This classic devotional masterpiece of Gokulnathji and Harirayaji, the life stories of Vallabhacharya’s 84 main disciples, was one of the first translation projects Shyamdas took up–beginning as early as 1978 by some accounts, and in print by 1985. Because his first translation (now long out-of-print) was a gloss that gave only a very condensed essence of the stories and their commentary, Shyamdas himself began a fresh, more thorough translation of 84 Vaishnavas in 2012, after finishing what was to be his final complete publication, the Shiksha Patra. Sadly he was not able to finish more than very rough drafts of about 1/3 of the text before leaving his body in January 2013.
Vallabhdas, who was Shyamdas’ editor and co-translator and has been trained extensively in the translation of Brajbhasha devotional works, is undertaking a new translation of the text. In the meantime we hope that lovers of varta literature will enjoy 252 Vaishnavas Part 3 and Krishna’s Inner Circle: the Ashta Chaap Poets.
