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RELIGIOUS SECTS
of Goloka, but destined to inhabit the Groves of Brindávan, are produced from the same exalted source.
In this description of creation, however, the deity is still spoken of as a young man, and the Puráňa therefore affords only indirect authority in the marvels it narrates of his infancy for the worship of the child. Considering, however, that in this, or in any other capacity, the acts of the divinity are his Lilá, or sport, there is no essential difference between those who worship him either as a boy or as a man, and any of his forms may be adored by this class of Vaishnavas, and all his principal shrines are to them equally objects of pilgrimage. As the elements and chief agents of creation are thus said to proceed from the person of KRISHNA, it may be inferred that the followers of this creed adopt the principles of the Vedanta philosophy, and consider the material world as one in substance, although in an illusory manner, with the supreme. Life is also identified with spirit, according to the authority of a popular work?. None of the
According to the Várttá, VALLABIIA advocated this doctrine with some reluctance, by the especial injunction of the juvenile Krishna:
तब श्री आचार्य जी ने कहा । जो तुम जीव को स्वभाव जानती हो दोषवंत है। तो तुम सो सम्बन्ध कैसे होय। तब श्री आचार्य जी सो श्री ठाकुर जी कहे। जो तुम जीव को ब्रह्म सम्बन्ध करो
हो तिन को अङ्गीकार करोगों॥ “Then Achárj Ji said, you know the nature of Life, it is full of defects, how can it be combined with you? to which Sri Thakur Ji (KKISIIŃA) replied: Do you unite Brahma and Life in
