Vaishnavite (Vaishnava) See VAISHNAVISM.
Vaishya
Vaishya is the term used in the ancient fourfold
class (VARNA) system of India for the common peo-
ple, including merchants and agriculturists. The
earlier VEDIC term was Vish, from which the term
Vaishya derived. They were “twice-born” as were
the KSHATRIYAS (warriors) and BRAHMINS (priests),
being invested with the sacred thread at eight to
12 years of age to symbolize a new birth into soci-
ety. They were allowed to learn the VEDAS, though
they probably studied them much less than the
upper two classes. Vaishya merchants were known
for their early support of JAINISM and Buddhism (c.
800 to 500 B.C.E.).
Further reading: Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of
Hinduism (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1994); Utsa Patnaik, Peasant Class Differentiation: A
Study in Method with Reference to Haryana (Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1987); T. Ramaswamy, Mer-
chant Class: South India, 1336–1665 (Madurai: Mathi,
1997).
Vallabha (1473–1531) Vedanta philosopher
Vallabha was one of the great exponents of devo-
tional VEDANTA. He was born in 1473 to a Telegu
BRAHMIN, Lakshmana Bhatta, and his wife, Yel-
lamma Garu, a member of an influential South
Indian family. Her father had been a priest at the
VIJAYANAGARA court.
Vallabha’s father is said to have fled BENARES
(Varanasi) while his wife was pregnant with Val-
labha, because of a rumored Muslim invasion.
While he hid in the forest near modern Raipur
in Chattisgarh state, Vallabha emerged from his
mother stillborn—but miraculously came to life.
When the Muslim invasion did not take place,
Vallabha’s father returned.
As were many of the Vedantic ACHARYAS, or
scholar-teachers, Vallabha was a precocious child
who learned all the VEDAS and all the philosophi-
cal systems in four years of study. After his father
died when he was just 11, Vallabha spent the next
20 years wandering India’s sacred sites, remain-
ing unmarried. At a mere 12 years old, he is said
to have entered into a debate at the Vijayanagara
court. He emerged victorious against the views of
SHANKARA’s Vedanta (absolute non-dualist) on the
one hand and the views of MADHVA’S supporters
(dualist) on the other.
Vallabha stayed at the Vijanagara court for
some three years, learning the BHAGAVATA PURANA
and becoming familiar with the Madhva tradition
(which he did not accept). By now he had follow-
ers of his own, as his debating victory had greatly
enhanced his status.
At the age of 15 he set out on a long pil-
grimage to a great many of India’s sacred sites.
One story relates that at Kaundiya Ashrama (see
ASHRAM), Vallabha had a vision of the rishi (seer)
Kaundinya, who preached to him the path of
devotion, or BHAKTI; even the Vedas and the gods
do not know VISHNU, Kaundinya said; only the
one who concentrates his consciousness upon
Vishnu and serves him every moment can merit
that knowledge.
It is said that Vallabha spent time at the impor-
tant centers of RAMANUJA’s followers and Madhva’s
followers, learning all the nuances of the different
philosophies. Heading north, Vallabha arrived in
BRINDAVAN, the center of KRISHNA worship in India.
Here he made Krishna his Lord and received the
vision to establish a new sect, the Pushti Marga.
The last leg of this long pilgrimage took him
to the HIMALAYAS. After returning to stay with
his mother for one year, he headed to Maha-
rashtra and Pandaripura, where he encountered
the special form of Krishna, Vitthala. Here he
received the divine command to marry, as he had
up till now been a celibate, though not a SAN-
NYASI (renunciant). When he arrived in Benares in
about 1500, he encountered a man who offered
him his daughter in marriage.Vallabha 475 J