Madhya 19.61

Vallabha Bhatta was a great learned scholar of Vaisnavism. In the beginning he was very much devoted to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but since he thought that he could not receive proper respect from Him, he later joined the Visnusvami sect and became acarya of that sect. His sect is celebrated as the Vallabhacarya-sampradaya. This sampradaya has had great influence in Vrndavana near Gokula and in Bombay. Vallabha Bhatta wrote many books, including a commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam called Subodhini-tika, and notes on the Vedanta-sūtra, in the form of an Anubhasya. He also wrote a combination of sixteen short works called Soḍasa-grantha. Aḍaila-grama, where he was staying, was near the confluence of the Rivers Ganges and Yamuna on the other side of the Yamuna about one mile from the river. The village there is called Aḍeli-grama, or Aḍaila-grama. A temple of Lord Visnu there still belongs to the Vallabha-sampradaya.

Vallabha Bhatta was originally from a place in southern India called Trailahga. There is a railway station there called Niḍaḍabhalu. Sixteen miles from that station is a village called Kahkaḍabaḍa, or Kakuhrapaḍhu. A learned brahmana named Laksmana Diksita used to live there, and Vallabha Bhatta was his son. There are five sections of the brahmana community of Andhra Pradesh known as bella-nati, vegi-nati, muraki-nati, telagu-nati and kasala-nati. Out of these five brahminical communities, Vallabhacarya took his birth in the community of bella-nati in the year 1400 Sakabda Era. According to some people, Vallabha Bhattacarya's father took sannyasa before Vallabha's birth, and he returned home to take Vallabhacarya as his son. According to the opinion of others, Vallabhacarya was born in 1400 Sakabda Era on the Ekadasi day of the dark moon in the month of Caitra, and he took his birth in a brahmana family surnamed Khambhampatibaru. According to this account, his father's name was Laksmana Bhatta Diksita, and he was born in Campakaranya. In someone else's opinion, Vallabhacarya appeared near the village named Cahpa-jhara-grama, which is near a railway station named Rajima in Madhya Pradesh.

After studying for eleven years at Varanasi, Vallabhacarya returned home. On his return, he heard that his father had departed from the material world. Keeping his brother and mother at home, he went to the banks of the River Tuhgabhadra in a village called Vidyanagara, and it was there that he enlightened Krsnadeva, the grandson of King Bukkaraja. After that, he traveled throughout India thrice on trips lasting six years. Thus he passed eighteen years and became victorious in his discussions of revealed scripture. When he was thirty years old, he married Mahalaksmi, who belonged to the same brahmana community. Near Govardhana Hill he established a Deity in the valley. Finally he came to Aḍaila, which is on the other side of Prayaga.

Vallabhacarya had two sons, Gopinatha and Viththalesvara, and in his old age he accepted the renounced order. In 1452 Sakabda Era, he passed away from the material world at Varanasi. His book known as Soḍasa-grantha and his commentaries on Vedanta-sūtra (Anubhasya) and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Subodhini) are very famous. He has written many other books besides.