Restoring Ānanda : philosophy, aesthetic, experience, and ritual in Puṣṭimārga Vaiṣṇavism

This thesis examines the interrelation between ritual (seva), aesthetic experience, and philosophy in the Puṣṭimarga Vaiṣṇava bhakti tradition of Vallabha (ca.1479-1531). In Vallabha's Suddhadvaita ("pure non-dual") philosophy, Kṛṣṇa is described as the embodiment of bliss or ananda. At the moment of creation, Kṛṣṇa manifests the world and individual souls (jivas) out of himself, but conceals the ananda within the jivas, and subjects them to his power of ignorance (avidya). Thus, jivas are in the search for restoring their ananda, which can only occur as a result of being in Kṛṣṇa's presence. I argue that it is by performing ritual that Puṣṭimarga devotees experience Kṛṣṇa's eternal lila ("play" or "sport"), transcend their states of avidya, and permanently restore their ananda. In Puṣṭimarga, emotion (bhava) is both the path to experiencing Kṛṣṇa and the goal of this path in and of itself. Puṣṭimarga theologians validate the salvific role of emotion by invoking Sanskrit aesthetic theory. I argue that aesthetic experience is central to Puṣṭimarga ritual (including offerings of music, food and ornamentation) on the one hand, and also qualifies liberation itself on the other