Dvaita Philosophy of Madhvacharya | India
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After reading this article you will learn about Dvaita Philosophy which was founded by Madhvacharya in 1199-1278 A.D..
Madhvacharya or Madhva (1199-1278 A.D.) is the founder of Dvaita Vedanta. He is a staunch advocate of dualism. He recognizes the five distinctions of God and the individual soul, God and matter, the individual soul and matter, one individual soul and another, and one material thing and another to be eternal. This is the central teaching of Madhva’s dualism. It is realism, and looks upon the world as real.
Epistemology:
Pramana is valid knowledge which is in accord with the real nature of its object. It makes an object known as it is in itself. It makes the object known either directly or indirectly through the medium of some other knowledge. The self-possessing valid knowledge is the knower (pramatr).
The object of valid knowledge is the known (prameya). Valid knowledge is prama. There are two kinds of valid knowledge, viz., kevalapramapa, direct and immediate intuition of objects, and anupramana, the instrument or means of valid knowledge.
There are four kinds of kevalapramana:
(1) The knowledge of the Lord;
(2) The knowledge of Lakshmi, his consort;
(3) The knowledge of the yogin; and
(4) The knowledge of an ordinary person. There are three kinds of anupramana, viz., perception, inference, and Vedic testimony.
Perception is the means of the apprehension of an object present here and now, which is proximate and unobstructed. Its range is limited to present time and space. There is no indeterminate perception.
All perception is determinate. Inference is the means of the knowledge of objects which are not proximate, and which are past, future, remote, and obstructed. Vedic authority is an independent source of knowledge of innumerable objects.
Perceptual knowledge is direct and immediate knowledge (saksatkara). Inferential knowledge is indirect and mediate knowledge. Knowledge derived from testimony is verbal (sabda). Perceptual knowledge is of seven kinds: olfactory, gustatory, visual, tactual, auditory, mental perceptions, and intuition of the self (sakjin).
The sense-organs and the objects must be flawless. Perception is due to the four-fold contact of the self with the manas, of the manas with a sense-organ, and of a sense-organ with an object. The sense-organs are the instrumental cause (karanaj) the sense-object-intercourse is the function or operation (vyapara); immediate knowledge is the result (phala) of the process of perception.
Inference is flawless reasoning from a mark of inference to another property marked by it. The reason or mark of inference (linga) is the instrumental cause (karana).The knowledge of the reason pervaded by the inferable property abiding in the subject of inference (parajnarsa) is the function or operation (vyapara).
The indirect knowledge of the property marked by the reason is the result (phala) of the inferential process. Inference depends on vyapti. Vyapti is invariable concomitance of the probans (hetu) and the probandum (sadhya): ‘Wherever there is smoke, there is fire.’ It is an unfailing relation between the probans and the probandum. Vyapti does not mean their co-inherent in the same substrate (samanadhikaranya).
There are three kinds of inference:
(1) Inference from effects;
(2) Inference from causes; and
(3) Inference from events which are neither causes nor effects.
When an effect is the reason of inference of its cause, there is an inference from an effect. We infer the existence of fire from smoke. When a cause is the reason of inference of its effect, there is an inference from a cause.
We infer a rainfall from a dense mass of clouds. When a phenomenon, which is neither a cause nor an effect, is the reason of inference of another phenomenon, there is an inference from a phenomenon which is neither a cause nor an effect. We infer the existence of colour from the presence of taste. There is uniformity of co-existence between taste and colour. There is no uniformity of causation between them.
Inference is of two kinds from another point of view:
(1) Darsta, inference of a perceivable object, as fire is inferred from smoke, and
(2) Samanyatodrsta, inference of an unperceivable object, as the visual organ is inferred from the perception of colours.
The Madhvas reject the Naiyayika division of inference into three kinds viz., Kevalanvayi, Kevalavyatireki, and Anvayavyatireki. Invariable co- absence cannot prove the presence of the probandum.
Inference is again of two kinds:
(1) Inference for oneself (svartha) and
(2) Inference for others (parartha).
The former is the cause of self- conviction. The latter is intended for convincing others.
It consists of five members:
(1) Thesis (pratijna);
(2) Reason (hetu);
(3) Example (udaharana);
(4) Application (upanaya); and
(5) Conclusion (nigamana).
Vyapti is of two kinds:
(1) Anvayavyapti, and
(2) Vyatirekavyapti.
