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DVAITA PHILOSOPHY

Like Ramanuja Shri Madhvacharya espoused a Vaishnava Theology that understands Brahman to be endowed with attributes and a personal God, Vishnu . By Brahman , he referred to Vishnu, as per his statement (brahmashabdashcha vishhnaveva) that Brahman can only refer to Vishnu . Madhva states that Vishnu is not just any other deity, but is rather the singular, all-important and supreme one. Vishnu is always the primary object of worship, and all others are regarded as subordinate to Him. The deities and other sentient beings are graded among themselves, with Vayu , the god of life, being the highest, and Vishnu is eternally above them.

Dvaita, or Dualistic philosophy, also known as Bheda-vâda, Tattva-vâda, and Bimba-pratibimba-vâda, is the doctrine propounded by Ananda Tîrtha (also known as Madhvacharya) that asserts that the difference between the individual soul or jîva, and God,(Îshvara or Vishnu), is eternal and real. Actually, this is just one of the five differences that are so stated -- all five differences that constitute the universe are eternal.

The Dvaita doctrine was summarized by Vyasa Tirtha as comprising nine tenets or prameyas.


IMPACT OF DVAITA MOVEMENT


  • Madhva is considered to be one of the influential theologians in Hindu history. He revitalized an Hindu monotheism in light of attacks, theological and physical, by foreign invasion. Great leaders of the Vaishnava Bhakti Movement , in Karnataka, for example, Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa were strong proponents of the Dvaita tradition. Also, the famous Hindu saint, Raghavendra Swami , was a leading figure in the Dvaita tradition.


  • Madhva's theology heavily influenced those of later scholars such as Nimbarka, Vallabha, and Caitanya. B.N.K. Sharma notes that Nimbarka's theology is a loose re-write of Madhva's in its most essential aspects. Vallabha even "borrowed without acknowledgement" a verse from Madhva's `sarva-shAstrArtha-sangraha'. The followers of Caitanya claim a link to Madhva, though such a link is not historically tenable or theologically plausible.


  • Madhva's singular contribution was to offer a new insight and analysis of the classical Vedantic texts -- the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahma Sutra, Mahabharata, Pancharatra, and Puranas -- and place uncompromising duality, which had been ravaged by attacks from Advaita , on a firm footing. Before Madhva, Nondualism was rejected by others such as the Mimamsa tradition of Vedic exegesis, and by the Nyaya tradition of classical logic. However, it was only he who could build a cogent alternative system of Vedanta that could take on Advaita in full measure.



COMPARISON TO MAINSTREAM HINDUISM

Some teachings of Sri Madhvacharya look different from mainstream Hinduism. One example is his doctrine of eternal damnation. Generally Hindus believe in the eventual salvation of every soul. Many of the doctrines in the Dvaita traditions resemble those of strict monotheism that is predominant amongst followers of Semitic religions. Dvaita provides a greater role to Bhakti than other schools of Vedanta. Followers of Dvaita believe in the supremacy of Lord Vishnu over other deities including Shiva and do not believe in the Hindu concept of Trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva. Shiva is worshipped as a subordinate god. Though this appears intolerant, it is because of the strong monotheistic belief in a non-Impersonal god unlike Advaita for which the identity of God does not matter as it is Nirguna.
Historically Dvaita scholars have been involved in vigorous debates against other schools of thought, especially Advaita.


REFERENCES

  • Deepak Sarma, "An Introduction to Madhva Vedanta," Ashgate, 2003.

  • B.N.K. Sharma, `The History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and Its Literature', 3rd ed., Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.

  • B.N.K. Sharma, `The Philosophy of Madhvacharya', Motilal Banarsidass, 1986.

  • B.N.K. Sharma, `The Brahma Sutras and Their Principal Commentaries', 3 vols., Munshiram Manoharlal, 1986.

  • http://www.dvaita.org -- see especially section on Madhva at http://www.dvaita.org/madhva/ and on the nine tenets of his doctrine, at http://www.dvaita.org/shaastra/prameya.html .

  • http://www.dvaita.net

  • --- ''Bhakti Schools of Vedanta,'' by Swami Tapasyananda, available at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. available at India web site: http://www.sriramakrishnamath.org and US site: http://www.vedanta.com and http://www.sanskrit.org/Madhva/madhvateachings.html .




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SEE ALSO

  • Advaita , an opposing philosophy that rejects duality


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