Along with his Commentary on the Brahma-Sutras (Anubhasya), his Commentary on the Bhagavata Purana (Subodhini), and other writings, the Hindu founder-saint Vallabhacharya (c 1479-1531) wrote, by way of practical help on the path of devotion for his disciples and followers, Sixteen Versetreatises (Sodasagranthah). This volume presents both translation and interpretation, based upon traditional and contemporary commentaries, of these verse-treatises. It is the first such presentation in a Western language. These short treatises may be characterized as the practical theology of Vallabhacharya’s Path of Grace (pustimarga). For he wrote most of them in response to the questions of specific disciples, about central topics of the path of loving devotion to Lord Krishna, such as-worship (seva) of the Lord, the path of grace and the other paths, initiation to this path of worship and grace, worries about worship, refuge in and surrender to Lord Krishna, commands given by the Lord or one’s guru, how love of the Lord grows stronger, whether renunciation (samnyasa) might help or hinder that love, the constraint (nirodha) by which Krishna loves the devotee, and the reward of such worship, among other topics. The Grace (pusti, anugraha, prasada) by which Lord Krishna chooses a person for such a path is arguably the central theme of these verse-treatises. Hence the book’s title.
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