Knowra Madhvacharya Madhvacharya Madhvacharya was a 13th-century Indian philosopher and theologian who founded Dvaita Vedanta, teaching an eternal distinction between God, souls, and matter.
Dvaita Vedanta : A Vedanta school founded by Madhvacharya that holds God, souls, and matter to be eternally distinct. This is the philosophical school Madhvacharya founded and the clearest entry to his teachings.
Pramana : A valid means of knowledge in Indian philosophy, such as perception, inference, or testimony. Madhvacharya grounds philosophical knowledge in recognized means of knowing.
Upanishads : A collection of ancient Indian texts exploring the nature of reality, self, and liberation. Madhvacharya interpreted these texts as affirming the distinction between Vishnu and individual selves.
Advaita Vedanta : A Vedanta school associated with Shankara that teaches the ultimate nonduality of Brahman and the self. It contrasts with Madhvacharya’s claim that God and individual souls remain eternally distinct.
Vedanta : A tradition of Indian philosophy interpreting the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita. Madhvacharya developed his school as one interpretation within this broader tradition.
Anumana : Inference, a means of knowledge that draws conclusions from established relations between evidence and what it indicates. Inference supports Madhvacharya’s arguments for distinctions that cannot be established by perception alone.
Brahma Sutras : A concise foundational text of Vedanta that organizes teachings drawn from the Upanishads. Madhvacharya composed a commentary establishing his Dvaita interpretation of this text.
Vishishtadvaita : A Vedanta school associated with Ramanuja that understands souls and matter as real, dependent attributes of Brahman. It affirms dependence on God but differs from Madhvacharya’s account of the relationship.
Vishnu : A major Hindu deity whom Vaishnava traditions regard as supreme and the preserver of the cosmos. Madhvacharya identifies Vishnu as the supreme independent reality in Dvaita.
Shabda : Verbal testimony treated as a means of knowledge in Indian philosophy, especially scriptural testimony. Madhvacharya gives Vedic testimony authority for knowing Vishnu and the structure of reality.
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