:: Introduction to Pushtimarg ::

The great compiler of the Veda and Puranas was Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana. He was said to be the twenty-eighth of the Vyasas or compilers of Vedic knowledge. After the compilation of Vedas, Shree Vyasa still felt unsatisfied regarding his works. He throught that although he has compiled the Vedas and discussed about the Brahman but the he has not discussed and compiled the divine sports of Lord shree Krishna. He was worried about the people of Kali-age during which, the paths described by him i.e. Karma, Jnana, Yog, Vedas would become difficult to be followed. Further, he thought to provide the essence of the all Vedas, which would make the people of kaliyug understand easily, the meaning of Vedas. As an outcome of this, sage Vyasa wrote Shreemad Bhagwat Mahapuran describing the divine sports of lord shree Krishna and discussing the essence of all Vedas for the kaliyug people and introduced the world with bhakti marg (path of devotion).

Several great acharyas (like Shankara, Nimbarka, Madhva, Ramanuja & Vallabha) discussed the Vedas and came to different vedantic thoughts, which gave rise to various schools of vedantic thoughts. The history of Vendata really begins with the system of Shankarachaya who propounded the theory of kevaladvaita. After him, other achayas like Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Madhva and Vallabha, appeared one after another. These thinkers happened to be followers of  Bhagwat school, could not accept Shankara's interpretation of the basic texts, namely the Upanishads, Bhagwad Geeta and brahmsutras and offered their own interpretations. Shankara could not naturally make much appeal to the masses that found sufficient food in the bhakti (devotion) schools of Ramanuj and others. In other words, jnana (knowledge) lost its previous hold and made room for bhakti.