Vallabhacharya established what came to be known as Pushti Marg by first laying a clear philosophical foundation. He articulated the doctrine of Shuddhadvaita, “pure non-dualism,” in which Krishna is affirmed as the supreme Brahman and the world is understood as a real manifestation of that divinity rather than an illusion. This vision distinguished his teaching from other Vedantic schools and located liberation not in dissolution into an impersonal absolute, but in loving participation in Krishna’s eternal play. Through commentaries such as the Subodhini on the Bhagavata Purana and other theological treatises, he systematized these ideas and gave the emerging community a coherent intellectual framework.

At the heart of this framework stood the principle of divine grace, or pushti. Vallabhacharya taught that the soul is nourished and perfected primarily by Krishna’s initiative, so that liberation flows from grace rather than from personal effort alone. The rite of Brahma Sambandha, received as a divine revelation and then bestowed upon disciples, became the formal act of total surrender, dedicating body, mind, and possessions to Krishna. In this way, surrender and grace were bound together as the living core of the path, shaping an ethos in which the devotee’s identity is consciously reoriented toward intimate belonging to Krishna.

This inner orientation found its concrete expression in the centrality of seva, loving service to the deity. Vallabhacharya recognized and focused worship on Krishna in the form of Shrinathji, and around this form he developed an elaborate pattern of daily service: multiple darshanas, food offerings, adornment, and devotional arts such as music and poetry. The path did not demand world-renunciation; instead, it affirmed household life, encouraging devotees to transform domestic and economic activity into continuous service. Thus, both temple-based and household-based worship were woven into a single devotional fabric, allowing ordinary life to become a vehicle for unbroken remembrance.

To sustain this vision across generations, Vallabhacharya also shaped an institutional structure. He initiated many disciples, organized them into a distinct community with specific practices and lifestyle guidelines, and created a hereditary line of spiritual leadership through his descendants. Major centers of worship, especially in the Krishna lands of Braj, became focal points for this community, while his successors further developed temples, ritual systems, and seats of authority. Through this combination of philosophical clarity, grace-centered initiation, intimate seva, and stable lineage, Pushti Marg emerged as a distinctive Vaishnava path grounded in both contemplative insight and lived devotion.