The Dvaita Philosophy of Sri Madhavacharya

[Guest guest]

The Dvaita Philosophy Of Sri Madhavacharya

(Madhava was born in A.D. 1197).

 

Introduction

Sri Madhavacharya evolved a dualistic system of philosophy out of the

Prasthana-Traya, viz., the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the

Brahma Sutras. It is an unqualified dualism. Madhava's Vaishnavism is

called Sad-Vaishnavism, in order to distinguish it from the Sri

Vaishnavism of Ramanujacharya.

 

Madhava makes an absolute distinction between God, and animate and

inanimate objects. God is the only independent Reality. The animate

and inanimate objects are dependent realities. Madhava's Vedanta is

the doctrine of absolute differences. It is an Atyanta-Bheda-Darsana.

He insists on five great distinctions (Pancha-Bheda), viz.,

 

The distinction between God and the individual soul.

The distinction between God and matter.

The distinction between the individual soul and matter

The distinction between one soul and another soul

The distinction between one material thing and another.

Madhava's philosophy is a philosophy of distinction. Every follower

of the Madhava school should have a firm belief in this fivefold

distinction, known as the Panch-Bheda.

 

You can clearly grasp Sri Madhavacharya's philosophy if you study his

commentary on the Brahma Sutras and Anu-Vyakhyana, his commentaries

on the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, and his glosses on the

Mahabharata (Bharata-tatparya-nirnaya) and on the Bhagavata Purana.

 

Madhava's philosophy has many points in common with those of

Ramanuja. In Madhava's system of philosophy, Hari or Vishnu is the

Supreme Being. The world is real. Difference is true. All the Jivas

(individual souls) are dependent on Hari, the Lord. There are grades

of superiority and inferiority among the individual souls. Liberation

is the individual soul's enjoyment of its innate bliss. This is

Moksha or the final emancipation. Bhakti or devotion, without faults,

is the means of attaining Moksha. Perception, inference and the

scriptures are the three Pramanas, or ways of knowledge. Hari is

knowable only through the Vedas. Worship of Lord Krishna as taught in

the Bhagavat Purana is the centre of his religion. This is the

quintessence of Madhava's teachings.

 

 

The Categories

According to Madhava, Padartha or objective reality is of two kinds –

independent (Svatantra) and dependent (Paratantra). God, the Supreme

Being, is the only independent Reality. The soul and the world are

dependent realities. God rules them. The dependent beings are of two

varieties, - positive and negative. Conscious souls (Chetana), and

unconscious entities like matter and time (Achetana), are the two

varieties of the positive. Unconscious entities are either eternal

like the Vedas, or eternal and non-eternal like Prakriti, time and

space or non-eternal like the products of Prakriti.

 

The Supreme Being And His Consort

 

The Supreme Being is Vishnu or Narayana. He is the personal first

cause. He is the Intelligent Governor of the world. He lives in

Vaikuntha along with Lakshmi, His consort. He and His consort Lakshmi

are real. Brahma and Vayu are two of His sons. One can know His

nature through the study of the Vedas. He manifests Himself through

various Vyuhas or group-forms, and through Avataras (divine

incarnations). He is present in the sacred images. He is also the

Antaryamin or the Inner Controller of all souls. He creates,

maintains and destroys the world.

 

God is free from Doshas or faults. He is endowed with all auspicious

qualities. He is omnipresent or all-pervading and independent. He is

beyond time and space. He is greater than Lakshmi. There is no other

who is greater than Lakshmi. She is the foremost of the dependents.

Lakshmi is the Lord's Sakti or energy. She is the personification of

His power or creative energy. Lakshmi can put on various forms

without a material body. She is co-eternal with Vishnu and all-

pervading. She beholds the glory of Her Lord through eternity. She is

Nitya-Mukta, i.e., eternally free from Samsara. She is not affected

by sorrow and pain. She is intelligent.

 

Prakriti – The Material Cause Of The World

 

God is the efficient – but not the material – cause of the world,

because Prakriti, which is the world-stuff, is different from Him.

Prakriti is the material cause of the world. It evolves into the

visible world. All the objects, bodies and organs of the souls are

made out of Prakriti. God energises Prakriti through Lakshmi. Then

there is creation.

 

The three aspects of Prakriti are presided over by the three Powers

Lakshmi, Bhu and Durga. Avidya (ignorance) is a form of Prakriti. It

obscures the spiritual powers of the individual soul. It forms a veil

which hides the Supreme from the vision of the individual soul.

