Vallabha Acharya - Establishment of Pushti Margam (literally, The Path of Grace)

Establishment of Pushti Margam (literally, The Path of Grace)

It is believed that when Vallabhacharya entered Gokul, he thought about the important question of restoring people to the right path of devotion. He meditated on Krishna who appeared to him in a vision in the form of Shrinathji, deity discovered by Madhavendra Puri and disclosed the 'Brahma Sambandha' (Sanskrit for - "Relation with Brahman, the supreme Godhead"), a mantra of self dedication or consecration of self to Krishna. During that time Damodardasa was sleeping next to him. In the early morning, Vallabhacharya related this experience to his worthiest and most beloved disciple, Damodardasa and asked him - “Damala, did you hear any voice last night” ? Damodaradasa replied that "I heard something but was not able to understand the meaning of it." Vallabhacharya then explained the meaning of the mantra and at that time he became the first Vaishnava initiated by Vallabhacharya. He wanted to preach his message of devotion to God and God’s grace called Pushti - Marga. He undertook three pilgrimages of India. He performed the initiation ceremony of religious rite by conferring on them ‘NamaNivedana’ mantra or ‘Brahma Sambandha’ mantra. Thousands became his disciples, but 84 devoted servants are most famous and their life has been documented in Pushti Marg literature as the ‘Story of 84 Vaishnavas’. He also met Vyas in his Himalayan cave and discussed about Krishna and his flute.