the NL describes devotees of a slightly higher
 for nirodha than those referred to in the first
level of eligibility (adhikara)

verse. Those exemplified in the second verse are called rajasa
bhaktas

and described in the Rajasaprakaran. a (BhP 10.3663), especially
the so-called Bharamaragta, Ode to the Black Bee (BhP 10.47).
Though this middle level refers to the very same milkmaids as the
first (more generally this category implies jvas involved in affairs of
 apatti,

the world), here they are being prepared for the asrayabhav
a
 In other words,
stage in which the devotee merges into the Lords lla.
the agony of separation from Kr. s. n. a (viprayoga) that the milkmaids
experience in the Bhramaragta encourages and facilitates this advanced
 58 In Vallabh
state of refuge in the lla.
acaryas esoteric code, Yasoda


and Nanda refer to vatsalyabh
ava,
maternal love, while the milkmaids

) refer to kantabh


(gop, svamin
ava,
the love of erotically attracted



 refers to
partners. Vatsalyabhava indicates Gokula, while kantabh
ava
Vr. ndavana. Gokula represents the moment of sam
avana
. yoga, and Vr. nd
the moment of viprayoga; the loving mother in a state of union with
the child, the lover in a state of separation from the beloved. Both are
exemplary states of divine love, but separation holds slightly, though
notably, higher value. Vallabhacarya is everywhere consistent in valuing
love-in-separation as a more profound state than love-in-union. Though
both verses mention only Gokula, not Vr. ndavana, the commentaries
interpret Vallabhacarya as saying that he longs for the state of sam
. yoga
that occurs while the Lord is in Gokula as well as for the katha in

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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513

viprayoga that the milkmaids praise while the Lord is in the forest
59

(vr. ndavana).
The celebration mentioned in verse 3 refers to Uddhavas arrival in


Vraja, in which he resembled Kr. s. n. a so closely that all the svamin
s
rejoiced in his presence (BhP 10.47). In this manifestation of their

s exhibited signs of the highest nirodha: direct
devotion, the svamin
perception of the Lord following the agony of separation. This is called

sattvika
bhakti, described, according to Vallabhacaryas division of the
tenth canto, in BhP10.6484, the Sattvikaprakaran. a. Devotees on this

path are pure of heart (sattvika),
but cling to knowledge. The final
division of the tenth canto, BhP 10.8590, is called the Gun. aprakaran. a,
which describes nirodha in terms of the qualities of the Lord: majesty
(aisvarya), potency (vrya), glory (yasas), beauty (sr), knowledge


(jn~ana),
and indifference to the world (vairagya;
see below, verse 15).

The three classes of adhikarins
are graduated, with the implication that




sattvika
bhaktas are superior to rajasa,
and rajasa
superior to tamasa.

Indeed, Purus. ottama says the experience (bhava)
of the milkmaids as

 (adhikyaj


 a).

sattvika
jvas demonstrates additional adhikara
n~apan
arth
In fact, however, as Purus. ottama later makes clear, these prototypes
 simply describe the devotional constitutions of different
of adhikara
devotees. Indeed, the existence of different types of emotional, spiritual,
 as it allows the
and devotional constitutions is part of the Lords lla,
Lord the enjoyment of manifesting different types of lla in order to
 which
accommodate these different types of devotees. It is Kr. s. n. as lla,
is to say his nirodha, that creates longing in the devotee, regardless
 How
of the type of devotional constitution or the identity of the lla.
this longing translates into devotional practice is the practical measure

of these levels of adhikara.
Ultimately, Vallabhacarya is saying that
one must recognize that union and separation are invariable alternating
currents in all aspects of life. In other words, permanent union with
the Lord is impossible in this world. Moreover, is it not desirable. If
union were achievable there would be nothing towards which to build,
no greater levels of divine love to be realized.
 to
Thus the highest ideal is to carry out proper seva and katha,
recognize and cherish the moments when Kr. s. n. a is in Gokula as well as

when he is in the forest (vr. ndavana),
the moments of seva when union
 and the time of separation when one is in
is achieved with the svarupa
the world but longs for that union. If, however, one cannot carry out
 one should at least perform katha,
 following the example of
proper seva,

s of the Bhramaragta. When there is no seva,
 then, bhaktas
the svamin
should contemplate only the agony of separation, which is to say the

514

FREDERICK M. SMITH

longing for union. The word Gokula in these three verses, then, implies
 of the denizens of Vraja; while the mention of Vr. nd
the bhava
avana
in the third verse along with Gokula reminds the devotee that Kr. s. n. a
was absent when Uddhava appeared in Vr. ndavana, but that the joy of
union with Kr. s. n. a in Gokula remained a possibility. Indeed, it appears
that the word Vr. ndavana carries the esoteric meaning of separation, of
obscurity, with the imagery of the forests capacity to hide or obscure.
Superficially, as least, this is somewhat at odds with the depiction of
Kr. s. n. as love-making in the forest, and the forests associations with
fertility and pleasure (sambhoga), rather than with separation (viraha)
or anxiety. In Vallabhacaryas view, however, the forest is a place of
separation and isolation while the village, represented by Gokula, is a
place of meeting and joy. This perhaps expresses a bhakti rather than
a yogic ideal.
Verse 4
 . kr. paya yavad

 dayayis. yati /
mahatam
bhagavan


 . sukhaya
 hi //4//
tavad
anandasandohah
. krtyamanah
Only as long as Bhagavan bestows [His grace] through the grace of
great souls will that immense bliss which is being praised contribute
without doubt (hi) to divine joy (sukha).
This verse emphasizes the importance of contact with accomplished
bhaktas, who possess the capacity to introduce others to Bhagav ans
 through either initiation or inspiration. Two passages
grace (kr. pa),
from the BhP support this: Through devotion to me brought about by
association with the righteous, one becomes my worshipper. Indeed,
one quickly attains my realm, shown by the righteous (11.11.25).60
Also: So long as one does not elect to sprinkle oneself with the dust
from the feet of great souls who have nothing of their own, ones mind
cannot touch the feet of the Broad Stepping One, the touching of which
serves to turn away what does not serve (divine) purposes (7.5.32).61
The experience of Narada in BhP 1.6 is also an oft-cited example of the
value of devotion to the righteous as a prerequisite to direct engagement
with the Lord. In this chapter Narada relates his past birth, in which he
exhibits a high level of spiritual experience but cannot maintain vision
of the Lord. Kr. s. n. a then tells him that he is unfit for such vision (ma
 . dras. .tum iharhati,

mam
1.6.22), but that his thoughts are fixed on him,
nevertheless, because of a long history of service rendered to saints
 jat
 a mayi dr. d. ha matih. , 1.6.24).
(satsevaya drghayapi

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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515

The commentaries say that even if one has cultivated the proper

 an inherent tendency to devotional
a),
contemplative practice (bhavan
62

experience (bjabhava)
develops only with the help of great bhaktas.
 atmakanirodha,

Purus. ottama calls this advanced state of bhakti bhavan
a state of nirodha characterized by devotional absorption. He says
 refers to Vrajabhaktas, which is to say the svamin


that mahatam
s,

because it is they who are the true gurus of the Pus. t.imarga. But, as
Vit.t.halanathaj and Hariraya note, Vallabhacarya is himself considered

. In the Pus. t.imarga one should not utter the name of Kr. s. n. a
a svamin
 
unless first purifying oneself with the names of Vallabhacarya (Sr





Mahaprabhu) and the Yamuna River (Sr Yamunaj). It is for this reason
that the Sarvottamastotra, a versified list of the names of Vallabhacarya
. , and the
composed by Vit.t.halanathaj), precedes the S. od. asagranthah
. .takam is placed first among the sixteen works.
Yamunas

The commentaries explain that anandasandoha
(immense bliss)
 arin,

indicates both lla and the lladh
divine play and divine player


(viz. Kr. s. n. a), the bliss of both the svamin
s and the Lord. One sees the
 due
ocean only because of the waves: one sees Kr. s. n. a due to the llas,


s. Stated more experientially, Nr. sim

to the svamin
hal
a
lj

says
that
if a
.
devotee experiences krtana or enlightened discourse in the association
of one who has attained proximity of Kr. s. n. a (bhagavadya), then Kr. s. n. a
appears in the heart (antah. karan. a) of the devotee.
Verse 5
 . kr. paya yadvat krtanam
mahatam
. sukhadam
. sada /
 am
 . tu snigdhabhojanaruks
 . avat //5//
na tatha laukikan
When it arises from the grace of great souls, the singing of the Lords
glories (krtanam) always gives bliss. But that does not occur (when
the krtana comes) from ordinary people in the world; it is like giving
coarse (ruks. a) food to one accustomed to rich (snigdha) food.
This continues the theme of the previous verse. Purus. ottama adds that
in order for true bliss to arise the narrator must be a bhakta and the
 The seva of a householder who worships the
subject must be lla.

 status if the sevaka engages
Lord maintains its divine (adhidaivikat
a)
constantly in sravan. a, krtana, and other forms of devotional practice.63
Snigdha oily, sticky, adhesive, affectionate, loving implies that the

food, which is to say the inborn tendency to loving devotion (bjabhava),
has been cared for with ghee, which is to say continued devotion.
Krtana is not just singing, but narrating and explicating. Bad krtana

516

FREDERICK M. SMITH

or dinnertime stories spoils the flavor (rasa) of devotion or dinner.


The singing of the Lords qualities (gun. agana)
by a great bhakta is
like snigdhabhojana: sweet, fresh, nourishing food. In fact, a krtana
has much greater power than one from a great pan. d. ita.
Nr. sim
. halalj explains: When one has the kr. pa of those who are
great, then ones kirtan is always pleasurable. But when you praise in
a worldly fashion, in the company of ordinary people, it does not give
_
the pleasure of good spiritual association (sat sang).
It is the difference
between tasty and unpalatable food. This is the value of engaging in
_ with those immersed in nirodha.
sat sang
Verse 6
 sukhav
 aptir


gun. agane
govindasya prajayate
/
 nam
 . naivatmani

yatha tatha sukad
kuto nyatah. //6//
The consummate happiness which arises from singing the praises of

Govindas attributes was not possible even in the heart(s) of Suka
and
others [on the path of knowledge]. How can it be otherwise?

All the commentators exemplify Suka
as a practitioner of yoga, the
purpose of which, as explained, is simply to reach a state of absence
 ava).

of worldly suffering (duh. khabh
This is brought about by abiding

in the bliss of the aks. arabrahman (brahmananda)
which can at best

lead to engagement with Kr. s. n. a. Though Suka reports this with respect
 BhP 2.1.9),
to his own experience (parinis. .thito pi uttamaslokallaya,
it is nevertheless agreed by the commentators that he did not abide

in the higher state of bhajanananda,
bliss achieved through abiding

in bhajana or gun. agana, singing the Lords names and attributes.

Purus. ottama defines gun. agana,
proclaiming the words and sentences
relating to the Lords qualities by following known musical scales.64
 is the
Purus. ottama says that the degree of joy derived from gun. agana
measure of nirodha. How can it be otherwise? (kuto nyatah. ) refers
 aptih
 . ) by any other means,
not to the possibility of obtaining joy (sukhav
but according to Purus. ottama, What can be said of others who do not
have devotion?

Verse 7
 an
 janan
 dr. s. .tva kr. payukto

klisyaman
yada bhavet /

tada sarvam
sad
anandam
hr
distham
.
. .
. nirgatam
. bahih. //7//
When [Kr. s. n. a] becomes filled with a feeling of grace after seeing people
distressed [with the pain of separation], [He] then [causes] the complete

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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517

eternal bliss, which is [already] established in [their] hearts, to manifest

outwardly.
The theme of outward manifestation of inner knowledge, love, bliss,
vision, or ecstatic experience occurs elsewhere in Vallabh acaryas writ65

ing, e.g. Sam
. nyasanirn
. aya 11c12. Purus. ottama says that the people
 are those whom the Lord has accepted as
referred to here (janan)
 Kr. s. n. a selects or predeshis own. Being omnipotent in his own lla,
tines certain individuals for attainment of nirodha. This doctrine of
the chosen few is explicated in the text and commentaries on the

 abheda.


Pus. .tipravahamary
ad
The distress or suffering (klisyamana)
of these souls is their deep anxiety or longing for the nearness or
presence of the Lord. The commentators regard the Lord in the form

 
 or
of sadananda
or complete eternal bliss as the very sthay
bhava
fundamental emotion of the rasa or aesthetic enjoyment of love (rati).
Thus it is the fundamental emotion of love, reified as the Lord himself,
 Observing the intensity of the
that causes the bhakta to experience lla.
devotee, the Lord then becomes filled with grace. Experiencing Kr. s. n. as
grace, then, is an act of Kr. s. n. as grace.
At first sight, this identification of the Lord with an emotion appears
to be very strange and out of character. But it is consistent with
 sastra),

Sanskritic aesthetic theory (alam
which strongly informed
. kara
Vallabhacaryas thought.66 I cannot enter into this too deeply here, so it
must suffice to include part of a translation by J. L. Masson and M. V.
_ adhara,

Patwardhan of a definition of rasa from the Rasagang
a very
formidable text on aesthetics by Jagannatha (ca. 15901655).

 rati, etc. which is of the form of
Rasa aesthetic enjoyment is the sthayibh
ava
a mental impression, already crystallised in the mind and implanted in the mind
since the time of birth (or since time immemorial) and cognised (or perceived) by
the cogniser (i.e. by the reader or spectator) along with the joy of self-realisation
 anandena

saha) which is absolutely real (and not imaginary), as it is
(nijasvarup
self-luminous (svaprakasa) (and does not require anything else to illuminate it).

