Vallabha

Vallabha
Personal
Born	1478-1479
Died	1530 Vāṇārasī (now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Religion	Hinduism (Vaishnavism)
Children	Gopinātha and Viṭṭhalanātha
Organization
Order	Vedanta
Founder of	Puṣṭimārga
Philosophy	Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha, or Vallabhācārya (1479–1531 CE) was an Indian saint and philosopher. He founded the Kr̥ṣṇa-centered Puṣṭimārga sect of Vaishnavism in the Braj (Vraja) region of India, and propounded the philosophy of Śuddhādvaita.

Vallabha studied Hindu philosopy from early age, then traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent for over 20 years. He became one of the important leaders of the devotional Bhakti movement. He won many philosophical scholarly debates against the followers of Advaita Vedānta. He began the institutional worship of Śrī Nāthajī on Govardhana Hill, and became the ācārya of the Viṣṇusvāmi school. He acquired many followers in the Gangetic plain and Gujarat.

Vallabha rejected asceticism and monastic life, suggesting that through loving devotion to the deity Krishna, any householder could achieve salvation. He authored many texts including but not limited to, the Aṇubhāṣya (his commentary on the Brahma Sutras), Ṣoḍaśa Grantha or sixteen tracts and several commentaries on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.