Dvaita and Advaita

[Guest guest]

Beyond Sri Mani"s very good summary of the two

Vedantic Schools, I will add some background material

to gain a perspective on Madhvaacharya and his differences

with the Advaita doctrines established by Adi Sankara.

 

Madhva or Ananda Tirtha lived from 1238-1317 AD. He strongly

disagreed with Mayaavaada of Sankara . He was a pragmatic

person , who fought the pessimism of the times (Thirteenth Century)

with the development of a Vedantic System of his own drawing

inspiration from the " Buoyant realism of the Vedas, The transcendental

theism of the Upanishads and the emotional theism of the epics and

Puranas ."He installed a beautiful Archa of Sri Krishna at Uduppi and

imposed the rigorous observance fo fasts on Ekadasis. He held to the view

that the soul of man is potentially divine (Aprameyaeh Iswara svarupatvaat),

but man in the ignorance of his true status, has so much lost his soul to

his body and its cravings that he requires to be roused from his

Avidya nidra by God himself or by His great messengers from time to

time.

 

He was a prolific writer, particularly in Sanskrit. His favorite Vedam is Rg

Vedam.

He wrote a commentary on it. His favorite Upanishad is Aitreyam. He has been

distinguished by his great dependence on Rg Veda compared to other

Vedantins. He can be very poetical at times . He was a mystic, logician and

skilled in handling of dialectical subtelities.In his commentary on Aitreya

Upanishad,

his mystic nature helps him to pour out his sentiments on the eternal glory

and majesty of Vishnu . He says: " the voice of clouds, the music of the

spheres, the fury of the winds, the roar of the waves of the ocean,

the names of the Gods and Sages are the names of the supreme and voice HIS

eternal glory and majesty."

 

he left us 37 works. 31 of them are major works, the rest being stotras and

miscellaneous works. Among major works, the commentaries on the

Prasthaana Trayi , Bhashyas on ten major upanishads, Rg Veda and

Bhagavata Puraana and Maha Bharatha are important testimony to his

erudition and depth. He s strongly believed that the "divided allegiance

between Saguna and Nirguna is not conducive to sincerity of thought or

belief."He identified the Brahman of Vedanta with VISHNU . He pointed out that

the

Advaitic canvass has a significant content regarding Saguna Brahman.He

showed that the failure of the Godless ritualism of the Purva Mimaamsaa

and the agnosticism of the Samkhya were conclusive proofs that the

development of philosophy without inclusion of theism had no chance for

survival. He has opined that the "acceptance " & establishment of

the ShaN Mathaas Adi Sankara is a standing proof of the inevitable reign of

religion

in contemproary philosophy. The strong devotional traditions of the

Haridasa Kuta centered around Udipi and Karnataka , the cult of devotion for

Viththalaa

in Maharashtra, the literary works of distinguished Dasas like Sripaada Raja,

Purandara Dasa,

Kanaka Dasa, Vyasa Raja, Gopala Dasa,and Vadhi Raja(the great Hayagriva

Upasakar)

reached all classes and communities especially in Karnataka. This Haridasa

movement

placed a rich menu of religion and morality before the Kaandigas and others.

It preached the philosophy of Naishkarmya, as intrepreted by Madhvaacharya,

that the enlightened action in a spirit of devotion and dedication to God is a

central

theme in the Sad Darsanas of India, where the ideal of Moksha dominates as the

ulitmate goal of Humans .

 

Inspite of my own strong faith and trust in Bhagavat Ramanuja Siddhantham and

the greatness of Acharyas like Ramanuja and Swami Desikan, I take time to salute

the

efforts ,the achievements and legacy of Acharyas like Madhva.

 

Sadagopan