 

Mahat, Ahankara (egoism), Buddhi, Mind, the ten senses, the five

sense-objects and the five great elements are the modifications of

Prakriti. These exist in the primordial Prakriti in subtle forms

before their evolution.

 

The Worlds – A Reality Distinct From God

According to Madhava, the world is not an illusion. It is not also a

transformation of God, as curd is of milk. Madhava does not admit

that the world is the body of God. The distinction between God and

the world is absolute and unqualified. Hence the system of Madhava is

called Dvaita or unqualified dualism.

 

The Individual Soul – A Distinct Entity

Plurality Of Souls

 

There is plurality of Jivas. They are all of atomic size. The entire

universe is filled with Jivas or individual souls. Every atom of

space is filled up with Jivas. Madhava says in his "Tattvanirnaya":

"Infinite are the souls dwelling in an atom of space".

 

No two Jivas are alike in character. They are essentially different

from one another. There are different grades amongst them even in

their enjoyment of bliss after salvation.

 

A Real Distinction Between Jiva And Brahman

 

The Jivas are different from God, and from matter. Madhava regards

the distinction between Brahman and Jiva as real.

 

Though the Jiva is limited in size, it pervades the body owing to its

quality of intelligence. The Jivas are active agents, but they depend

on the guidance of the Lord. The Lord impels the Jivas to action in

accordance with their previous conduct. They are eternal, and by

nature, blissful. But, the connection with material bodies due to

their past Karma makes them suffer pain and undergo transmigration.

So long as they are not freed from their impurities, they wander

about in the Samsara. They pass from birth to death, and from death

to birth. When their impurities are removed, they attain salvation.

The natural bliss of the soul becomes manifest at the time of Moksha

or salvation.

 

Salvation Does Not Entitle The Soul

To Equality With God

The soul does not attain equality with God. It is entitled only to

serve Him.

 

Even in heaven, there are essential differences among the Jivas. The

classes of souls in the realm of bliss are various. There are

different grades also. The liberated souls are not all equal; but

there is no discord among them, because they all know Brahman and

have no faults.

 

Classification Of Souls

Madhava accepts Ramanuja's classification of the souls into

 

Nitya or eternal (like Lakshmi),

Mukta or liberated (the gods, men, Rishis, sages and fathers), and

Baddh or bound ones.

The third group consists of two classes:

 

Those who are eligible for Moksha (Mukti-yogya)

B. Those who are not so eligible.

 

Of those who are not eligible for salvation, there are two classes

again:

 

Those who are bound to the cycle of Samsara forever (Nitya-

Samsarins), and

Those whose destiny is hell, the region of blinding darkness (Tamo-

yogya).

Some are pre-ordained for the final emancipation by their inherent

aptitude. Some others are eternally destined either to wander in

Samsara without end, or to go to the world of darkness. The Sattvika

souls go to heaven, the Rajasa souls revolve in Samsara and the

Tamasa souls fall into hell.

 

Bhakti – The Means To Salvation

 

Bhakti is the means to salvation. Souls attain salvation through the

grace of God. That grace comes on the devotee only through the

mediator Vayu, the son of Vishnu. God cannot be approached directly.

Vayu is the mediator. The grace of the Lord is in proportion to the

intensity of devotion.

 

Worship of God is the indispensable preliminary condition for

obtaining the grace of God. The soul is saved by the knowledge that

it is dependent on God and is under His control. Correct knowledge

results in the love of God. Bhakti is the result of knowledge of the

greatness of God.

 

Ankana, Namakarana, Bhajana and Smarana

 

The worship of Vishnu consists in

 

Ankana, marking the body with His symbols.

Namakarana, giving the Names of the Lord to Children

Bhajana, singing His glories

Smarana, constant practice of remembrance of God.

Madhava says: "Form a strong habit of remembering God. Then only it

will be easy for you to remember Him at the moment of death."

 

He pointed out that when the Lord incarnated, no Prakrita Deha or

material body was put on by Him. Madhava has prescribed a rigorous

kind of fasting to his followers.

 

Practice Of Sadhana

 

Good moral life is a preliminary for Moksha. The aspirant should

equip himself with the study of Vedas, control of the senses,

dispassion and perfect self-surrender, if he wants to have vision of

the Lord. Renunciation, devotion and direct cognition of the Lord

through meditation, lead to the attainment of salvation. The devotee

attains direct intuitive realisation of God through meditation and

divine grace. Then he is freed from the round of births and deaths.

 

These are some of the important teachings of Sri Madhavacharya, the

renowned exponent of the dualistic school of philosophy.

[Aham]

The name is Sri MADHVACHARYA