 (such as rati, etc.,) is the result of an extraordinary
ava
This cognition of a sthayibh
function (of words and senses) (i.e. it is brought by the function called suggestion).67

 in the heart to come

Nr. sim
. halalj adds that waiting for the svarup
out and play creates a divine anxiousness, an extreme affliction of
longing. Hari sees this and showers grace, thus conferring his darsan.
Nr. sim
. halalj speaks of four ways to acquire this darsan: in dream, from
 asavan
. i, the current word for radio), a definite
a heavenly voice (ak
feeling of the Lord in the heart, and direct vision the most difficult
of all.

518

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Verse 8

 kr. panandah

sarvanandamayasy
api
. sudurlabhah. /
 srutva purn
 . ah. plavayate

 //8//
hr. dgatah. svagun. an
janan
Finally, it is extremely difficult to obtain the joy abiding in the grace
 

(kr. pananda)
of the one who is totally constituted of bliss [namely Sr
Kr. s. n. a]. Having heard His own attributes sung in the hearts [of the
bhaktas], the Lord causes these people to become fully immersed.
Verses 48 refer to those eligible for the highest level of nirodha


(uttamadhik
arinah
. ), a step up from the devotees described in the previous
 a,
 understood there as absorption
verses. In the first three verses, bhavan
 or form (svarupa)

in the llas
of Kr. s. n. a, are considered as methods

 and
(sadhana)
of attaining nirodha, while in the latter verses gun. agana
 a are eligible for
krtana are added. Devotees who practice only bhavan
 and
nirodha, as explained; but those who have developed gun. agana
krtana are eligible for a higher level of nirodha. The text positioned
. , the Sam

just before the NL in the S. od. asagranthah
. nyasanirn
. aya (SN),

decisively prefers bhavan
a as a means to attainment of devotional


love (bhava):
The experiential attitude of love (bhava)
attained by

 is the proper practice;
continuous meditative absorption (bhavan
a)
 bhavanay



none other is necessary (bhavo
a siddhah. sadhanam
. nanyad
is. yate, 8cd). Indeed, the SN adds: (In that state of viraha,) knowledge
(of the Lords form) and (proclaiming) His virtues are obstacles (to

experiencing bhava)
of that existent (Lord).
Just the opposite is the case here. Purus. ottama argues that the SN is
geared towards bhaktas who seek a secure abode with the Lord after
death;68 but to achieve nirodha in this world requires constant practice
 and krtana. The bhavan
 a which has been explained as a
of gun. agana
 . ya) is not
stronger means to achieve the appearance of the Lord (prakat

the bhavan
a which is conducive to achieve the simple merging with the


Lords manifestation as the Absolute (sayujya
or asrayabhava).
In one

sense, however, the bhavan
a of the SN and the NL is identical: longing

for the Lord is at the core of both. The intensity of the bhavan
a of the
NL leads to casting off the body, senses, breaths, and inner organ69
. antah
 . karan. a) and ultimately to the acquisition of a
(dehendriyapran
celestial body suitable for worshipping the Lord (sevopayogideha)
 in his all-pervading, attributeless
within the eternal lla (nityalla)

manifestation (aks. arabrahman). In the case of the bhavan
a or nirodha
described in the NL, the body, senses, breaths, and inner organ assume

supersensory proportions. In other words, the fruit of the bhavan
a and

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519

 nat. avat), nor is it simply the

the viraha is not just internal (antarnis. .tha,

 sa).
body, etc., immersed in the impersonal brahman (aks. aratmak
ave
Instead, the body, etc., which are composed of the five elements, take
on extramundane counterparts. This notion follows the example in the
Bhramaragta (BhP 10.47), where Kr. s. n. a did not reciprocate the longing

of the svamins with his internal manifestation (nat. avat svarupa),
but
forced their viraha to even greater intensity. At that point, according

s, who already had experienced internal
to Vallabhacarya, the svamin
realization, were able to burn their bodies, senses, breaths, and inner
organs in order to live thoroughly extramundane lives.
This again highlights the alternating wholeness of the two unequal
halves, union and separation, sam
. yoga and viprayoga. The inequality
lies in the fact that, though union is the goal sought after by the longsuffering bhakta, separation is the more usual experience, and, ironically,
subtle states of separation actually bring with them greater spiritual
 is an ontological state congruent with a
fruit. As explained, bhava
specific devotional experience, brought about by the instrumentality of

 in which the Lord appears established internally (antarnis. tha).

bhavan
a,
 is one of loving devotion and longing for the
The experience of bhava
Lord so intense that it elicits a response form the Lord. In proffering
his response, the Lord has the option, which he exercises in accordance
 of creating in the bhakta an even greater longing, after
with the lla,
which the bhakta would leave the physical body, senses, etc., behind

and take on supramundane ones. This special bhava,
achieved by


the Vrajasvamins for the sake of nirodha, is the realization of the


sthayibh
ava,
the fundamental emotion, of love (rati). The Yugalagta
(BhP 10.35), the paradigmatic expression of sam
. yoga, is characterized
by the same longing, though perhaps not as acutely experienced, as in
the Bhramaragta, the paradigmatic expression of viprayoga. The Lords
response to the bhaktas experience of both sam
. yoga and viprayoga

depends on the quality of krtana and gun. agana,
the measures of nirodha,
 and bhavan

 the measures of immersion in the
as well as on bhava
a,


absolute form of Kr. s. n. a (sayujya).
In sum, the bhava,
the experience,
referred to in both the SN and the NL is the same: both are rati, the


sthayibh
ava,
Bhagavan himself who appears outside as a foundation,


support, or visualization (alambanavibh
ava).
Thus, some bhaktas are

graced with sayujya
and others with a superior state of nirodha, the
Pus. t.imarga equivalent of living liberation. In sam
. yoga the Lord appears
 antarnis. .tha and
externally, in viprayoga internally, seva and katha,
nirodha, Yugalagta and Bhramaragta. Bhakti reaches its zenith when
the Lord appears externally. This is phalanirodha.

520

FREDERICK M. SMITH

The commentators add a further level of technicality and describe a


state or aspect of nirodha called kr. pananda.
This occurs when ones
 or general life experience is completely flooded (plavayate)

bhava
in
the nectar of the manifestation of the Lord, all of which is due to the
kr. pa or grace of the Lord. In this state all the attibutes (gun. a) of the
Lord pour into the reservoir of ones own bliss. This is also called
bhagavatkr. tanirodha, nirodha created by Bhagavans grace. Once the


Lord endows a jva with total surrender (sarvatmabh
ava),
and when he
 the Lord is regarded as bhajanatm
 a,
 the
appears inside (antarnis. .tha),

 a,

very essence of enjoyment. When he is outside, he is alamban
atm
the envisioned essence. In both cases he is the supreme self constituted


of bliss (anandamayaparam
atman),
Every experience of the bhakta
then becomes divine due to the perception of the Lord recognizing
himself within the perceptual faculties of the bhakta. The physical,
mental, and emotional environments, everywhere (sarvatah. ) and in
 are endowed with divine love arising from an
every way (sarvatha),


attitude of complete bliss (sarvanandabh
ava).
This flooding (plavana)

of divine grace occurring in a state of total surrender is kr. pananda.
This comes to pass when the Lord hears his own gun. as sung in the
heart of the bhakta, which, as mentioned earlier, becomes the bhaktas
sole purpose in life and primary mode of everyday functioning in the
state of bhagavatkr. tanirodha.
Verse 9
 sarvam
. /
tasmat
. parityajya niruddhaih
. sarvada gun. ah




sadanandaparair geyah. saccidanandata svatah. //9//
As a result of this, having fully abandoned everything [of this world],
the attributes of the Lord are always sung by those who have attained
nirodha, with the supreme bliss [of the Lord] kept in focus, [and] a

state of saccidananda
arising from within oneself.
In this verse, Vallabhacarya assumes that singing the praises of the Lord

and idealizing his attributes (gun. agana)
is a higher form of bhakti than

 and therefore preferable because
solitary meditative practice (bhavan
a),

it is more conducive to nirodha. Kr. s. n. a enjoys listening to his gun. agana

and endows special grace on bhaktas who sing it. Nr. sim
alj adds
. hal
another comment axiomatic in the Pus. t.imarga (as well as most other
north Indian bhakti traditions): that one should praise the Purus. ottama,
 
 not the fourthe two-armed Kr. s. n. a from Braj who dances the rasal
la,
 Only
armed Kr. s. n. a from Dvaraka or the Kr. s. n. a from the Bhagavadgta.

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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521

the Kr. s. n. a of the Vr. ndavana lla (the lla of separation) is capable of

giving the highest experience (rasatmak).
The word niruddhaih. (by those who have attained nirodha) in
the verse indicates prapan~cavismr. ti, forgetfulness of the world arising
from control or constraint, the literal sense of niruddha. Through the

joy arising from gun. agana,
which is the active agent of such niruddha,
 sa, aks. arave
 sa).
one becomes naturally immersed in the Lord (llave
This is more productive than lavishly attuning oneself to rules, which
 am
 arga,

Vallabhacarya describes as the substance of the maryad
the
path of limitations which includes mere ritual, mere yoga, or
mere knowledge, and includes within it the exclusive practice of Vedic
 nkar
 av
 ada
 of Sa
_

ritual or yoga, as well as the Advaita or may
acarya.

As niruddha suggests prapan~cavismr. ti, sadananda
is said to imply

bhagavadasakti,
which appears through the continuous creation of
 in the heart. As for saccidananda,

llas
it arises in the natural course
of things. Purus. ottama states that the renunciation mentioned in the

verse (parityajya) is peculiar to the bhaktimarga,
and is undertaken


through love.70 Nr. sim
hal
a
lj

adds
that
whatever
engages
previous
.
 ayukta)

mental impressions (vasan
or is performed with a sense of
 or my-ness (mamata)
 should be abandoned.
I-ness (ahanta)
Vallabhacarya next provides a very challenging self-description in a
verse which tests the very limits of translation:
Verse 10
aham
m
. niruddho rodhena nirodhapadav
. gatah. /
 am
 . tu rodhaya
 nirodham
 te //10//
niruddhan
varn
.
. ayami
I have achieved nirodha through cessation [of involvement with the
world]. I have obtained that special path of nirodha. In order to shed
light on [the method of] severing ties [with the world] for those who
are eligible for nirodha, I am explaining nirodha to you.
One added feature of this text, unusual in Indian philosophical
discourse, is reference to the authors own inner desires (verse 1)
and personal realization (verse 10).71 As with other Indian philosophers, Vallabhacarya rarely mentions himself in his writings. On a
couple of occasions in the Subodhin, he refers to himself as Agni.72

And in the Siddhantarahasya,
the fifth in the traditional enumeration
. , Vallabhacarya describes his vision of Kr. s. n. a
of the S. od. asagranthah
while in Gokula, which inspired him to found the Pus. t.imarga. But the

522

FREDERICK M. SMITH

present verse is the only place where he mentions his own spiritual
attainment.
This being the case, Vallabhacarya squarely positions himself

as a teacher (nirodham
te) and is praised as such.
. varn. ayami
Nr. sim
. halalj states that Vallabhacaryas acts and gestures are to his
followers what Kr. s. n. as were to the Vrajasvamins. In the Sarvottamastotra, Vit.t.halanathaj describes him as the one whose sole aim
is to bring to light the secret meaning of the illustrious Bhagavata


 . ah. , v. 8) and the one who
(sribhagavatagud
asanaparayan
. harthaprak
73
 asaktah

clings only to his bhaktas (bhaktamatr
. , v. 27).
Hariraya says cessation (rodhena) means that everything except the
 bhagavadatiriktam)
Lord is obstructed (sarvam
. rodhayati pratibadhnati
 the activity of Kr. s. n. a in the
for those who meditate on the nirodhallas,
tenth canto of the BhP. This state is specified as kevalagun. akr. tanirodha
in the commentatorial tradition of Purus. ottama because only praise and
understanding of the gun. as or attributes of the Lord can bring about this
state. In other words kevalagun. akr. tanirodha is made firm by structuring


the gun. as of the Lord in the bhakta and by making the sthayibh
ava,
the attitude of love, firm. Another dimension of nirodha is specified as

svarupagun
. obhayakr. tanirodha: the state of nirodha which is achieved
 of the Lord and actualizing
through both worship of the form or svarupa
 ala,
 the time of Kr. s. n. as descent,
the divine gun. as. During the avatarak
the Lord appears on earth by his own free will. During that time
 is present. But
nirodha is easy to achieve because the Lords svarupa
 ala
 it is not so easy. Thus the question arises: in
in the anavatarak
 ala
 is it possible to achieve svarupanirodha

the anavatarak
or nirodha
achieved through worship of the Lords form? Vallabhacarya answers

that it must be possible because seva is performed toward the svarupa,
the Lord manifest in any one of a number of forms that are worthy
 or manifestation of the Lord
of divine service (sevya). The svarupa
worshipped by the bhakta during seva serves the same function in the
 ala
 that the avatara
 serves in the avatarak
 ala.
 Moreover,
anavatarak


to deny svarupanirodha
would be to deny the validity of Kr. s. n. a seva.
In this verse, Vallabhacarya uses the word nirodha as the pivot for an
age old method of expressing the logic of revelation. Note the similarity
. ,
in diction here with R
. gveda 10.90.16: yajn~ena yajn~am ayajanta devah
The gods sacrificed the sacrifice by means of the sacrifice. The word
 am
 at the beginning of the second half of this verse cannot
niruddhan
mean for those who have attained nirodha. The verse would hold
little meaning if this were the case. It must therefore refer to those
bhaktas who are eligible for nirodha.

