Essence Of Hinduism
Major Sections

HINDU PHILOSOPHY

His philosophy is best studied in his two commentaries on the Vedanta Sutras, his commentaries on the Upanisads and the Bhagavad Gita and his glosses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. The centre of his religion is the worship of Krsna as taught in the Bhagavata, and his philosophy has many points in common with that of Ramanuja.  According to him, there are three eternal entities fundamentally different from one another-God, the soul and the world.

Of these God is said to be Svatantra or independent reality and the other two are dependent realities. He does not create them, but only rules them. He lives in Vaikuntha along with His consort, Laksm  who is the personification of his power. But  He manifests Himself through various Vyuhas or forms and Avatars or incarnations. At the same time He is also the antaryamin or the inner controller of all souls. Madhava does not admit that the world is the body of God. According to him, God is only the efficient cause of the world and not the material cause.

The distinction between God and the world is absolute and unqualified. That is why his system is called Dvaita or dualism, whereas Samkara's system which denies any ultimate distinction between God and the world of souls is called Advaita, or monism, and Ramanuja's system which maintains the distinction but also emphasizes the oneness of God, whose body is the world, is called Visistadvaita or organic monism.   

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About Hindu Philosophy
Introduction
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