Was Vallabhacharya’s sect, a continuation of the Vishnusvami’s sect?

In about 1500 A.D. the theory of the four Vaishnava Sampradayas (traditions) took shape in north India and these Sampradayas were- the Sri Sampradaya founded by Sri Ramanujacharya, Brahma Sampradaya founded by Madhvacharya, Rudra Sampradaya founded by Vishnusvami and Sanakadi Sampradaya founded by Nimbarkacharya.

Vishnusvami, the founder of the Rudra Sampradaya was an acharya of the bhakti marga who belonged to south India. He is said to have written commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana and the Vedanta Sutras though none are available today. What we know of Vishnusvami's system is not from his own works but from those of others. Vishnusvami like Madhvacharya is a dualist and his system is precisely like the Madhva system with one exception. While the Madhvas do not worship Radha, Vishnusvami was the first Vaishnava acharya to recognize Radha as an object of worship along with Krishna. In Maadhavacharya’s (or Vidhyaranya who lived in 14^th century A.D.) Sarvadharshanasangraha, there is a reference to Vishnusvami’s devoted adherent, Srikanta Misra and to a work by him named Sakara Siddhi, the teachings of which are clearly dualist.

Probable date of Vishnusvami

Bhakta Mala, a work by Nabhaji records that Vishnusvami’s successors were Jnanadeva, Namadeva, Trilochana and Vallabha. Jnanadeva is the author of a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita and his work is dated 1290 A.D. On the basis of this information, J.N.Farquhar says that Vishnusvami was probably Jnanadeva’s senior by some 30 to 40 years. But according to C.Hayavadana Rao assigning this date seems too early for this would make Vishnusvami practically a junior contemporary of Madhvacharya, whereas the system of Vishnusvami apart from its philosophical aspects had nothing to distinguish it from Madhva’s. Hence the date of Vishnusvami would have to be fixed after Madhvacharya (1238-1317 A.D.) and may be assigned to about the close of 13^th century A.D., says C. Hayavadana Rao.

The sect of Vishnusvami was widespread and popular for centuries. The sectarian mantra of the Vishnusvamis are said to be Om Rama-Krishnaya Namah and Om Rama-Krishna Hari. With the rise of Vallabha sect in the beginning of 16^th century A.D., the sect of Vishnusvami was almost completely absorbed by the Vallabhas.

Vallabhacharya’s sect associated with Rudra Sampradaya of Vishnusvami

Though there is no connection in doctrines between the Vishnusvami sect and the Vallabha sect, tradition however identifies the Vallabha sect as a successor of the Vishnusvami sect. But no evidence for this, however is found in Vallabha’s own writings. Nowhere in his writings Vallabhacharya mentions Vishnusvami as his spiritual father. In fact Vallabha acknowledged no human teacher and says that he learnt his system directly from Lord Krishna. In one or two places Vallabha actually criticized the teachings of Vishnusvami as defective. Also Vishnusvami’s philosophy is dualistic and he regards Radha as a woman and Krishna’s mistress at Brindavan, while Vallabha’s philosophy is monistic and he holds Radha to be the eternal spouse of Krishna. Though it is generally held that the Rudra Sampradaya covers the Vallabha sect, the Vallabhacharis themselves altogether repudiate the title.

Reason behind this association

Some of the reason for connecting these two sects may be- 

• The traditional belief in the existence of only four recognized Vaishnava Sampradayas in the age of Kali made it obligatory for every new faith to have a link with one of them even if one wanted to start a Sampradaya of his own. For instance Madhvacharya who was initiated into the Advaita Sampradaya of Shankara later promulgated the Dvaita doctrine which was directly opposed to Advaitism. Hence it is very likely the tradition of connecting the Vishnusvami Sampradaya with Vallabha’s sect sprang up among the followers of Vallabhacharya in order to meet the criticism of its opponents that it was without a succession (Sampradaya) of any kind.
• It is possible that Vallabha’s own family belonged to the Vishnusvami’s Sampradaya or that Vallabha was influenced to some extent in his early life by the teachings of Vishnusvami.
• Another reason for this connection between these two sects may be due to the fact that a large number of followers of Vishnusvami sect joined the sect of Vallabhacharya, which perhaps meant its absorption almost into the sect of Vallabhacharya. 
• According to J.N.Farquhar, the idea that the two sects are one can be traced back to the middle of the 17^th century and was probably one of many means employed by the Vallabhas in the process of absorbing the followers of the Vishnusvami sect.

References

• Bhai Manilal C Parekh – Sri Vallabhacharya, Life, Teachings and Movement, Sri Bhagavata Dharma Mission, Rajkot, 1943

• J.N.Farquhar – An outline of the Religious Literature of India, Oxford University Press, 1920

• C. Hayavadana Rao, Edited – The Srikara Bhashya by Sripati, vol- 1, Bangalore, 1936

• O.B.L.Kapoor – The Philosophy and Religion of Sri Caitanya, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 1994