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Philosophy: Madhva and Brahma-Mimansa | History Optional for UPSC (Notes)

Madhvacharya and the Dvaita School of Vedanta

  • Madhvacharya was a prominent figure in the 13th century who founded a sect within Vaishnavism based on the Bhagavat Purana.
  • Born in Kalyanapur, near Udipi in South Kanara, he initially studied advaita philosophy but later diverged from it.
  • After becoming a sanyasi and earning the title Purna Prajna(fully enlightened), he engaged in a debate in Trivandrum against an acharya from Sringeri, which led to his persecution.
  • He traveled extensively in North India, faced numerous challenges, and eventually reached the Himalayas, where he wrote a commentary on the Vedanta Sutras.
  • Upon returning to Udipi, he established a temple dedicated to Krishna and dedicated the rest of his life to preaching.
  • He authored commentaries on the Upanishads and a companion volume to the Mahabharata, which holds significance for the Madhva community.
  • Madhva’s teachings emphasized bhakti(devotion) to Krishna, with no place for Radha. He revered all avatars of Vishnu, worshipped Shiva, and recognized the five gods of the Smartas.
  • He developed the philosophy of Dvaita(dualism) as opposed to Shankara’s Advaita(monism) and Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita(qualified monism).
  • Madhva proposed five eternal distinctions:god and individual soul,god and matter,individual soul and matter,one individual soul and another, and one material thing and another.
  • He taught that Atman(individual soul) and Brahman(ultimate reality, God Vishnu) are fundamentally different, with the individual soul dependent on Brahman but never identical to it.
  • Madhva’s theistic dualism contrasted with the nondualism of Advaita and the qualified nondualism of Vishishtadvaita.
  • He criticized the teachings of Adi Shankara and Ramanuja, asserting that liberation is attainable only through God's grace.
  • The Dvaita school he founded significantly influenced Vaishnavism, the Bhakti movement in medieval India, and became one of the three major Vedanta philosophies alongside Advaita and Vishishtadvaita.

Question for Philosophy: Madhva and Brahma-Mimansa
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Which philosophy did Madhvacharya develop as opposed to Shankara's Advaita and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita?
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Nimbarka

Philosophy: Madhva and Brahma-Mimansa | History Optional for UPSC (Notes)

Nimbarka: A Contemporary of Ramanuja

  • Nimbarka, a scholarly Raghava Telugu Brahmin from Nimbapura in Bellary district, was a younger contemporary of Ramanuja. He spent much of his time in Brindavan, Northern India.
  • In his religious beliefs, Nimbarka emphasized the doctrine of surrender (prapatti) and transformed it into a profound devotion to Krishna and Radha. For him, Radha was not just Krishna's favorite mistress but his eternal consort, residing with him forever in Goloka, the higher heaven.
  • Philosophically, Nimbarka advocated the concept of "bheda-bheda," which posits that God, the soul, and the world are both identical and distinct.
  • He became the founder of a new sect known as the Sanak sect or Hansa sect, which was allied to but distinct from Ramanuja's teachings.
  • Nimbarka expounded his views in a commentary on the Vedanta Sutras and in another work called Siddhantaratna or Dasaloki.
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