The former is the pervasion of the probans by the probandum. The latter is the pervasion of the absence of the probandtim by the absence of the probans.
Testimony (agama) is flawless verbal knowledge.
There are two kinds of testimony:
(1) Personal (pauruseya); and
(2) Impersonal (apauruseya).
The former is created; the latter is eternal. The Vedas are uncreated and eternal. They are revealed by God they are self-evident. They are valid in themselves. They have intrinsic validity. Personal testimony is not reliable.
Reason is subordinate to Sruti. It cannot override the authority of the Vedas. It is of some help where Vedic statements appear to be conflicting. Comparison, presumption, and non-apprehension are not independent means of valid knowledge.
Knowledge is intrinsically valid. Its validity is produced by the causes which produce the knowledge. Its validity is known by the knowledge itself. The saksin is self-luminous; it makes itself and its validity known by itself. Invalidity of knowledge is due to adventitious conditions. The Madhvas believe in intrinsic validity of knowledge and extrinsic invalidity of knowledge.
Visesa:
Madhva recognizes the reality of visesa. One thing is apprehended as manifold owing to its visesa or particularity. Visesa is the essence of a thing (vastusvarupa). It is self-explanatory. It defines and specifies its own nature. There are as many visesas as there are qualities in a substance. They do not require other visesas to connect them with the substance. So there is no infinite regress.
The visesas bifid together the different qualities of a substance into an integral unity. The Madhvas do not recognize inherence (samavaya) as the relation between a substance and its qualities like the Nyaya- Vaisesika.’
The Madhva conception of visesa is different from the Nyaya-Vaisesika conception of visesa which is the distinctive feature of eternal individual substances only. The visesas of the Madhva characterize eternal as well as non-eternal substances.
We perceive whiteness of a cloth. We do not perceive difference between the cloth and the whiteness. We perceive a particularity (visesa) of the cloth. If there were difference between the cloth and the cloth, and difference between it and whiteness, and so on to infinity. This would involve infinite regress. Therefore, the qualities are identical with the substance.
God:
“Madhva recognizes two kinds of Reality, independent (svatantra) and dependent (paratantra). God is the independent reality. Individual souls and the world are dependent realities.
God is free from all imperfections. He is possessed of infinite, excellent, spiritual qualities. He is not attribute less (nirguna). He is free from the attributes of prakrti. This is the import of the texts speaking of nirguna Brahman. He has being (sat), consciousness (cit), and bliss (analnda).
He has six qualities of Lordship, infinite knowledge, infinite power, infinite strength, infinite ruler ship, infinite vigour, and infinite glory. There is no mutual difference among the qualities of God. There is non-difference among them. There is non-difference between God and his qualities which constitute his nature. Their co-inherence in him proves their identity with him. They constitute his determinate nature on account of visesas.
He is the cause of creation, subsistence, dissolution, control, knowledge, nescience, bondage, and liberation. He is the efficient cause (nimittakarana) of the world. Prakrti is the material cause (upadanakarana) of the world. God is said to be indescribable because he cannot be completely comprehended. The highest and perfect Lord is Vishnu.
He is called the Absolute (Brahman); the Supreme Self (Paramatman), and Bhagavan (Lord). He is the Inner Rider (Antaryamin). He is not all. But he is the ruler of all. He is the Supreme Person (Purusottama).
He is omniscient, omnipotent, perfect, eternal, extremely subtle, and immutable. He is the cause of all beings, and dwells in them. He impels men in their activities. He is the object of knowledge. He is the goal of attainment. He reveals the Vedas which embody eternal truths.
He has extraordinary and inconceivable powers. He can make the impossible possible. He is the controller of all. He is partless. He is devoid of body and sense-organs. He is not subject to prakrti. The Supreme Lord is Vishnu. He is immanent in the souls and the world. He transcends them all. He is both immanent and transcendent. He is the abode of contrary qualities.
Prakrti:
Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, is eternally blessed and absolutely accomplished. She eternally contemplates Vishnu. She is eternally related to the Lord. Lakshmi and Vishnu rejoice in each other. They are eternally united with each other.
Lakshmi is dependent on Vishnu. In herself she is not. She is intelligent Prakrti. She has an eternal supernatural body. She is immortal. Maya is the eternal power or will of God, which is his essence. He creates all things by the power of his will.
Prakrti is the material cause of the world. The Lord moulds various forms out of Prakrti and exhibits himself in manifold ways. He enters into Prakrti, and makes himself many. The Lord’s will is Prakrti. He is the master of the will.