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Verse 11
 te magna bhavasagare

harin. a ye vinirmuktas
/
 ta evatra

 anty

ye niruddhas
modam ay
aharnisam //11//
Those who are sunk in the ocean of worldly experience are deprived
 by Hari. Those alone who have attained
of liberation (vinirmuktas)
nirodha enter into great delight, here, day and night.
Or:
 by Hari become immersed in
Those who are released (vinirmuktas)
. )
mundane experience, while only those who are captured (niruddhah
by him attain great delight, here, day and night.
. can
Both of these interpretations are possible. The word vinirmuktah
be taken as deprived of liberation or let loose. In either case,
Purus. ottama says this indicates one who is not accepted by the Lord
_ kr. ta),
 which is to say not eligible for exalted levels
(svyatena nang
of bhakti. Thus, Purus. ottama explains that this warning is issued to


bhaktas of mediocre devotional attunement (madhyamadhik
arinah
. ).

Vallabhacaryas Subodhin on the Ven. ugta, BhP 10.21.67, speaks of
the uselessness of moks. a for one on the path of bhakti. For example,
verse 10 of the Subodhin on 10.21.7 reads: The sole fruit for those
whose senses are engaged (in worship of the Lord) is arrival at that final
permanent state in which that inner experience is always in tow; this
indeed is moks. a, nothing else.74 This reflects Vallabhacaryas emphasis
on nirodha as an experience of compelling, immediate importance.
Typically, Vallabhacarya emphasizes full engagement of the senses in
 a subject that will be
the act of devotion, especially with respect to seva,
addressed in the remaining verses of the NL. This markedly disagrees
with the similar notions in Advaita, in which sensory disengagement
is of paramount importance.
The commentators explain that each of the five sense organs

(jn~anendriya)
has its own function or mode (vr. tti) of devotional
passion (rati): passion for seeing the Lord (darsanarati), smelling him
 an
. arati), touching him (sparsanarati), hearing him (sravan. arati),
(aghr
 adanarati,

 . tapanam,

and even tasting him (asv
viz. adharamr
drinking
the nectar from his lower lip [Subodhin verse 9 on BhP 10.21.7]). If
the five sense organs are left alone they gravitate towards the elements
of the material world (prapan~ca). The usual strategies for dealing with
these organs are either to completely constrain them (nigraha) or let
them run their course in the material world. Neither of these are ideal
options on the path of bhakti. Vallabhacarya in the Subodhin on BhP

524

FREDERICK M. SMITH

2.4.17 explains that yoga has its opposite, kuyoga (bad or poorly
conceived yoga), that destroying or quelling the sense organs is not
the same as gaining gradual control through yoga. Extreme fasting, he
explains, can be kuyoga, if it does not also discipline the diet, which is
yoga. The solution is to use the sense organs only to serve the Lord. It
 ala,
 when the Lords
is particularly important that during the anavatarak

 of Kr. s. n. a in Vraja, is not available in
archetypal svarupa,
the avatara
person, the mind, body, and sense organs must be dedicated to attributes
 of the Lord as they reside in the hearts of the bhaktas.
and llas
Nr. sim
. halalj asks why many people who seem to have faith fail to
attain nirodha. The only conceivable answer is that it is the Lords
desire. It is Hari who liberates. Some who are engaged in spiritual
practice try to understand nirodha through their own practice. Try
as they might, however, they cannot attain nirodha; deluded by the
notion of self-effort, they are sunk in the ocean of mundane existence

(bhavasagara).
The same can be said for those who have pride in their
 is innocent and directed towards
practices. When ones intense bhava
 as his grace.
the Lord, then Bhagavan reflects the form of that bhava
Verse 12
 . .tacittan
 am
 . sarvada muravairin. ah. /
gun. es. v avis


 am
 . harivat sukham //12//
sam
. saravirahaklesau na syat
Neither worldly pain nor separation can exist for those whose minds
 . .ta) in the attributes (gun. es. u) of the destroyer
are always immersed (avis
of the demon Mura. Their joy is similar to that of Hari.
Most of the commentators have our verse numbers 14, 12, 13 as 12, 13,
14. I here follow Purus. ottama, who in turn follows the order presented
by one of his teachers, Vrajanatha or Vrajaraya. The order makes little
difference.
It is more than a trope to insist that the joy of a bhakta who is
 . .ta) the attributes of the Lord is similar
immersed in or possessed by (avis
to the joy of Hari (harivat). The reason is that the gun. as realized in the
 of Hari himself. The bhakta
heart of the bhakta act like the svarupa
feels the joy of the Lord himself because the gun. as of the Lord are
capable of bestowing that joy. When the gun. as are present in the heart
 of the bhakta, it is Hari himself who is present. It is important
and bhava
to remember that in the Pus. t.imarga, the deity is not represented by the
 75
image, but is fully embodied in the image or svarupa.

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It is appropriate here that Vallabhacarya uses the name Muravairin

(more common is Murari), because the demon Mura, killed by Kr. s. n. a,
is the personification of ignorance (Purus. ottama: jad. ados. anivartaka).
Ignorance is the basic dos. a or shortcoming76 of life in the world. By
killing Mura, Kr. s. n. a dispels ignorance and actualizes the potentiality
of the divine in the world. The killing of Mura as well as the divine
gun. as are only understood from the lla of Kr. s. n. a. Thus to be immersed

in the attributes of Kr. s. n. a means to be immersed in his llas.
Verse 13

 a mata /
tada bhaved dayalutvam
anyatha krurat


_



badhasankapi nasty atra tadadhyaso pi sidhyati //13//
In this way [Hari] becomes compassionate; otherwise he would be
considered cruel. If any doubt arises about [whether an eligible devotee]
can even then be thwarted [from the path of nirodha], it must be denied,
because [the devotee] has already become perfect at superimposing the
attributes of the Lord on himself.
Verses 1113 refer to kevalagun. akr. tanirodha (see the discussion above
on verse 10), a mode of realizing nirodha most appropriate for householders, in which nirodha is brought about solely (kevala) through
praising the defining attributes of the Lord. In order to understand these
verses it is once again necessary to emphasize the Pus. t.imarga ideal of
the responsible householder, which dates back to the founder himself.
Verses 23 of the BV state: The means for strengthening the seed of

bhakti (bjabhava)
arises from the performance of ones own proper
dharma, remaining in [ones] home. One who has no legitimate occu . tta) should fix ones thoughts on Hari, always engaged
pation (avyavr
in listening to His glories and other devotional practices. As a result,
love (prema) [for Kr. s. n. a] will arise, followed by passionate attachment

(asakti)
and addiction (vyasana).77 Thus, the gainfully employed nonrenunciant, because he or she is a responsible citizen and is not in
denial of the senses, is most qualified for the path of bhakti, with its
 a.
 This is an important distinction in the
emphasis on seva rather than puj
 a is regarded as conventional worship, a limb
Pus. t.imarga. In brief, puj
 am
 arga):

of the path of limitations (maryad
it is priestly, hierarchical,
 on the other hand, is
rule-bound, mechanical, and self-centered. Seva,
founded on a personal relationship between the devotee and Kr. s. n. a,
encourages spontaneous outpourings of love, and is performed without
expectation of reward because its very performance is its goal. 78

526

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Purus. ottama explains that when the Lord brings the aspirant to a
state of non-suffering and confers on the bhakta his own bliss, the
 terminates. If at that point
bhaktas binding relationship with sam
. sara
the functions (vr. tti) of the senses are turned towards the Lord, and still
 or l

the Lord does not endow the bhakta with his gun. as, svarupa
la,
then the Lord would be considered cruel. On the other hand, when the
Lord endows the bhakta in this way and supreme joy is the result, then
the Lord is considered compassionate. This is kevalagun. akr. tanirodha
 and l
because only the gun. as (which imply svarupa
la as well) of the
Lord are capable of bringing about this state.
 can continue if a devotee
Hariraya asks how the flow of gun. agana
is obstructed by vicissitudes of time, action, or ones own nature, or by
shortcomings in the form of anxiety, etc., which destroy the intellect?79
 is
The answer is that it is not possible for an aspirant whose bjabhava
firm to be overwhelmed as long as he or she is perfect in directing all the
senses towards the Lord. This implies not just the faculties involved in

 and hearing (sravan. a),
gun. agana,
namely mind (manas), speech (vac),
 Harir
but all the senses, as they must be involved in seva.
aya emphasizes
that the gun. as, majesty and so on, are in fact the Lords alone; that
the devotee taking them on or superimposing them on his or her own
personality does not mean that they are distinct from the gun. as of the


Lord. The unity of the Lord as a central tenet of Suddh
advaita, says
80
Hariraya, would be disrupted by such a notion. Both Hariraya and


Purus. ottama invoke the asaktibhramany
aya,
the maxim, mentioned
above, of delirium resulting from deep attachment. As already pointed
out, this is not delirium in the sense of mistaken perception, but in
the sense of deep emotional engagement in this case recognition of

the Lords gun. as as ones own.81 Superimposition (adhyasa),
then,
ordinarily a flaw (dos. a), is not in this instance because it involves the
gun. as of the Lord. This superimposition, says Nr. sim
alj, contributes
. hal
to attachment to the Lord, which in turn leads the devotee into more


profoundly assuming the Lords gun. as, svarupa,
and llas.

Purus. ottama offers an alternative reading of the second pada.
Rather
 a mata,
 otherwise he would be considered cruel,
than anyatha krurat
 a:
 If the Lord does not endow a bhakta with
Purus. ottama reads akrurat
his gun. as, even then the Lord is not cruel. In spite of this the bhakta
still has not been thrown out of the pus. .ti path. While perhaps not
rewarding the bhakta with the highest devotion, Purus. ottama says it is

 Such a bhakta would still possess eligibility for
not fatal (aghatakat
a).


middle level devotion (madhyamadhik
ara).
Purus. ottama explains this

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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527

by saying that such a devotee is neither fully immersed in the world

 ave
 sa) nor yet possessed of the Lords gun. as.82
(sam
. sar
Verse 14
 ave
 sadus. .tan
 am
 indriyan
. am
 . hitaya
 vai /
sam
. sar
 bhumna

sasya yojayet //14//
kr. .sn. asya sarvavastuni
Indeed, for the benefit of those whose senses have become defiled as a
 ave
 sa), [I declare as a general
result of immersion in the world (sam
. sar
principle that] one should connect all the [sense] objects to Kr. s. n. a, the
underlying omnipotent Lord.
Verses 1419 describe the state of nirodha achieved through both

seva on a svarupa
of Kr. s. n. a and praising his divine attributes

(svarupagun
obhayakr
.
. tanirodha). The commentaries approach these
 ala,
 the time of
verses with the following inquiry: In the avatarak
Kr. s. n. as actual descent into Vraja, the Lord appears by his own free

will. At that time, nirodha is easy to achieve, because the Lords svarupa
 ala,
 the time, such as the present, when
is there. But in the anavatarak
 is not present, it is not so easy. During such times
the Lords avatara

is it possible to achieve svarupanirodha?
The answer is that it must be
 of the Lord manipossible because seva is performed on the svarupa
fest in the bhaktas own household icon, called T. hakurj in Hindi and
other north Indian languages (see Appendix below). Supporting this is
Vallabhacaryas statement in the Subodhin on BhP 10.29.13 that bhakti
is sufficiently potent to bring the Lord into the condition of full descent

 Also, verses 228ff. of the Sarvanirn. ayaprakaran. a, the
(avatarada
sa).


second section of the Tattvarthad
panibandha, discuss the value of
83
worshipping an image of Kr. s. n. a. Verse 228 reads: In the absence of
 form of the Lord, one should make oneself an image of
the avatara
Hari and constantly perform divine service for it in a special place, as
the Lord resides there in that form.84 Vallabhacarya emphasizes in his
autocommentary that everything that is done for the image is in fact

done for the Lord (yan murtau
kr. tam
. sarvam
. bhagavati kr. tam
. bhavati).
 the
Presupposing an image of the Lord on which to perform seva,

avatarada
sa of Kr. s. n. a may then be realized through either knowledge,
devotion, or religious practice.85
Verse 229 of the Sarvanirn. ayaprakaran. a reinforces the point made
in the present verse of the NL that Kr. s. n. a is the underlying omnipotent
Lord: Because of the all-pervasiveness of the embodied absolute
  Krsna in accor aravy


 one should devotedly worship Sr
(sak
apakatv
at),
.. .

528

FREDERICK M. SMITH

dance with prescribed mantras and with ornamentation and other

 ara

accoutrements according to their availability.86 The word sak
here indicates Sakarabrahmavada (the philosophical system espousing


brahman with form), another common designation of Suddh
advaita.87

According to the Sakarabrahmavada, all phenomena are brahmatmaka,

manifest from brahman itself, including the image of the Lord (murti


or svarupa). And it is through the instrumentality of this svarupa or
 that the highest fruit is conferred on the bhakta. Thus,
bhagavanmurti
the heartfelt volition of the bhakta to undertake what is necessary to


_
realize the Lord (bhavan
amayasa
nkalpa)
is reciprocated by the heartfelt

_
volition of the Lord to bestow his grace (kr. pamayasa
nkalpa).
It is this
situation that can force the Lord to appear fully to the devotee (viz.,

 When the Lords avatara
 is not present
to assume the avatarada
sa).
 ala),


(anavatarak
the form of the Lord to be worshipped (sevyasvarupa)


must be considered as a personal manifestation (avirbh
ava)
of the Lord.
 is not considered an avatara.

