Introduction
The Pushtimarg and its Devotional Aesthetics The Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta (Chronicle of 84 Vaishnavas) manuscript under study here invites the reader-viewer into the broader devotional world of the Pushtimarg (Path of Grace), a Hindu tradition known for its literary and visual culture that focuses on the seva (loving service) of Krishna. As with many Hindu deities, Krishna’s depiction in South Asian literature and art is variegated and spans centuries. The deity’s multifaceted character is also evident in the devotional aesthetics of the Pushtimarg, though the Krishna of this tradition is most frequently characterized by a playful and child-like tenderness. This form of the deity may therefore seem somewhat far removed from the formidable philosopher Krishna of the popular Sanskrit text, the Bhagavadgita. While Krishna’s playful character in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta differs in many ways from his counterpart in the Bhagavadgita, the two texts share analogous episodes that illuminate an essential quality of the god which is familiar across different textual and visual registers: his ability to bridge the worldly and the other-worldly. The Bhagavadgita episode in question recounts the moment when Krishna, as charioteer and counsellor to the Pandava warrior Arjuna, manifests himself as Vishvarupa (the Universal Form) who towers magnificently over the Kurukshetra battlefield. Arjuna, who has been seeking Krishna’s counsel on the nature of duty and action, becomes overwhelmed by this theophany and requests that Krishna return to his more approachable human-like form. Obliging, Krishna shrinks in size, and Arjuna ultimately emerges from the awesome experience with newfound conviction to fulfill his personal dharma to fight in the Mahabharata war. The episode therefore establishes Krishna’s divinity as well as his sensitivity to Arjuna’s limited capacity to behold the other-worldly Vishvarupa. The Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta’s analogous story also relates to Krishna’s magnitude and divinity
on earth. Here, though, the message shifts to focus squarely on the necessity of loving and caring for Krishna as a divine and delightful child. The Pushtimargi story in question introduces a newly initiated follower of the Pushtimarg, Padmanabhadas, who is well-read in Hindu scriptures, including the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavadgita is a distinctive part. Because of his own self-perceived erudition, Padmanabhadas finds it difficult to learn the ways of Pushtimargi worship, which emphasizes the loving service of Krishna as a svarup (divine image) cared for in the privacy of devotees’ homes. The scholarly Padmanabhadas proclaims to his guru, Vallabhacharya, that should he witness Krishna’s greatness with his own eyes he would more easily be persuaded to tenderly care for a small, humble form of the god in his own home. Characteristically, Krishna overhears his devotee’s wish and obliges Padmanabhadas by emerging from the banks of the Yamuna River in a form as large as a palm tree, proclaiming to Vallabhacharya, who is with Padmanabhadas to witness Krishna’s emergence from the riverbank, “perform my seva.” Vallabhacharya speaks directly to the palm tree-sized god, explaining that in this day and age there is nobody capable of caring for such a massive svarup! After all, how could a human devotee ritually adorn or offer affection to such a towering deity? Hearing this, the enormous form of Krishna comes to sit in the lap of Padmanabhadas’s guru, immediately shrinking in size so that the deity’s head just reaches the top of Vallabhacharya’s chin. Vallabhacharya then bestows the now child-sized svarup upon the humbled Padmanabhadas who then learns the way of loving devotion and discards all scholarly hubris. While in some ways radically different from the well-known Vishvarupa scene in the Bhagavadgita, the story of Padmanabhadas, like those of his fellow devotees who appear in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta, similarly reminds the reader of Krishna’s ability to bring divinity lovingly into the human world.
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