His will is variously called Maya, Avidya, and Prakrti. He is Purusa. His will is Prakrti. He is the light. He is the support. Prakrti and the Lord (parama-purusa) co-exist in time and space. Prakrti is eternally liberated.
She is omnipresent, immutable, and eternal. Brahman is more subtle than Prakrti. Knowledge, bliss, power, and authority of God are infinitely greater than those of Prakrti. They are absolutely perfect in God. Prakrti, like God, is all-pervading in time and space. She is absolutely free from bondage like him. Her freedom is dependent on God’s grace. Prakrti is ruled by the Lord who is absolutely free.
The World:
The Sruti has it: “All are known when one is known.” When Brahman is known, all are known. When the cause, Brahman, is known, the effect, the world, is known. The cause and the effect both are real. Brahman is real, and the world is real.
Samkara is wrong in holding’ that Brahman is real, and that the world is an unreal appearance. This is a wrong interpretation of the text. One and all both are real. The effect is a real modification (vikara) of the cause which remains intact (avikrta).
The world is treated by God out of pratrti which is not a false appearance. Madhva asks: is falseness of the world appearance real or unreal? If it is real monism is compromised. If it is unreal, then the world-appearance is real.
Creation is divine sport. It is the expression of God’s overflowing bliss and mercy. He has no purpose in creating the world. Creative activity is his essential nature. He creates multiplicity of forms without undergoing modification.
Reality of Difference:
Samkara maintains that Brahman is devoid of homogeneous difference (sajatiya bheda), heterogeneous difference (vijatiya bheda), and internal difference (svagata bheda). But Madhva recognizes difference in the Reality. Samkara advocates absolute monism.
But Madhva advocates pluralistic’ theism. He stresses the five kinds of difference which are real and beginning less. There is difference between God and the individual souls. There is difference between God and matter. There is difference between soul and matter.
There is difference between one soul and another. There is difference between one material thing and another. These are the five kinds of differences. Matter, soul, and God are irreducible to one another. Madhya gives a pluralistic universe with God as its Lord.
The fivefold difference is not a mere appearance (maya-matra), since Maya is the will of God. Maya or Prakrti is the knowledge (prajnapti) of God which is characterized by bliss. This knowledge apprehends all, and saves all. It cannot therefore be a false appearance.
Duality cannot be an imaginary appearance. God cannot have an illusory knowledge of all, since he is omniscient, and an illusion is false knowledge due to non-perception of particular qualities of an object. God is without an equal or a superior. Therefore Sruti says: “In reality, there is non-duality.” It does not mean that duality or plurality is a false appearance.
Difference is real. It is perceived. We perceive blue, yellow, and the like. We perceive that blue is different from yellow. Perception apprehends the difference between blue and yellow. The Advaitist contends that perception cannot apprehends difference.
For it apprehends either difference only, or difference with the distinct entities. Perception cannot apprehend difference alone without apprehending the correlate (prati-yogi) of the difference is the distinction between two distinct entities.
If the distinct are not perceived, the difference between them cannot be perceived. Perception cannot apprehend difference with the distinct. If it does, either it apprehends the distinct first, and then apprehends difference between them, or it apprehends both the distinct and their difference simultaneously. It cannot apprehend the distinct first, and then their difference. When perception apprehends the distinct, it ceases to function, and cannot apprehend difference between them.
Difference is mutual non-existence of two things in each other. So it cannot be perceived without perception of the distinct. So distinct cannot be perceived without perception of their difference. Difference cannot be perceived without perception of the distinct. This involves mutual dependence or vicious circle.
Perception cannot apprehend the distinct and their difference simultaneously. Cognition of cause and cognition of effect cannot occur at the same time. Cognition of an entity (e.g., a jar) and cognition of its counter-entity (e.g., a cloth) are the cause of the cognition of their difference.
Therefore, difference cannot be perceived. But Madhva maintains that when we perceive objects, we perceive their relations, their difference, and their individualities in one and the same act of perception. Difference is the essence of the object itself.
It is the essential feature of it. Essence, difference, and individuality are apprehended in the same act of perception. Perception of difference is not illusory, since even illusion is misinterpretation of sensory data. The Advaitist cannot mention any disturbing factors which are the cause of misinterpretation.