Note that a svarupa
It is important
to understand that in Pus. t.imargya theology, referring to Kr. s. n. a as an
 is a convenient way of speaking: for example, Kr. s. n. a as an
avatara

avatara,
a descent of the absolute, appeared to the milkmaids of
Vraja. However, as this verse reminds us, and Purus. ottama further

explains, Kr. s. n. a is the bhuman,
the underlying source, the ground
of all being, and therefore the embodiment of the highest absolute

(parabrahman). He is thus the avatarin,
the one who includes within

himself the avataras.
Purus. ottama says explicitly that Vallabhacarya


uses the word bhuman
to remove the notion that Kr. s. n. a is the avatara
 adiv
 aran
 . aya).

(avatar
Indeed, Purus. ottama explains, the highest fruit is

expressed by the three words kr. s. n. a, bhuman,
and sa, the latter in the
sense of omnipotent, implying the Lord of the senses. Thus, to avoid
frustration (ks. obham), the senses must be directed towards Kr. s. n. a, the
omnipotent ground of all being.
Verse 15

 virago
 vis. aye sthirah. /
bhagavaddharmasamarthy
ad
 na duh. kham
 karhicit //15//
gun. air harisukhasparsan
. bhati
As a result of ones capacity for maintaining unconditional love and
surrender towards the Lord (bhagavad-dharma), the renunciation of
sense objects becomes firm. From the touch of Haris joy, due to
[praising His] qualities, suffering can never arise.

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529

A state of detachment from the world results from unconditional dedication of everything to the Lord. This is the essence of the vow undertaken
upon initiation into the Pus. t.imarga.88 The commentators cite considerable textual support for this. For example, BhP 11.3.28 says, One
should surrender to the Supreme (Lord) sacrificial offerings, gifts one has
received, austerities one has performed, the fruit of repetition of sacred
name, the fruits of ones behavior and livelihood, all that one enjoys
for oneself, as well as ones wife, children, houses, and life-breaths.89
This verse is a summation of BhP 11.3.1833, which speaks of learning

 dharman

the proper lifeways of those devoted to the Lord (bhagavat
an
siks. et, 11.3.22). The assiduous observance of these lifeways results in
love for the Lord so powerful that it surpasses in importance everything
else in life; thus the translation above of dharma as unconditional love
and surrender, and the equation of bhagavad-dharma, unconditional

love and surrender towards the Lord, and bhagavata-dharma,
lifeways of devotees of Bhagavan. Purus. ottama supports this verse with

Bhaktivardhin 4cd: From passionate attachment (to the Lord) (asakti),
indifference to the household arises.90 Purus. ottama notes that for such
an aspirant the evocation of this love is an indication of movement
towards nirodha.
Nr. sim
. halalj paraphrases as follows: Through the power of
bhagavaddharma, renunciation of sense objects becomes firm. Following this renunciation, the practitioner becomes filled with the gun. as
of Hari. Rather than referring to BhP 11.3.1833 in order to explain
bhagavaddharma, Nr. sim
. halalj says the dharmas are the same as the
Lords gun. as, namely majesty, potency, glory, beauty, knowledge, and
indifference to the world. Nr. sim
alj says that Kr. s. n. a is Bhagavan
. hal
because he has the full amount of all six. But if any bhakta experiences
a measure of this bhagavaddharma, he or she experiences the touch of
Haris joy; there is no possibility of worldly suffering. Nr. sim
alj adds
. hal
 
that one on the path of nirodha (nirodhamarg
ya) forgets everything
except the blissful form of Bhagavan. Such a person becomes like Hari,
inspiring Hari to play with them. As a result, divine emotional flavor
(ras) fills the senses. The affliction of these souls is a divine affliction;
it appears painful, but in fact the separation is blissful; the viraha is

paramananda.
In separation there is always the expectation of lla
(thus, one might argue, establishing a condition in the state of unconditional love). Viraha forces lla to arise; in their natural alternation or
oscillation, separation predicates and forces union. And realizing the

paramananda
of separation and the lla of union is nirodha.

530

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Verse 16
 a jn~anam

 ad
 utkars. am
evam
arg
. jn~atv
. gun. avarn. ane /
. sada gun. ah
. //16//
amatsarair alubdhais ca varn. anyah
After knowing this, [one realizes that] reciting the qualities [of Hari]
is superior to the path of knowledge.91 These qualities should always
be recited without envy and greed, etc.
Purus. ottama emphasizes that those who do not realize the superiority
 can only attain the absence of suffering (duh. khabh
 ava)

of gun. agana
 am
 arga).

that defines the goal of Yoga and other limited paths (maryad
They cannot realize the joy of Hari (harisukha). Furthermore, love as a
_ ararasa)

pure and liberating emotion (viz. s.rng
is superior to quiescence

(santarasa).
Absence of envy (amatsara) includes freedom from lust

(kama),
anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), and wantonness
(mada). Absence of greed (alubdha) means that one must not perform
 a.

ones seva with expectation of reward; that would be puj


Nr. sim
hal
a
lj

comments
that
as
a
result
of
praising
the
qualities of
.
Hari, it is possible to realize him through each of the senses. This is


superior to the difficult practices of the jn~anam
arga,
because the latter
takes one only as far as the aks. arabrahman,92 the point of mergence,

but not into the lla.
Verses 1719
 . sada dhyeya sankalp
_
 api tatra hi /
harimurtih
ad

darsanam
spar
s
anam
spas
t
am
tath
a kr. tigat sada //17//
.
.
.. .


sravan. am
. krtanam
. spas. .tam
. putre kr. .sn. apriye ratih. /

 . satyagena

 . tanau nayet //18//
payor
malam
ses. abhavam


yasya va bhagavatkaryam
yad
a
spas. .tam
.
. na dr. syate /
tada vinigrahas tasya kartavya iti niscayah. //19//
After undertaking a commitment to perform the Lords seva (tatra),
one should always meditate on the form of Hari. [Just as] it is clear
that [the faculties of] seeing and touching [should be used in service
of the Lord], similarly this should always be the case for [the faculties
of] construction and locomotion [making and going, i.e. the hands
and feet]. [The functions of] hearing and speaking are [also] clear
[in that they are used for listening to and narrating the stories of the
Lord]. The faculty of sexual enjoyment (rati) can be used [similarly]
in [producing] a son who is beloved of the Lord. [And] by discharging
impure material from the excretory organ, a condition [of good health]

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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531


 is brought to the
[to the performance of seva]
supportive (ses. abhavam)
body. On the other hand, an organ which is clearly not seen to be used
for the Lords service should decisively be brought under complete
control.

These difficult verses emphasize the importance of total sensory commit Not only should all the sense organs contribute,
ment to the Lords seva.
but so should certain body functions that are rarely mentioned in religious
and philosophical contexts. Purus. ottama emphasizes that these verses
 sa, possession by the Lord. If a person acquires
describe bhagavadave
all the qualities of the divine, then that person is worthy of being treated
as divine. Purus. ottama illustrates this divine possession with the maxim


(nyaya)
of fire and an iron ball (vahnyayogolakanyaya).
If an iron (ayas)
ball (golaka) is thrown into the fire (vahni), it becomes fiery. By taking
on the gun. as of the Lord, an individual can actually become divine.
. ya on Brahmasutra

Purus. ottama refers here to Vallabhacaryas An. ubhas
93
3.3.20, in which the author states explicitly that in performing the
proper spiritual practice one takes on or becomes possessed by the
characteristics of the Lord, like the iron ball coming in contact with
 salaks. an. ah. sambandho sti).
fire (ayogolake vahnir iva tasminn ave
. yaprakasa on this sutra

Purus. ottama states in his Bhas
that it is the
Lord who possesses the bhakta, not the reverse, and as a result of
this some of the Lords attributes manifest in the devotee (yatra jve
 avi
 sati tada bhagavadave
 sad
 bhagavaddharma api
savyam
. bhagavan

kecit tasminn avirbhavanti).
Purus. ottama states in his introduction to these three verses that they
illustrate direct and indirect use of the senses in achieving nirodha;
 . at)
 in the seva of the svarupa
 and indithey are used directly (saks

rectly (paramaparaya) in pursuit of realization of the Lords attributes
(gun. akr. tanirodha). Purus. ottama understands the commitment to meditate
_
 17ab) as discernment of nonon an image of the Lord (dhyeya sankalp
at,
 and the Lord himself (abhinnatavic
 ar
 at).

difference between the svarupa

The word va (On the other hand) in 19a is used with derogatory force

(anadara),
according to Purus. ottama, who interprets this statement as

indicating a lower level of eligibility (adhikara).
Regardless of the level
of eligibility, however, Vallabhacarya states clearly that through control

of the senses one can bring ones seva to a divine (adhidaivika)
state
and move towards nirodha.
_
Nr. sim
in 17b as a dedicated oath, similar
. halalj interprets sankalpa
_
to a sankalpa
or statement of intent normally recited at the commencement of a ritual,94 and which here should precede meditation on the

532

FREDERICK M. SMITH

image of Hari. He adds that the perfected form of these meditations or


practices occurs when they can be performed mentally (manasi),
when
seva to the Lord becomes continous and effortless. This is consistent

 
with the first verse of the Siddhantamukt
aval
, like the NL one of the
. : Having bowed down
most important books of the S. od. asagranthah
to Hari, I shall declare with certainty my own established position

 to Kr. s. n. a is essential; (and) that
(siddhanta).
Continuous service (seva)
 which is mental is regarded as the highest.95 When this internal
(seva)

 is perfected, the main pracengagement with the Lord (manasi
seva)

tice becomes gun. agana,
reciting and praising the Lords qualities. The
difference between this meditation and those recommended on the path


of knowledge (jn~anam
arga)
is that here the Lord responds directly
and eventually appears externally. The actions of the pure devotee
(pus. .tibhakta), performed with all the sense organs and functions coherently unified and directed towards the Lord, will inevitably give rise
to a celestial experience. This is the meditation characteristic of the

path of devotion (bhaktimarga),
and it invariably is attained through
the grace of an advanced bhakta.
Returning to the theme of verses 45, the commentators state that
serving an advanced or exemplary bhakta endowed with divine qualities is tantamount to serving the Lord himself. The devotion expended
in such service penetrates beyond the limited individual venerated.
It enters, absorbs, and traverses name and form, then the unmanifest
aks. arabrahman, and finally it reaches Kr. s. n. a himself, the Supreme
Lord (purus. ottama). This is only possible, however, if the Lord has
taken possession of the body, senses, breaths, and internal organ
. antah
 . karan. a) of the advanced bhakta. Similarly, for
(dehendriyapran
 the Lord has made himself present in the form
the sake of the seva,

to be worshipped (harimurti).
Though none of the material aspects of

 are present, all of the divine aspects are made
Kr. s. n. a (the avatarada
sa)
 as a result of the seva being performed in a
manifest in the svarupa

state of bhagavadavesa. In this way the Lord takes possession of the

svarupa,
which is no longer simply an encasement for the Lord, but
has become the Lord actually manifested externally.
The engagement of the visual and tactile faculties in the worship
of the Lord should be extended (atidisati) to the other sense organs


(karyendriya),
including the hands and feet (kr. ti = hasta, gati = pada).
 and touching it are integral parts of seva;
 indeed they
Seeing the svarupa

are regarded as paramount in forging a relationship with the svarupa.
Contrary to this, the excretory and reproductive organs have no use in
 but they must be kept healthy in order for the sevaka to perform
seva,

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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533

 Similarly, smell and taste are both useful in preparing and

proper seva.
consuming offerings, and sharing in the delight of the Lord. Indeed,
Purus. ottama notes that though taste and smell are not mentioned here
among the relevant sense organs, they should not be neglected in the
sensory accounting.
Turning now to the sexual organs, Vallabhacarya says they should
be used only for reproductive purposes with the hope that offspring
will become good bhaktas (putre kr. s. n. apriye ratih. ). Purus. ottama cites
BhP 6.6.10 to the effect that the nature of sexual desire should depend
 . sankalpajah
_
on the motivation (kamah
. smr. tah. ), and BhG 6.24 on the
virtue of abandoning all desires that are driven by (ordinary) intention
_
 kam
 ams
_ tyaktva sarvan
 ases. atah. ). If ones state
(sankalpaprabhav
an
of mind is oriented towards Kr. s. n. a, sexual activity will turn towards the
service of the Lord. In support of this point, Purus. ottama cites from the
 apan

ya Upanis. ad, a later addition to this
first section of the Gopalat
genre based on the experience of the gops according to the BhP96 yam
.
 . smr. tva nis. kamah
 . sakamo

mam
bhavati a passage which can be interpreted in two ways97: One who remembers Me even while operating in


the world of desires (sakama)
becomes desireless (nis. kama).
Or: After
remembering Me, one who is desireless becomes filled with desire.
The desire referred to in the latter interpretation is love for the Lord

(bhagavadrati); it is not desire for things of the world (sam
. sararati).
Purus. ottama says that from the very hearing of such statements spoken
by the Lord, ones desires and intentions turn towards the (super-)sensory
 . sasam

world of the Lord (tadr
. kalpena bhagavadvis. ayakakamotpattau),
or, as Hariraya states succinctly, this kind of physical love is in fact
98

desire for the transcendent (sa alaukikakamaratih
. ).

In NL 18d, Hariraya reads ses. abhagam,
the remaining part, in place

of Purus. ottamas ses. abhavam.
Hariraya thus suggests that a bond with
the Lord is produced in the body in parts that are not impure.99 Though
Nr. sim
ayas
. halaj accepts the reading of Purus. ottama and lists Harir
. habheda, he follows Harir
reading as a pat
aya in stating that what remains
after the bowels are moved is the whole body. In other words, excretory
matter is not useful and cannot be considered as part of the body and its
system of senses that is useful in the worship of the Lord. Whatever is
useful, says Nr. sim
. halalj, is absorbed into the body through the subtle
. is). Physical elimination purifies the body, allowing all
channels (nad
the senses to move more efficiently towards Bhagavan.
Purus. ottamas reading, difficult as it is, makes more consistent sense
with Vallabhacaryas argument that all the senses and sense organs,
 Purus. ottama
without exclusion, must be dedicated to the Lords seva.

