Pushtimarg (), also known as Pushtimarg sampradaya or Vallabha sampradaya, is a subtradition of the Rudra Sampradaya (Vaishnavism). It was founded in the early 16th century by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531) and is focused on Krishna. A bhakti (devotional) school, Pushtimarg was expanded by the descendants of Vallabhacharya, particularly Gusainji. Its values are derived from and its universal-love-themed devotional practices center around the legendary amorous plays of youthful Krishna, such as those found in the Bhagavata Purana and those related to Govardhana Hill. Pushtimarg sampradaya recognizes Krishna by many names and epithets, such as Sri Nathji, Sri Navanitpriyaji, Sri Madanamohanji, Sri Mathureshji, Sri Gokulnathji, Sri Vittalnathji and Sri Dwarkadhishji. The Pushtimarg subtradition subscribes to the Shuddhadvaita Vedantic teachings of Vallabhacharya, one that shares certain ideas with Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita Vedanta. According to this philosophy, Krishna is the supreme being, the source of everything that exists, human soul is imbued with Krishna's divine light and spiritual liberation results from Krishna's grace. The school rejects ascetic lifestyle, and cherishes householder lifestyle wherein the followers see themselves as participants and companions of Krishna and their daily life as an ongoing rasalila of his creation. The Pushtimarg grew with the work and poetry of ashtachap – eight Bhakti Movement poets, including the blind devotee-poet Surdas. Its followers – called Pushtimargis or Pushtimargiya Vaishnavas – are generally found in northern and western India, particularly in and around Rajasthan and Gujarat, as well as its regional diaspora around the world. The Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara – north of Udaipur – is their main shrine, that traces its origin in 1669, when the subtradition lived in fear and felt persecuted by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. This Nathdwara temple is one of the wealthiest and more elaborate shrines of Krishna in India. Founder and History Vallabhacharya was born into a Telugu Brahmin family in South India, to a mother whose own father was a priest in the royal court of the Vijayanagara Empire. Vallabha's family fled Varanasi after they received rumours of an imminent Islamic attack on the city, then spent the early years with baby Vallabha hiding in the forests of Chhattisgarh. Vallabha had a conventional education in the Vedic literature and other Hindu texts. He worked in the temples of the Vijayanagara court, and then embarked on a years-long pilgrimage to the major sacred sites of Hinduism on the Indian subcontinent. He met scholars of Advaita