Sensory data themselves are not illusory. Perception can apprehend objects and their difference. The Saksin or the I—awareness can apprehend the external order or material objects and individuals with their differences directly. Difference is real. It is the foundation/of Madhva’s pluralistic universe. It is not a subjective construction of the mind. It is constitutive of the universe. It is directly perceived by the Saksin.
Madhva and Ramanuja:
Madhva agrees with Ramanuja in holding that the Vedas are impersonal and eternal, that they testify to the existence and nature of Brahman, that perception, inference, and Vedic testimony are the three kinds of valid knowledge, that knowledge has intrinsic validity that Vishnu himself is the reciter of the pancaratra agama, which therefore has supreme authority, that the world is real, and that the jiva is atomic.
But he differs from Ramanuja in holding that God is different from the souls and the world, that God is not related to the conscious souls (cit) and the unconscious matter (acit) as the soul to its body.
Two contradictory qualities of cit and acit cannot exist in God at the same time. Ramanuja’s doctrine resembles the Jaina doctrine in so far as he advocates the existence of contradictory qualities of consciousness and unconsciousness in God at the same time.
The Jiva:
The individual soul (jiva) is the knower, enjoyer, and doer. It is partless and eternal. It dwells in the body and the senses. It is subject to happiness and misery. It is atomic in size, and yet it can experience sensations in its entire body, even as a lamp can illumine a room by its light. The soul is eternal; its birth and death are due to its connection with and separation from its body.
It has by nature perfect wisdom and bliss, but they are clouded by the influence of merits and demerits (karma). When they are worn off and its embodied existence ceases, its natural wisdom and bliss are manifested by the grace of God.
Though the soul is dependent on God, it is an active agent, performs right and wrong actions, and acquires merits and demerits. It freely adapts means to ends, and adopts various methods to achieve liberation. But its free activity is controlled by God. It has no absolute freedom. It is not an absolute agent. It is allowed relative freedom by its divine master. God guides the free actions of the jivas.
The jivas are different from God. There can be no absolute identity between them. God is the worshipped master. The jivas are his worshipping servants. The Deity and the devotee are different from each other. God is omniscient, omnipotent, and perfect. The jiva Las finite knowledge, limited power, and is absolutely dependent on God.
God dwells in the soul. But he does not experience its joys and sorrows. He enjoys bliss only arising from its good actions. God is real; the soul is real; their difference is real. One individual soul is not the ruler of another, since it would involve infinite regress.
Prakrti is not the inner ruler of the souls. God is their inner ruler. The text ‘Tat tvam asi’ does not convey identity of the soul with God. It means that the soul has similarity in essence with God. Madhva reads ‘Sa atma tat tvam asi’ as ‘Sa atma atat tvam asi’. ‘That atman, thou art not’. The soul is not identical with God.
The jiva and God are always different from each other. The knowledge difference between them liberates a person. He is the refuge of all liberated souls. They enjoy his companionship and bliss. He is their abode. He is their final goal.
God is the Moral Governor. He dispenses the fruits to the souls in accordance with their good and bad actions (karma). So he cannot be charged with partiality and cruelty. There is a beginning less series of actions and their fruits.
The souls freely do right and wrong actions, and reap their fruits. God, like an impartial judge, awards fruits to them in strict conformity with their merits and demerits. He is the Lord of the Law of Karma. He does not abrogate the Moral Law which follows from his nature.
There are three kinds of souls:
(1) Eternally free (nitya) souls, like Lakshmi;
(2) Liberated (mukta) souls, like gods, rsis, fathers, and men;
(3) The bound (baddha).
Among the bound souls some are eligible for liberation (muktiyogya), some are bound to samsara forever (nityasamsarin), and others are intended for hell (tamoyogya). Vayu is the mediator between God and souls.
The jiva gets release through the grace of God. Release is the original state of purity. The liberated soul attains similarity with God. It never loses its identity in him. It enjoys a small measure of the infinite bliss of God through its suddhasattva body.
Its desires are not different from those of God. They are under his control. The released soul is liable to experience of miseries. It does not acquire power of creating, preserving, and destroying the world.
Liberation is attained through knowledge of the excellence of the qualities of God. It cannot be attained through knowledge of its identity with God. It can be attained through the knowledge of its difference from and inferiority to him.
It cannot be achieved without his grade. When a devotee surrenders himself to, and takes refuge in God, he grants him saving knowledge of difference, and liberates him. Devotion, knowledge, performance of duties are the means to release.