534

FREDERICK M. SMITH



thus interprets ses. abhavam
as gun. abhavam,
a quality state, meaning a
healthy state. Furthermore, ses. a as gaun. a (secondary) indicates that this
state of good health is incidentally or secondarily useful for the Lords
 A more literal translation of 18cd, then, would read: A condition
seva.
 is brought to the body by the
subsidiary [to the performance of seva]
elimination of impure material from the anus. This is supported by the
Subodhin on BhP 10.21.7 (the Ven. ugta), which illustrates how all the
bodily functions should be integrated towards the Lord. Purus. ottama
then notes that a relationship with the Lord may include other physical
effects and functions as well. He cites BhP 2.3.24, which speaks of
the heart melting, tears flowing, and hair standing on end. Similarly,
BhP 3.2.5 and 10.14.33 speak of sweating. It is of some interest to
note that these physical discharges are recognized as symptoms of the
physiology of bhakti. In the words of Purus. ottama, they indicate the

fruit or phalatmaka
state of nirodha.

Verse 20
 . parataro mantro natah
 . paratarah. stavah. /
natah
 . paratara vidya trtham
 . paratparam

natah
//20//
. natah
No mantra is higher [than nirodha]; similarly there is no hymn of
praise higher, nor knowledge, nor visit to a sacred place higher [than
nirodha].
The final verse of the NL is very well-known and oft-quoted within
the Pus. t.imarga. By comparing it with other spiritual and religious
phenomena which also abide in the present moment, namely mantras,
hymns, (spiritual) knowledge, and pilgrimage, Vallabhacarya asserts
the primacy of nirodha. Mantras, etc., are legitimated and energized only when they are accompanied by a flow of divine power



(alaukikasamarthya)
or by an ongoing sense of divinity (adhidaivikat
a)
 Purus. ottama notes that no
when they are dedicated to the Lord in seva.
mantra, not even the five-syllabled and eight-syllabled mantras of the
brahmasambandha initiation,100 can be greater than nirodha. Similarly,
no hymn, regardless of its author or content; nor knowledge, even
. ya or other works of
that of brahman as elucidated in the An. ubhas
Vallabhacarya; nor visits to sacred sites, which Vallabhacarya recom can be placed above nirodha. Only
mends as a strong alternative to seva,

alaukikasamarthya
can be equal; but that is another way of explaining
nirodha as a living experience of the divine lla of Kr. s. n. a. However,
Purus. ottama explains that mantras, hymns, knowledge, and pilgrimage

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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535

_
 for one who has proper adhikara

along with seva,
are requisites (anga),
for nirodha.

Colophon
 aryacaran


iti srmadvallabhac
/
. aprakat. itam
. nirodhalaks. an. am
. samaptam
Thus concludes the Nirodhalaks. an. a, manifested at the feet of the
illustrious Vallabhacarya.

CONCLUSIONS

Vallabhacarya employs the word nirodha to distinguish three different,

but related, phenomena: (1) Following the BhP, nirodha is used as a
designation of the name and contents of the tenth canto of the BhP,
 of
labeling it the nirodhaskandha. (2) It therefore indicates the llas
Kr. s. n. a, which are none other than the materialization of the Lords own
nirodha. Considering both of these together, Purus. ottama and others
 as it is a
in the tradition refer to the tenth canto as the nirodhalla,
 that are designed to bring about nirodha in
display of Kr. s. n. as llas
the following, third, sense. (3) Nirodha indicates the withdrawal of
the bhakta from the domination of the manifest world (prapan~ca) and
a corresponding entrance into the universe of supersensory love, of
 which is to say into Kr. s. n. as nirodha. Thus L
lla,
alu Bhat.t.a, in his
subcommentary called Yojana on Vallabhacaryas Subodhin, explains
 of Kr. s. n. as
in his introduction to the tenth canto that through the llas
infancy and childhood, Bhagavan confers on bhaktas a state of prema.
 of his adolescence, including the great circle dance
Through the llas
 la),
 he endows them with asakti.

with the gops (rasal
Finally, through
 of the tenth canto, including his departure to Dv
the last llas
araka,
he endows them with vyasana, the highest state of love and the state
that is a prerequisite for nirodha. Thus, in the sastraic idiom of the
 are
Pus. t.imarga, perfected by Purus. ottama and Lalu Bhat.t.a, the llas
the instrument through which nirodha is achieved (karan. anirodha), the

three stages of divine love (here taken together as asakti)
constitute
 aranirodha),

the functioning agents of nirodha (vyap
while the final
fruit (phalanirodha) arises when the bhakta becomes stripped of all
 ava)

gross aspects of existence (prapan~cabh
and is able to abide in a
 of Kr. s. n. a.
supramundane (alaukika) state of awareness within the llas
Lalu Bhat.t.a sums up by explaining that Bhagavan, availing himself
of his potencies (saktis), which can be construed as either his divine


powers and attributes or the svamin
s of Vraja and other exalted bhaktas,

536

FREDERICK M. SMITH

 that produce nirodha. While producing these l


manifests the llas
las,
which are the instruments in bringing about nirodha, Bhagavan compels
the bhakta to forget the created world and become attached instead to

 This,
the Lords own form (svarupa),
divine attributes (gun. as), and llas.
101


then, is the functional aspect of nirodha (karan. arupanirodh
atmaka).
At this point a glossary of Sanskrit compounds used here that contain
the word nirodha will probably help clarify matters. I must mention
parenthetically that one of the sastraic methods for understanding difficult
concepts such as nirodha, that Purus. ottama and the other commentators
bring to the NL and related passages in the Subodhin, and which appear
 . ava, is
in independent treatises such as Lalu Bhat.t.as Prameyaratnarn
to present the concept according to different sets of analytical categories. One includes four characteristic modes or aspects of analysis
 . a), effect (karya),

(laks. an. a): purpose (prayojana), cause (karan
and

present manifestation or condition (svarupa).
A second includes three
 . a), operation (vyap
 ara),

analytical standpoints: cause (karan
and result
(phala). Full expansion of these is not necessary for the current presentation, and, indeed, would require a separate lengthy essay. Thus, brief
characterizations only of those terms which appear in this essay must
suffice.

 karan. anirodha the instrumentality by which nirodha is achieved.

 A related interpretation is that the
This primarily refers to the llas.
anusayana (BhP 2.10.6), the withdrawal, which is, ironically,
the presence, of the Lord, is transformed into an instrument, the
instrumentality of being in the devotees presence. In other words,
the Lords withdrawal from his own sequestered domain places
him within the domain of the bhakta.

 sadhana(kr
. ta)nirodha nirodha brought on by religious or spiritual
 themselves.
practices; or it may be the llas
 aranirodha

 vyap
nirodha in its functional aspect; the love evoked
through reciprocation between bhakta and Bhagavan.

 svarupanirodha
attachment to Kr. s. n. a; nirodha as it unfolds from

asakti
to vyasana.
 phalanirodha nirodha as the final fruit of bhakti. This assumes
 Also it is described
that the devotee is fully engaged in the llas.
as the firm establishment of vyasana.
 kevalagun. akr. tanirodha nirodha brought about solely (kevala)
through praising the defining attributes (gun. as) of the Lord.

 svarupagun
. obhayakr. tanirodha the state of nirodha achieved
 of the Lord as well
through both worship of the form or svarupa
as through actualizing the divine gun. as.

537

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

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A further explanatory note should to some extent clarify the confus

As mentioned several times, this topic is
ing topic of adhikara.
most fully explicated in Vallabhacaryas brief (and incomplete102)

 abheda

Pus. .tipravahamary
ad
(PPM), which divides pus. .tibhaktas (the
only ones eligible for nirodha) into nine levels. The basic scheme
of the PPM, which is applied throughout Pus. t.imargya exegesis, is
perhaps best framed by Purus. ottamas inquiry103 in his introduction to
the PPM: In this world, in which all jvas are equal in the sense of
possessing consciousness and being a part of the Supreme Lord, some
have the capacity for God-realization, some the capacity for attaining
the aks. ara(brahman), some the capacity for heaven, etc., and some
for blinding darkness. How is it, moreover, that we know from the
Vedas that their fruits are different, that they have differing natures,
that some, with their actions and bodies, act in a way opposed to their
nature, and that others follow their nature correctly?104 With this in
mind, the commentators, and probably Vallabhacarya as well (trusting
the interpretations of the commentators), correlate different types of
bhaktas with different verses of the NL as well as with different divisions of the tenth canto of the BhP. As succinctly as possible, this may
be summarized as follows:
Chapter divisions of 10th canto
(10.14: Janmaprakaran. a)
10.535 Tamasaprakaran. a
10.3663 Rajasaprakaran. a
10.6484 Sattvikaprakaran. a
(10.8590 Gun. aprakaran. a)

NL verse number
1
1
3

Type of bhakta

tamasa

rajasa

sattvika

The bhaktas classified in the first three verses of the NL are said to
resort to different practices which include some degree of self-effort


(bhavan
a).
 in the remaining verses is as follows (though I must
The adhikara
emphasize that different authorities provide slightly different schemes):
 Verses 48 refer to bhaktas eligible for the highest level of nirodha



(uttamadhik
arinah
specifically krtana and
. ). Their method is bhava,

gun. agana,
activities which flow naturally without the self-effort
that consciously strives to conform to established paradigms.
 Verses 1113 refer to bhaktas who practice kevalagun. akr. tanirodha.

 Verses 1419 refer to bhaktas who observe svarupagun
. obhayakr. tanirodha. Purus. ottama emphasizes that within this (exalted)

category, lower adhikarins
are referred to in verses 1416 (though

538

FREDERICK M. SMITH

some authorities disagree with this, stating that verses 1719


represent the lower levels of adhikara).
Now, having examined Vallabhacaryas concept(s) of nirodha in
detail, can we posit any direct influence from parallel concepts in


Buddhism, Yoga, Trika, or the Saiva
Agamas?
Vallabhacarya and his
commentators occasionally recognize a predecessor in Yoga, citing YS
1.2 (though they are quick to point out their differences), but they never
mention its occurrence in Buddhist or other texts. It is highly unlikely
that Vallabhacarya or any other Pus. t.imargya philosopher (including
Purus. ottama) read Buddhist philosophy,105 nor is there any evidence
that they had any more than a nodding familiarity with Kashmiri or

southern Saiva
texts. In spite of this absence of evidence from which
to speculate on Vallabhacaryas sources (beyond the BhP and probably
the YS), he employs the term nirodha in a manner consistent with its
usage elsewhere, at least in the fundamental sense of cessation from
psychological engagement with the ordinary world (though, as we
have seen, Vallabhacarya went well beyond that). Furthermore, as in
Buddhism and Yoga, Vallabhacaryas nirodha is both an epistemological
process and a positive ontological state to be attained or realized. And,
as in Yoga, Vallabhacaryas nirodha requires unification of the senses,

one-pointedness (ekagrat
a in Yoga), a single-minded focus on seva to
the Lord, regardless of whether it is external or internal.
The term san~n~avedayitanirodha, cessation of perception and feeling,
 1.184 indicates an epistemological process, as does
in Dgha Nikaya

the term nirodhaparin. ama
in YS 3.9, which indicates that nirodha is
itself a transformation. Similarly, the Pus. t.imargya terms karan. anirodha

and sadhananirodha
signify the transformative or processual aspects
of nirodha. In the latter case, it is Kr. s. n. as nirodha, identical with
 which is the instrument in the nirodha of the j
his llas,
va. As for
 records the term
nirodha as an ontological state, the Dgha Nikaya

nirodhasamapatti,
absorption in cessation, a state of realization that

Vasubandhu explicates with the term pratisam
which he
. khya-nirodha,
regards as the culmination of the Noble Eightfold Path. Similarly, YS
3.9 speaks of a moment of nirodha (ks. an. anirodha) while YS 1.2
regards nirodha as the final goal of the practice of yoga. These usages
of nirodha are consistent with the literal meaning of cessation and
constraint. But the semantic parameters relating to nirodha exhibit

definite signs of expansion in the later Trika and Saiva
texts, where it is
used to denote an energy or sakti and to designate certain ritual activities
and paraphernalia. In the BhP, a product of the same period as the Trika

and Saiva
texts (though it is difficult to demonstrate who influenced

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

: AN
: A

539

whom), nirodha also appears as a designation, for the tenth canto, and
 Following the BhP, Vallabh
acarya
implies a particular activity, lla.
 the energetic manifestation of Kr. s. n. a, an idea
identified nirodha as lla,
not very distant from the Somasambhupaddhatis depiction of it as a

sakti or manifesting energy of Siva.
Thus, for Vallabhacarya, half a millennium after the composition of
the BhP, nirodha was already associated with bhakti discourse and with
spiritual and ritual activity. Vallabhacarya understood the ascetic/yogic
background and function of the term, but developed it in such a manner
that the positive and complex bhakti associations became front and
center. In fact, the complexity was so great that Vallabhacarya was able
to distinguish several discrete states or levels of nirodha, as we have
seen at length. What all of this bespeaks is that even if Vallabhacarya
may not have been aware of all the applications of nirodha in other
schools of thought, he employed this relatively well-known technical
term in a manner consistent with its philosophical and theological
history, and subsequently built upon that history for his own purposes.
APPENDIX


 a 35 of Gokulanathajs Cauras

Bhavprak
as by Hariraya on Vart
Vais. n. avan
 a (pp. 22931).
k Vart

Once there were two brothers who were lla associates (sakhis) of Lalitaj.106
One, Raja Dube, had the lla name Kun~jar because he was skilled in the
construction of bowers (kun~ja), and it was from an arboretum that he manifested
 The other, Madho Du
be, had the l
in the lla.
la name Rasalika, because, just
as a bee (ali) drunk on the taste (ras) of fruit, he was, like that black bee
 And it is from that ras that
(bhramar), immersed (magna) in the ras of lla.
he manifested.
These two brothers were born into the house of a San~cara Brahman family.

 a marg
 and
who followed the maryad
Their father was a very great sadhu
  Thakurj. Whenever sadhus,
 a to Sr

performed puj
saints,
Vais
n
ava
renunciates
.
..
 
