Vitthalnath
(r. 1566–1585) Second guru of the
Pushti Marg(a religious community),
which was founded by his father,
Vallabhacharya. Vitthalnath continued
the consolidation of the Pushti Marg, in
particular the organization of its rites,
and in fostering the composition of
songs and poetry to accompany them.
According to tradition, the eight poets
known as the ashtachapwere all active
during his tenure, although four of them
are more closely associated with his
father. The four poets associated with
Vitthalnath were clearly members of the
Pushti Marg, for among their poetry can
be found hymns praising him and his
leadership. He was succeeded by his son
Gokulnath, under whose direction the
lives of these and other saints were final-
ly written down, with each being given a
Vallabhiteemphasis.
Vivaha (“uplift”) Samskara
Traditionally, the fifteenth of the life-
cycle ceremonies (samskaras), in which
a man and woman became husband
and wife. Except for those rare individu-
als who remained lifelong celibates
(naisthika brahmacharin), marriage
was an essential element in the life
of every man (and woman), since the
children procreated through marriage
allowed him to retire one of the three
debts, this one to the ancestral spirits
(pitr). One mark of the importance given
to marriage can be seen in the literal
translation of the word vivaha—it
signifies that by which a man is
“uplifted” and made complete. Given
the stress on family in Indian society,
marriage has also been a gravely
important matter, and for many
Indians, it remains the most important
day of their life. The dharma
literature underlines the importance of
marriage by cataloging eight different
forms. See also marriage, eight
classical forms.
Vivarana Advaita
One of the later schools of Advaita
Vedanta, a philosophical school, the great-
est figure in which was Shankaracharya.
The Advaita school upholds a philosophi-
cal position known as monism, which is
the belief in a single impersonal Ultimate
Reality, which they call Brahman. For
Advaita proponents, reality is “nondual”
(advaita)—that is, all things are nothing
but the formless Brahman, despite the
appearance of difference and diversity in
the perceivable world. For the Advaitins,
this assumption of diversity is a funda-
mental misunderstanding of the ultimate
nature of things and a manifestation
of avidya. Although often translated as
“ignorance,” avidya is better understood
as the lack of genuine understanding,
which ultimately causes human beings
to be trapped in karmic bondage,
reincarnation (samsara), and suffering.
Because the real problem for the
Advaitins is this mistaken understanding,
this means that realization (jnana)
was the best spiritual path to gain final
liberation (moksha).
The Vivarana Advaita school is based
on the thought of Padmapada(9th c.),
one of Shankaracharya’s disciples,
but takes its name from a commentary
written by the thirteenth-century
Prakashatman. The latter is traditionally
a disciple of Padmapada’s, but this seems
problematic. As with the Bhamati
school, the Vivarana school took defini-
tive stands on several points on which
Shankaracharya had remained silent.
One of these was on the locus of igno-
rance, which the Vivarana school
describes as being located in Brahman.
In explaining how this can be, since it
seems to compromise the integrity of
Brahman, the Vivarana Advaitins invoke
the theory of reflectionismto explain the
apparent difference between Brahman
and the Self, although, in fact, the Selves
are identical with Brahman. Their posi-
tion seems based more than anything on
an uncompromising affirmation of
Brahman as the sole “reality,” in which
anything that exists must belong to it.Vitthalnath