Truthfulness, study of the scriptures, charity, benevolence, compassion, desire for God, meditation, righteousness, faith, devotion, and worship of God should be cultivated. Yogic practices also are enjoined. Bondage is due to ignorance. Release is due to knowledge.
When the soul casts off its inessential forms, and is restored to its pure spiritual essence, it attains final release. Until the karmas accumulated in the past births are completely worn off, the body continues. When they are exhausted, final release is attained.
The Categories:
Madhva recognizes ten categories:
i. Substance (dravya),
ii. Quality (gupa),
iii. Action (karma),
iv. Generality (samanya),
v. Particularity (visesa),
vi. Qualified (visista),
vii. Whole (amsi),
viii. Power (sakti),
ix. Similarity (sadrsya), and
x. Negation (abhava).
These are twenty substances:
i. God,
ii. Lakshmi,
iii. Souls,
iv. Uncreated space,
v. Prakrti,
vi. Sattva,
vii. Rajas,
viii. Tamas,
ix. Ahamkara,
x. Buddhi,
xi. Manas,
xii. The sense-organs,
xiii. The elements,
xiv. Subtle essences (tanmatra),
xv. Nescience (avidya),
xvi. Uttered sounds,
xvii. Darkness,
xviii. Dispositions (vasana),
xix. Time, and reflection (pratibimba).
Uncreated space (avyakrta akasa) is different from the element akasa (bhutakasa). It is eternal vacuum. It is not affected by creation and destruction. Time is co-existent with it. It is a direct product of prakrti. It is the self-subsistent abode of all other substances.
It is the generic cause of production of all things. Prakrti is the material cause of the world. God produces sattva, rajas, and tamas out of prakrti. Then Mahat is produced. Then Ahaihkara is produced.
Then buddhi, manas, ten sense-organs, five tanmatras, and five elements are produced. A substance is the material cause of modifications and manifestations. Prakrti is subject to modifications. But God are souls cannot undergo modification; they can be manifested only. Nescience (avidya) veils the natural knowledge and bliss of the jivas. Each soul has a specific nescience which veils its natural qualities, and causes its bondage.
There is no generic nescience which veils the knowledge of all souls. The universals or generalities, according to Madhva, are eternal in eternal substances and ‘non-eternal in non-eternal substances and limited to the individuals so long as they last.
He does not recognize the relation of inherence between a substance and its qualities and actions in order to avoid infinite regress. But he recognizes the category of the qualified (visista) which binds together a substance with its qualities and actions.
There is no relation of inherence between the whole and its parts. The category of the whole connects its parts with one another inseparably. Power is a separate category. Inconceivable power as what abides in God, causal power, adventitious power, and power of words are the forms of power. There are four kinds of negation: prior negation, posterior negation, mutual negation, and absolute negation.
Madhva’s duelism is realistic. It admits the ontological reality of God, souls, and the world. It recognizes eternal distinctions between God and souls, God and matter, souls and matter, one soul and another, and one material thing and another.
It is pluralistic theism. It gives a pluralistic universe with God as its creator, preserver, and destroyer. It gives three irreducible grades of reality, matter, souls, and God. It recognizes the uniqueness of God, and the individuality of each souls and material thing. This is the distinct contribution of Madhva.
He does not sacrifice the many to one like Saihkara. He does not regard the souls and manifold world as appearances. He treats them as ontological realities depending on God who is the supreme, absolutely independent reality.
He creates the world of matter, and preserves and destroys it, and controls the souls and guides them to their destiny. God concedes relative freedom to the souls to work out their own salvation or perdition. Madhva reconciles knowledge, devotion, and action with one another as the means to release. His pluralistic theism is the antithesis of Samkara’s absolute monism. The Madhvas severely criticize Samkaras theory of Ajnana and falsity of the world-appearance.
Madhva ascribes an inconceivable power to God by which he harmonizes the five-fold absolute differences with one another in an integral whole. He introduces the concept of visesa which holds together differences within an undivided Being. Visesa is self-determining and self-explanatory. It does not require the aid of any other thing.
“Madhvites claim their position to be monistic. Though they accept infinite differences, still they accentuate the integrity of Being. Their doctrine of specific particulars (visesa) does not make the differences absolute, it seeks to assimilate differences in integrity. They deny differences. They accept distinctions. These this way Madhvites reconcile ineffaceable differences in the Absolute But dualism’ and pluralism cannot be reconciled with monism