(virag
), and hungry people came to his house he attended on them lovingly
and would not let them leave without giving them food. He always kept

all night vigils (jagaran)
on the eleventh day after the new and full moon
 
(ekadas
). When Raja and Madho Dubes parents became old, they told their
two sons, Now, it would make us very pleased if you would take us to have
  Ranchodj (the great Krsna temple in Dvarika). So Raja and
darsan of Sr
.. .
.
Madho Dube rented a palanquin, seated their mother and father in it, and
  Thakurj as well. In this way they allowed their parents
left, taking along Sr
.
  Ranchodj.
to have darsan of Sr
.
  Ac
 aryaj had been staying for some days. It was
There, at Dvarika, Sr
during this time that Raja and Madho Dubes parents both left their bodies

540

FREDERICK M. SMITH

. ). Raja and Madho performed the required post-mortem rituals and
(deh chut

entered into the period of impurity that follows a death in the family (sutak).
During this time in which they were not supposed to engage in auspicious
actions such as entering temples, they decided to pass their time sitting on a
verandah. (However, they were allowed, according to rule, to attend lectures.)
So Raja and Madho asked various people if anybody was lecturing on the
 art
 a bhagavad-carca),
 as they
Lords life or telling stories of him (katha-v
 
could not pass their time in any other way. Somebody then told them, Sr
Vallabhacaryaj has come here in the course of his circumambulation of the
 and is telling very beautiful stories. So you go there
world (pr. thv parikrama),
in the early evening (tsre prahar), Raja and Madho replied to him, You
take us there today, then we will continue to go by ourselves every day.
The other person said, Okay. So, early that evening, Raja and Madho Dube
went there. After seating themselves at a distance, the two brothers did full
  Ac
 aryaj then said to them emphatically, Come forward. To
prostration. Sr
that, the two brohers replied, Maharaj, we are observing a period of ritual
  Ac
 aryaj replied to them,
impurity and are therefore sitting at a distance. Sr
You two brothers are always pure, so you can come forward and sit near
me. And if any doubt arises, inquire about it.
 
Then the two brothers, pleased, went forward and sat down. After this Sr


Acaryaj gave a discourse on the Nandamahotsava, the celebration at Nandas
house following the birth of Kr. s. n. a, which is explained in the fifth chapter of
  Bhagavat. During the discourse Sr
  Ac
 aryaj gave the
the tenth book of the Sr
two brothers the direct experience of the appearance of Kr. s. n. a during the lla at
 was over, both
Nandas house. Afterwards, when the entire discourse (katha)


of them performed full prostrations and asked, Maharaj, what can we do?
We are in a state of ritual impurity; otherwise we would have made a request
of you. Now our lives have become fulfilled, merely from enjoying your
  Ac
 aryaj said, I know the words inscribed in your heart.
darsan. Then Sr
You both are mine, attend to your ritual impurity later. I am accepting you
right here, as you are, and will fulfill all your spiritual desires (manorath); only
then will I go somewhere else. If you worry you can only make yourselves
anxious. Now go back to your lodging and come here tomorrow at this same
time. Then the two brothers performed full prostrations and happily went
to their place.

The whole night they remained immersed (aves)
in the experience of the
lla at Nandas house. After getting up the next morning the two brothers

spoke to each other. Now we have accomplished our goal (kr. tarth
bhaye).
  Ac
 aryaj is indeed the very manifestation of the supreme Lord (saks
 . at

Sr
purus. ottama), as he bestowed on us the experience of the true taste of the

Lords divine play (llaras)
in just one days discourse. Like that, they passed
the remaining days of their ritual impurity in this kind of joy.
On the eleventh day after the death of their parents, the two brothers took
a bath that terminated their period of ritual impurity, and very early the next
  Ac
 aryaj, Maharaj, take us into your
morning they made a request of Sr

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

: AN
: A

541

  Ac
 aryaj made the two brothers
refuge. Then, after taking his own bath, Sr
listen to the holy name and gave them brahmasambandh initiation. After
  Ac
 aryaj said, Now you perform the Lords seva.
 Raja and Madho
that, Sr
replied, Our fathers T. hakur is with us. Our parents followed the rule-bound
 a before they left their bodies. But, since your grace is upon us,
path of puj
we will perform seva in whatever manner you instruct us.
  Ac
 aryaj said, Go to the place youre staying and bring Sr
 
Then Sr
_ 
T. hakurj. So Madho Dube went and fetched the wooden box (jhamp
) that
  Ac
 aryaj then bathed Sr
  Thakurj in pan~cam
 . .rt (a mixture
contained T. hakur. Sr
.
of milk, yogurt, ghee, sugar, and honey) and poured the water from that bath
on the heads of Raja and Madho Dube. Then he instructed them to enter into
nirodh by removing their minds from all worldly things and perform seva on
the Lord. Then Raja and Madho Dube requested of him, O Maharaj, give
us a clear impression of nirodh.
  Ac
 aryaj answered, Nirodh has two modes, one of practice (sadhan

Sr
 and one of achievement (siddh dasa).
 The main characteristic (laks. an)
dasa),
of nirodh when it is practiced is that there is no enticement in the mind
 including things ordinary (laukik) or Vedic.
for the relative world (sam
. sar),
What should remain in the mind is, When should seva be performed?,
 a?.
 These should be your exclusive
When should I attend to katha and vart
interests. If the mind moves towards ordinary concerns, again pull it back
 You must realize that by taking refuge in the one Bhagavan, all
into seva.

your ambitions will be fulfilled (sab karya
siddh hot haim
. ). This is the state


of nirodh in practice (sadhan dasa).
 the
Now, with respect to nirodh as a state of achievement (phal dasa),
main idea is that your heart by itself has developed in its own nature a
condition of true accomplishment or perfection (siddh). Without meditation
  Thakurj, you cannot move into this
 on the image (svarup)
 of Sr
(dhyan)
.
place and will end up engaged in worldly or Vedic activity. Again, without
  Thakurj you can never arrive at that state. This
the mind engrossed in Sr
.
is nirodh as a state of fruit. Those who have achieved this are not affected
by the suffering, pleasure and various afflictions of the relative world. For
  Thakurj and the flavor of his l
 These are the
them the heart floats in Sr
la.
.
modes of nirodh.
Then Raja and Madho Dube made another request. Supreme Maharaj
 aj
 adhir

 these two modes of nirodh will be very difficult for us to
(mahar
aj),
 and you caught
achieve. Just as we were drowning in the ocean of sam
. sar
hold of our arms and gave us refuge, if you were now to bless us with the gift
 of nirodh then we just might experience a small measure of success.
(dan)

Without this we are not at all capable (samarth).
In this way, the two brohers
had within their nature the humility and simplicity that are seen in the tenth
  Bhagavat, called the Book of Nirodh (nirodh skandh). [Sr
 
book of the Sr
Vallabhacarya] then composed a work called Nirodh Laks. an and told the
two brothers that by reading this they would attain nirodh.

542

FREDERICK M. SMITH

 . t) to the two
Saying this, he gave nectar in the form of his feet (caran. amr
brothers [that is, he allowed them to touch the dust from his feet107 ]. At
that very moment, the hearts of those two brothers became supramundane
  Ac
 aryaj
 Then Sr
(alaukik), and they began experiencing the ras of the lla.
 For a person who has attained nirodh,
said, Now go home and perform seva.
excessive talking and roaming around the country are unnecessary. However,
since you are established in nirodh, if any exalted soul (daiv jv) comes to
make a sincere request of you, give them Bhagavans name. Then, if people
come to you for your company and give you their heart, they will also achieve
perfection of nirodh.
Whatever valuable items Raja and Madho had with them they gave as
  Ac
 aryaj and bade farewell, leaving Dvarika. The
gurus gift (bhet. ) to Sr
two brothers returned to their village, Man. und, and went to their house to
commence their seva for the Lord. They kept only enough in their house for
their own sustenance and spoke very little with others. Giving compassion
to others was their way of solving the problem of social relationships. These
two brothers maintained a life in which they told stories of the Lord and
  Thakurjs l

were immersed in the ras of Sr
las.
.
NOTES
Versions of this essay were presented at the VIII Vedanta Conference, Miami
University Oxford, Ohio, Oct. 31Nov. 2, 1996, and at the X World Sanskrit Conference, Bangalore, January 39, 1997. I am grateful to Gosvam Devaknandanacarya
of Gokul for shining his bright light on the texts and commentaries of Vallabhacarya
for my benefit. I am also heavily indebted to Lance Nelson for a critical reading on
an earlier draft, and to Shyamdas and Philip Lutgendorf for several suggestions.
2
Cf. the Jain S. ad. darsanasamuccaya of Rajasekhara (ca. 132575 C.E.) 138d:


nirodhas ceti tattvikam,
where nirodha denotes the path
duh. kham
. samudayo margo
to liberation.
3
One interesting technical usage I was able to find occurs in the sixth century
C.E. astronomer Varahamihiras Br. hatsam
. hita (5.47), where he says that a kind of
eclipse in which the darkness appears as a spot or lump in the middle of the body
hidden by the eclipse is known as nirodha (paryantes. u gr. htva madhye pin. d. kr. tam
.
tam atis. het / sa nirodho vijn~eyah. /).
4
Cf. Chalmers, 1932: 243, #1037.
5
 te / yattha nama
 n~ ca asesam_ uparujjhati /
yam etam_ apucchi, ajita, tam_ vadami
. assa nirodhena etth etam_ uparujjhati // Cf. Sangti Suttanta (Dgha Nikaya

vin~n~an
3.1.216.18) 10.18.
6 
Akasa in this sense is a subtle substance distinct from the negative concep asadhatu;

cf.
tualization of voidness elsewhere labeled by Vasubandhu as ak
. ya 1.28.
Abhidharmakosabhas
7
. yam,
Abhidharmakosam 1: 1924; cf. la Vallee Poussin, Abhidharmakosabhas
English trans., vol 1: 5961.
8
History of Indian Philosophy, I:124.
9
Cf. Noble Ross Reat, in the introduction to Potter, 1996: 53.
10

A vyama
as an arms length is clearly impossible here; cf. Monier-Williams,
p. 1038.
11
On nirodha in Buddhism, see also Banerjee, 1944; Cooray, 1963; Dutt, 1957;
Hakamaya, 1975; and Tamura, 1966.
1

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

: AN
: A

543

 nkar

_ acarya,
Whicher (1997) sees this sutra
as describing a process. Incidentally, Sa
. ya 1.2, merely states that nirodha is the
in his (disputed) Vivaran. a on Vyasas Yogabhas


 anyena laks. ayitum asam
 .
adhi
(na nirodhad
definition of asam
. prajn~ata-sam
. prajn~atah
 av
 at
 /). However, in his Bhas
. ya on
sakyate/ nirodha eva tu tasya laks. an. am anyasyabh
 nkara
 . yaka Upanis. ad 1.4.7, Sa
_
defines nirodha as continuous recollection
Br. hadaran




 . ).
n~anasmr
n~anatatsmr
of self-knowledge (atmavij
. tisantatih. , atmavij
. tisam
. tanah
13

On this sutra,
see also Rukmani, 1997.
14
Dyczkowski, 1992: 80.
15
 arik
 a
Cf. Padoux, 1990: 1034. Cf. Abhinavaguptas Vimarsa on Isvarapratyabhijn~ak

 asaktisamapasaran
 . amatram


ay
eva tu tatra upapadanam,
38.56: nirodhakabhimatam
only the complete removal of the power of illusion which is supposed to be the
obstructive or obscuring cause (nirodhaka).
16
Padoux, 1990: 103.
17
Padoux, 1990: 104, n. 52.
18

Somasambhupaddhati, p. xiv, p. 102 n. 3; also Mr. gendragama,
p. 162.
19
I have found no references in the writings thus far of Alexis Sanderson, though
I would not be surprised to find such references in the future.
20
Somasambhupaddhati, p. 188. Brunner-Lachaux comments that this and other
steps in the process are not explained sufficiently (Ils sont expliques plus loin)
21

Somasambhupaddhati, p. 210; cf. p. 332 as one of 24 upacaras.
22

 p. 74;
See Mr. gendragama,
p. 45 and photos following p. 42 (nis. .thuramudra),

cf. Somasambhupaddhati, pp. 18889 for nis. .thuramudra.
23
It is possible that Vallabhacaryas concept of devotion was based on the two
andilya; cf. Shah, 1969: 217.

texts of Narada and S
Bhaktisutra
..
24
Cf. Resnick, 1996: 135.
25
 balakrsna (Lalu
 . ava by Sr
) Bhat.t.a, pp. 156ff; cf. Das, 1986: 84ff.
Prameyaratnarn
.. .
26
 sayanam
~

 abhih
 .
nirodho syanu
prapa
n
ce
kr

d
anam
.
.
. hareh. // saktibhir durvibhavy
kr. .sn. asyeti hi laks. an. am / 10.14c15b.
27
Cf. also BhP 10.39.55.
28
Hein, 1995: 13.
29




Cf. Bhagavat
arthaprakaran
prapan~cad
. a 10.1718b: bhaktes ca suddhyatasiddhyai
 . am / asaktir



atmani
tatha nirodhartham
vinivaran
. na sam
. sayah. // prapan~cavismr. tis
 kr. .sn. asakti

s ca varn. yate Also, Subodhin on BhP 10.35.26; etc., and paraphrased
tasmat
 . ava, p. 158; Purus. ottama
often, e.g. on Subodhin on BhP 10.32.20; cf. Prameyaratnarn
on NL 1. For the convenience of the general reader, I use here the standard enumeration

in the tenth skandha. Vallabhacarya regarded 10.1214 as interpolations
of the adhyayas
 ay
 ah
. ), at least for commentatorial purposes. Thus, after the eleventh
(praks. iptadhy

adhyaya,
the Subodhin on the tenth skandha is numbered three short of the standard
enumeration.
 arthanibandha

(the
The prapan~ca or created universe is explained in the Sastr

panibandha), verse 23: prapan~co bhagavatkaryah
 .
first division of the Tattvarthad
 mayay
 abhavat


 ucyate // The created
tadrupo
/ tacchaktyavidyay
a tv asya jvasam
. sara
universe is an effect of the Lord. This form of his came about through his power of
transformation and delusion. It is said that the worldly experience of the individual
 a and avidya are
soul is brought about by that power of His (called) ignorance. May
two (of twelve) powers or saktis of the Lord described as goddesses or his consorts
in BhP 10.39.55.
30
Whicher notes, Through Yoga, the mind can be transformed, purified and liberated

concept of
from the bound state of affairs in sam
. yoga (p. 21). The yogasastras
sam
. yoga, namely contact with the relative world and the defilements that naturally
accompany it, is clearly different from Vallabhacaryas concept.
31

 is the primary word used for milkmaid in the Pus. t.imarga.
Svamin
12

544
32

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Thus it may be the bhakti equivalent of the nirodhaks. an. a of YS 3.9.


. svabhavato

 av
 aya
 sarvada // sravan. adi

Balabodha
16c17b: jvah
dus. .ta dos. abh

tatah. premna sarvam
. karyam
. hi siddhyati /
34
 a,
 and pus. .ti-pravaha

These are labeled pus. .ti-pus. .ti, pus. .ti-maryad
devotees in

 abheda

ad
(the fourth in the traditional order of the
Vallabhacaryas Pus. .tipravahamary
. ). For lengthy discussions of adhikara,

see Smith, 1987: 59ff., 121ff.
S. od. asagranthah
35
 . tto pi harau cittam




vyavr
s
ravan
adau
nyaset
sad
a
/ tatah. prema tathasaktir
.
.
vyasanam
. ca yada bhavet //3//
36

 abheda.

This doctrine is enunciated in the Pus. .tipravahamary
ad
37

. .
This is the subject of the Balabodha,
the second of the S. od. asagranthah
38

  12c14b: atmani

 hi chidra vyomnva cetanah
.
Siddhantamukt
aval
brahmarupe

 brahmatmatv


_ at
 rasthito yadvad devatam
.
//12// upadhin
ase vijn~ane
avabodhane
/ gang
tatra pasyati //13// tatha kr. .sn. am
. param
. brahma svasmin jn~an prapasyate /
39
Hariraya, a descendant five generations removed from Vallabhacarya, was an
older contemporary of Purus. ottama. His dates are traditionally given as 1591
1716, 125 years. His commentaries emphasize the more esoteric (prameya) aspects
of Vallabhacaryas teaching while Purus. ottamas emphasize philosophical proof
. a). The relationship between praman
. a and prameya is very important in
(praman

therefore both Hariraya and Purus. ottama must be read in order to
this sampradaya;
understand the full range of Vallabhacaryas texts.
40

 gr. harucih

Bhaktivardhin 4d: asakty
a syad
..
41
 tasya api aindriyakatvam eva.
vastutas tu prapan~cat
42
Nr.sim
. halalj descended from the lineage of Giridharj, the first son of Vit.t.halanathaj.
43
I had access only to a photocopy of a published edition of this without a title page.
In spite of all efforts, I am unable to provide full bibliographic details. However,
 am Manohar of Bombay is now in the process of re-editing this valuable
Gosvam Sy
commentary in preparation for future publication.
44

 abheda

The Pus. .tipravahamary
ad
is the most important of these texts as it establishes a nine-fold division based on whether the jva is pure (pus. .ti), in which case
 a),
 in which
bhakti is the instrument for realizing Purus. ottama, is limited (maryad
 aran
 . abhava)

case ordinary experience (sadh
is the instrument for achieving liberation

in which case divisive(mukti), or is simply part of the flow of the world (pravaha),
ness (dves. a) is the royal road to darkness (andhatamas). The other texts which rely
 the Bhaktivardhin ,
on this and other divisions are the Jalabheda, the Pan~capadyani,


I am currently translating all sixteen of
the Sam
. nyasanirn
. aya, and the Sevaphalam.
. .
the S. od. asagranthah
45
Cf. Smith, 1993. This is the previous text in the traditional presentation of
the sixteen texts. Though this order makes considerable logical sense, there is no
indication that Vallabhacarya composed them in this order.
46


 . prasasyate; Renunciation is praised
SN 7: virahanubhav
artham
. tu parityagah
only for the purpose of experiencing the state of divine separation from the Lord
(viraha).
47
Cf. Humphrey and Laidlaw, 1994: 212 ff.; Marglin, 1990: 220; and Case, forthcoming.
48

 . ah. kdr. sya bhavanay

 . kdr. so bhavah
 . sadhanat

.
tatra kdr. sasyadhik
arin
a jatah
am



 kena prakaren
 .a
prapnoti,
gun. as ca tatra badhakatvenokt
a api kdr. sadhik
are


ty ak
 anks
_ . otpadyate /
jvanahetutaya sadhakatvam
. prapnuvant
49
Cf. Subodhin on BhP 10.27.2 and the subcommentary by Lalu Bhat.t.a.
50

Bhagavadasakti
used here as an idiom and partial definition of nirodha is to be

as a stage of bhakti as expressed in the BV.
distinguished from asakti
33

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

: AN
: A

545

51


nirodhe casti
prakaradvayam
. , sagun. anirgun. abhedena, nirgun. e tv anyaiva
vyavastha / sagun. e tu niruddhabhaktadehasya bhautikataya nivartanyatvena

 . a nivartya deham alaukikam

aren
bhaktimargaprak
. llopayoginam
. sampadya
 . sthapayitv

 am
 . svasthan
 ad
 vimocayati, punah. taduparatau
a tato llecchay
svantah
 eva karotti lladvayam

svasritan
. sagun. anirodhopayogitvena nirupitam iti na
paramaphalatvasiddhivirodha ity arthah. /
52
In the Pus. t.imarga, the word Vais. n. ava is used exclusively to indicate members

of this sampradaya.
53
See Barz, 1976.
54
In fact, the form of the seva which is widely observed today was fixed only later,
by Vit..talanathaj. However, this does not preclude the likelihood that Vallabhacarya

instructed them in some form of seva.
55


 nirodhah. sa eva kr. s. n. e vyasanasya
yah. prapan~cavismr. tipurvakabhagavad
asaktir
upo
phalam.
56
See Bennett, 1993a.
57
The word alaukika is not easily rendered in English. For a good discussion of
it see Barz, 1976: 915, et passim.
58

_
 and not the
In the language of the sastra,
it is the anga
of the asrayabhava
_
angin.
59
Historically, this may refer to Vallabhacaryas real-time experience in the village
of Gokula, while in the last years of the fifteenth century Vr.ndavana may actually
have still been only a forested area, as the name indicates, and not yet a localized
settlement.
60
_
 . sa upasit
 a / sa vai me darsitam
satsangalabdhay
a bhaktya mayi mam
. sadbhir
an~jasa vindate padam //
61
 . matis tavad

_

.
nais. am
urukramanghrim
yadarthah. / mahyasam
. spr. saty anarthapagamo

 am
 . na vr. nta yavat

padarajo
bhis. ekam
//
. nis. kin~canan
62
 tathopayo

The first verse of the Bhaktivardhin reads: yatha bhaktih. pravr. ddha syat

 dr. d. he tu syat
 tyag
 ac
 chravan. akrtanat
 //1// The means for the
/ bjabhave
nirupyate
full development of bhakti is now described. When that seed experience [of devotion]

becomes firm, [bhakti matures] as a result of renunciation which is charac(bjabhava)
terized by listening to and reciting the names and stories of the Lord (sravan. akrtana).

 bhavah
 . bhagavadanugrahajanyah. prema,

bjarupo
Purus. ottama defines bjabhava:
 in seed form is love which arises from the grace of the Lord.
the bhava
63
BhP 7.5.23 describes nine aspects of bhakti: (1) hearing (sravan. am) the names and
stories of Vis. n. u, (2) singing his praises (krtanam), (3) meditating on him (smaran. am,

(5) offering worship to him
lit. remembering), (4) serving his image (padasevanam),
(arcanam), (6) prostrating to him (vandanam), (7) dedicating ones actions to him

(8) cultivating friendship with him (sakhyam), and (9) dedicating ones
(dasyam),

(sravan. am
entire life and being to him (atmanivedanam).
. krtanam
. vis. n. oh. smaran. am
.



padasevanam
/ arcanam
//)
. vandanam
. dasyam
. sakhyam atmanivedanam
64
 anus
 aren
 . a bhagavadgun. opabandhayuktapadavaky
 anam
 . krtanam.
rag
65
Cf. Smith, 1993: 151.
66
See, e.g., the introduction to Redington, 1983.
67
Masson and Patwardhan, 1969: 17273; cf. Ramachandran, 1980: 104: What
Abhinava describes as rasa is not the self freed from individuality but the generalized

 cognized by that self.
ava
sthayibh
68
 a described in the SN is muktyanga
_ or asrayabhav
 anga.
_
In other words, the bhavan
69


The seventh treatise in the S. od. asagranthah. is called the Antah. karan. aprabodha,
Awakening of the Inner Organ. The antah. karan. a is defined as consciousness (cit),

taken together as a single
mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ego (aham
. kara)

546

FREDERICK M. SMITH

functioning organ. Thus it is generally conceptualized as the awakened heart as the

organ of consciousness and intentionality.
70

ya premn. a sarvam



Purus. ottama: bhaktimargar
. gr. hadikam
. savasanam
. tyaktva.
71
Another good example is Abhinavaguptas description of his auspicious birth in

the first verse of his Tantrasara.
72
Vallabhacaryas life story is filled with tales of the miraculous, not all of which,
apparently, were post-mortem hagiography. His birth, the story goes, was prophesied
by Vis. n. u himself, who emerged from the fire altar of Vallabhas distant ancestor,
Yajn~anarayan. a Dks. ita, a Tailanga Brahman, informing him that He, Vis. n. u Himself,
would take birth in his family once he and his descendants performed a hundred
soma sacrifices. Eventually Laks. man. a Bhat..ta, five generations later, and settled in
Varanasi, performed the hundredth soma sacrifice. Shortly thereafter, Laks. man. a Bhat.t.a
and his pregnant wife Illamagaru were forced to flee Kashi in the wake of rumors
of invading Muslims. In the weariness of their flight back to their ancestral home in
Andhra Pradesh, Illamagaru, in the Champa forest in Raipur district of the present-day
Madhya Pradesh, gave birth prematurely to a son, apparently stillborn, on the eleventh
day of the dark half of the month of Vaisakha. The couple wrapped the child in cloth
and left him in the hollow of a sami tree before continuing on their journey. The next
morning, however, in response to a dream, Illamagaru led her husband back to the
site of the delivery and there discovered a newborn babe cheerfully playing, encircled
by flames, with a halo around his head. Thus Vallabhacarya refers to himself as
 to be an avatara
 of Agni as well
Agni. Indeed, he is considered in the sampradaya
 ara
 of Kr.s. n. a, an avatara
 of his mouth because he speaks the true
as a mukhavat
 an

word of Kr.s. n. a. The best known accounts of his life are the Gujarati Vallabhakhy
 vallabhadigvijaya, a Sanskrit work by one of Vallabhacaryas
by Gopaldas; the Sr
grandsons, Yadunathj; and several works in Braj Bhas. a by various descendants of
  Ac
 arya
 mad


 a,
 and Sr
j Mahaprabhun
k Nijvart
Vallabhacarya. These include the Sr
 aryaj

 k Gharu Vart
 a by Hariraya, and the Caurasi
 Bait. hak Caritra by
Vallabhac
Gokulnathj, another of Vallabhacaryas grandsons.
73
 . te kr. s. n. abhaktikr. t (v. 12), creator of
In the same stotra, he is called janasiks. akr

Kr.s. n. a bhakti in disciples; also sarvasaktah
. , clings with love to all (v. 27). The

Upanis. ad 4.14.1, 4.9.3, which state
commentaries also cite the following: Chandogya
that knowledge is valid when it comes through the guru; also BhP 5.12.12, 11.17.27,
11.29.6; and the introduction to the Subodhin, ch. 1, v. 5.
74

 . phalam
tadantikagatir nityam evam
. tadbhavanam
. sada / idam evendriyavatam
.

moks. o pi nanyath
a //
75
Cf. Bennett, 1993a.
76
I am indebted to Gosvam Devaknandana for this felicitous translation of the
word dos. a, one of those many Sanskrit words that has eluded proper characterization
in English.
77
 . hyaprakaras

 . tto bhajet kr. .sn. am
bjadard
tu gr. he sthitva svadharmatah. / avyavr
.
 a sravan. adibhih

 . tto pi harau cittam

pujay
nyaset sada / tatah.
. //2// vyavr
. sravan. adau

prema tathasaktir
vyasanam
. ca yada bhavet //3// Peter Bennett writes that vyasana
is the highest fruit of seva : : : , when devotee and Krishna enter into a state of
ecstatic mutual addiction and dependence on one anothers love. Krishna has fully
manifested himself within the devotee so that he can experience the indescribable
bliss of loving himself (1993: 74).
78
See the excellent discussion of this point in Bennett, 1993: 74ff.
79

 adibhir


nanu kalakarmasvabh
av
buddhinasodvagadidos
. aih. pratibandhasambhave

 iti cet.
aha
katham
. gun. agananirv
80
 tasya bhagavatah. adhyasah
 . sarvatravabh

 . so py avantaraphalatay

gun. agane
asah
a
samyak siddhivis. ayo bhavis. yatty arthah. , etc.

NIRODHA AND THE NIRODHALAKS

: AN
: A

547

 as asaktibhramany


 s
Thus, Purus. ottama glosses tadadhyasa
ayako
bhagavadadhyasa
ca sidhyati.
82
 sabh
 avagun

 . .tacittatvabh
 av
 abhy
 am
 . yuktibhyam
 anucintita tatha ca
sam
. sarave
. avis

 .
arah
tena madhyamadhik
83
The BhP authorizes eight types of material for the manufacture of an image:
stone, wood, cast metal, clay or sandalwood paste, a painting, sand, a mental image,

 laih lepya lekhya ca saikat /
or one made from precious gems (sail darumay
. .tavidhasmr
 . ta,
 11.27.12).
manomay man. imay pratimas
84
 svayam
 murti
 kr. tva hareh. kvacit / paricarya sada kuryat
 tadrupam
 .
tadabhave
. vapi

tatra ca sthitam // Note that paricarya is used a synonym of seva.
85


tatra murter
bhagavattvam
Vallabhacaryas own comments on
. tredha nirupayate,

 apradh


 Purus. ottama on 228.
asan
anabhedena
traividhyat,
228; jn~anabhaktyup
86
 aravy


 ca mantrasyapi
 vidhanatah


sak
apakatv
ac
bhaktya
. / srkr. .sn. am
. pujayed


arakaih
//
yathalabdhopac
.
87

_
Cf. Brahmavadasa
ngrahah
. , and the text included there by Hariraya titled simply
 (pp. 129).
Brahmavada
88
See Bennett, 1993: 66ff.
89

 an
 sutan
 gr. han

is. .tam
. dattam
. tapo japtam
. vr. ttam
. yac catmanah
. priyam
. / dar
. an
 yat parasmai nivedanam // Cf. BhP 11.2.42.
pran
90
 ragavin

snehad
asah. // Purus. ottama also cites BhP 2.4.16, 11.19.2024.
Sarvanirn. ayaprakaran. a 238 speaks of speaks of dharma in a more ordinary way:
Practicing ones own dharma energetically, abstaining from prohibited acts, and
complete control over the horses in the form of the senses are the three things which

 ca nivartanam /
must not be abandoned. (svadharmacaran
. am
. saktya vidharmac
 . sarvatha na tyajet trayam //)
indriyasvavinigrahah
91
Most of the commentators read utkars. o harivarn. ane for Purus. ottamas utkars. am
.
gun. avarn. ane. The nominative utkars. ah. makes better sense.
92
Vallabhacarya and his followers rarely use the term brahman, but aks. arabrahman,
or simply aks. ara, in its place.
93
. ya was composed by Vit.t.halanathaj. Vallabhacarya
This part of the An. ubhas
. ya through sutra

3.2.23, and the reaminder was completed
composed the An. ubhas
by his son; cf. English introduction to the text by M. T. Telivala, the original editor
 madbrahmasutr
 an
. ubhas
. yam, Caturtho Bhagah
 ..
(1927), reproduced in Sr
94
For examples, see Smith, 1987: 195, 296.
95
 svasiddhantavini

 a manas
 
natva harim
scayam / kr. .sn. aseva sada kary
. pravaks. yami
sa para mata //
96


 in the
This highly formulaic Upanis. ad is called Gopalottarat
apan
_
_ ekada hi vrajastriyah. sakam
 . ah.
Upanis. atsangrahah
. , pp. 59499. It begins: om



sarvarm us. itva sarvesvaram
gop
alam
hi
t
a
ucire,
and
states
at
the
end
its
affiliation
.
.
with the Atharvaveda.
97
The punctuation in the Upanis. atsam
. grahah. can be questioned. The text should
 . smr. tva agadh
 a gadh
 a (?)
read (formulaically) as Purus. ottama has it: yam
. mam







 bhavati,
m
am
smr
tv
a
ap
utah
p
uto
bhavati,
yam
m
am
smr
tv
a
vrat

vrat
bhavati, yam
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
 . smr. tva nis. kamah
 . sakamo

 . smr. tva asrotriyah. srotriyo
bhavati, yam
yam
. mam
. mam
bhavati : : :
98

Hariraya adds, more extensively: sadanandapurus
. ottamasya alaukike


 svarupam

 abhil

. arupe
 kame

urvakadharm
atr
as
/
sarvaparityagap
99
 . malarahitam
 . sarupam
 . bhagavatsambandhayogyatap
 adakam

ses. abhagam
. nayet

ity arthah. / Purus. ottama cites ChU, which speaks of the places in the body
prapayed
 . sa) reside: hair, fingernails, anus, pores, etc.
where impurities (malam
100

. asagranthah
. .
This is discussed in the Siddhantarahasya,
the fifth of the S. od
81

548

FREDERICK M. SMITH

 anekasaktibhih. karan. arupanirodh



 krd. an_ kurvan prapan~bhagavan
atmak
am




 aren
 . a prapan~cabh
 avar
 upa
asaktir
upanirodh
atmakavy
ap
cavimr. tipurvakabhagavad

 am
 . sampadayati

/
phalatmakanirodham
. sevakan
102
This according to sources as early as Vallabhacaryas grandson Gokulanathaj, and

including Purus. ottama. Rather, it is thought
confirmed by others in the sampradaya,
that part of the text was lost in its early transmission. Gokulan athaj writes in the

 av
 ad
 agre
sanabh
introduction to his commentary: yady apy atra granthopasam
. haradar

 agrimagranthasyaprasiddhatv

 yavat

tathapy
ad
prasiddha
pi grantho stti jn~ayate
 ata
 iti nanupapattih

 /
eva vyakhy
. kacit
103
In the colophon on his commentary on this text, Purus. ottama calls himself
Ptambara. The identity of Ptambara with Purus. ottama is mentioned by Telivala in
his introduction to the text.
104

iha hi cidrupatvena
bhagavadam
. satvena ca tulyes. u jves. u kes. an~cit
 . kes. an~cid aks. arasya kes. an~cit svargadeh
 . kes. an~cid andhatamasah.
purus. ottamapraptih


sa sruyata
iti kutah. phalabhedah. kuto va svabhavabhedah
. katham
. va kes. an~cit

 . ca tadanurupe
 :::
dehakriya itares. am
svabhavaviruddhe
105
I disagree with Jeffrey Timms peculiar and razor-thin premise that it is not
possible to understand Vallabhacarya without a prior knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, especially Candrakrti; cf. Timm, 1988.
106

  because
Harirayas Bhavprak
as is also often designated tn janma k lla val
it discusses three lives of each of the eightly-four Vais. n. ava devotees: their lives
and identities before taking brahmasambandha initiation, narrative accounts of their
association with Vallabhacarya and their lives as sevakas, and their identities and
 Rupert Snell comments: The narratives rest on an
associations in the eternal lla.
underlying assumption as to the nature of reality as perceived through bhakti, namely
that each devotee living out a life in the mundane or laukika realm exists also in a
transcendental or alaukika mode of reality in which he or she is one of the characters
in the eternal lla of Kr.s. n. a (1991: 37).
107

Probably this, contextually as well as following the practice in the sampradaya,
 . t as the water in which his feet had been bathed.
rather than caran. amr
101

REFERENCES
 arya:

Texts by Vallabhac
All of Vallabhacaryas writing, along with the commentaries
on his work, were edited by Mulacandra Tulasdasa Telvala (usually in collaboration
with Dhairyalala Vrajadasa Sam
. kalya) beginning in 1915 and ending with his untimely
death at the age of 39 in 1927 (see Mishra 1980). These works are gradually being
 am Manohar, a project begun in
reprinted, and sometimes re-edited, by Gosvam Sy
 am has added learned and
the early 1970s now nearing completion. Gosvam Sy
extensive Hindi introductions to each text.
 (all originally edited by Telivala and Sam
From the S. od. asagranthah
. kalya and
published by the Nirnaya Sagara Press, Bombay, between 192125):
 am
Antah. karan. aprabodha with five Sanskrit commentaries. Ed. by Gosvam Sy
  Kalyanarayajk Havel, Sam 2036 (1979).
Manohar. Baroda: Sr
.
.
 am Manohar. Bada

with three Sanskrit commentaries. Ed. by Gosvam Sy
Balabodha
.
.
2036
(1979).
Mandir, Bhulesvar, Bombay, Sam
.
 mad-Vallabhac
 arya-Mah


aprabhuJalabheda with four Sanskrit commentaries, in Sr
 am Manohar. Mot Havel,
. , Vol. 3 Ed. by Gosvam Sy
viracita-S. od. asagranthah
.
Mandv, Kacch: Sam
. . 2037 (1980).

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: AN
: A

549

 mad-Vallabhac
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Nirodhalaks. an. am with six Sanskrit commentaries. In Sr
 am Manohar.



am Sy
od
a
s
agranth
ah
,
Vol.
3
Ed.
by
Gosv
Mahaprabhu-viracita-S
. .
.
 mahaprabhujka Bada Mandir, Sam. 2037 (1980).
Kota, Rajasthan: Sr
.
.
 mad-Vallabhac
 with one Sanskrit commentary, in Sr
 arya-Mah


aprabhuPan~capadyani
 am Manohar. Mot Havel,
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viracita-S. od. asagranthah
.
Mandv, Kacch: Sam
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 am

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ad
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Pus. .tipravahamary
.
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Manohar. Baroda: Bait.hak Mandir, Sam
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 arya
Sam
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 am Manohar.



am Sy
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a
s
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,
Vol.
3
Ed.
by
Gosv
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. .
.
Mot. Havel, Mandv, Kacch, Sam
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 arya
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Sevaphalam
 am Manohar.

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Porbandar, Guj., Sam
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 am Manohar.

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aval
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 vitthalesaprabhucaranasrama Trust, Sam.
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..
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with eleven Sanskrit commentaries. Ed. by Gosvam Sy
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Manohar. Gokul: Caturth Pt.h, Sam
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Other texts by Vallabhac
 am Manohar.

  with nine Sanskrit commentaries. Ed. by Gosvam Sy
Siddhantamukt
aval
  Vallabhavidyaptha Sr
 vitthalesaprabhucaranasrama Trust, Sam 2036
Kolhapur: Sr
.
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..
(1979).
 maccaturthaprasthana
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 radasamaskandhasast
Subodhin: Sr
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 ayacatus
subodhinyam
. .tay with five Sanskrit commen am Manohar. Kolhapur: Sr
  Vallabhavidyaptha
taries. Ed. by Gosvam Sy
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 vitthalesaprabhucaranasrama Trust, Sam 2046 (1989).
Sr
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..


panibandh (saprakasah. ): Bhagavat


arthaprakarn
Tattvarthad
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  Vallabhavidyaptha Sr
 vitthalesaprabhucaranasrama Trust,
Manohar. Kolhapur: Sr
.
.
..
Sam
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panibandh (saprakasah. ): Sastr
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Tattvarthad
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dvayopetah. . Ed. by Gosvam Sy
.
 vitthalesaprabhucaranasrama Trust, Sam. 2039 (1982).
Sr
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.
..

Other texts of the Vallabha sampradaya:

aska by Purus. ottama, ed. by M.T. Telivala (1924), with introduction by
Bhavaprak
 am Manohar. Kishangarh, Rajasthan: Pusti Prakasan, Sam. 2038 (1981).
Gosvam Sy
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.


_


ngrahah
Edited with Hindi translation
Brahmavadasa
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astr. Kashi Sanskrit Series No. 61. Benares: Chowkhamba
_
S
by Pt. Harisankara
Sanskrit Series Office, 1928.
  Vais. n. avan k vart
 a by Gokulnathj with Bhavprak

as commentary by Harirayaj.
Cauras

advaita
Ed. by Br.jbhus. an. lalj Maharaj and Dvarkadas Parkh. Kankaroli: Suddh
.
2049
(1992).
Academy, Sam
.
 a,
 Gharuv
 art
 a by Hariraya, and 84 Bait. hak ke Caritra by Gokulnathj. Indore:
Nijvart
Vais. n. av Mitra Man. d. al, Sam
. . 2052 (1995).
 balakrsna (Lalu
 . ava, by Sr
) Bhat.t.a. Ed. by Kedarnath Misra. Varan. as:
Prameyaratnarn
.. .

Ananda
Prakasana, 1971.

Sarvottamastotra by Vit.t.halanathaj. Br. hatstotrasaritsagarah
. . Ed. by Gosvam
Devaknandanacarya. Ahmadabad: Govamin Parvatbahuj Educational and Charitable Trust, Sam
. . 2039 (1982), pp. 145ff.
Prakas by Nr.sim
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 am Manohar of Bombay.
re-edited and republished by Gosvam Sy

550

FREDERICK M. SMITH

Other texts:
astr. Varanas: Bauddha Bharat,
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Department of Asian Languages and Literature

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA, U.S.A.

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