Dvaita Vedānta
Madhva’s account of real difference and dependence upon the supreme.
Introductory source-based synthesis. External references were consulted for the stated scope; specialist peer review is not claimed.
Difference is real
Madhva’s Dvaita Vedānta distinguishes the supreme, identified with Viṣṇu, from individual selves and insentient reality. Dependence on the supreme does not erase difference. The tradition also uses the name Tattvavāda, often rendered as a realist position.
A different reading of shared scriptures
The Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā and Brahma Sūtra are read through this commitment to real distinctions. The disagreements with Advaita concern more than vocabulary: the identity of the self and the meaning of liberation are at issue.
Read the positive argument
Begin by asking what the tradition regards as independent, what depends on it and what follows for devotion. Compare the position on its own terms before turning to polemics against another school. A brief entry cannot cover the full philosophical and theological system, and it should not reduce Dvaita to a single contrastive slogan. Further research will attach individual works and named commentaries to these introductory questions.
Keep distinctions visible
Real difference between the supreme and individual selves is fundamental; it is not a temporary teaching to be dissolved into Advaita.
The Bhagavad Gītā
Action, knowledge and devotion considered through Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna’s dialogue.
Principal Upaniṣads · beginning with Īśā
A first route into Upaniṣadic inquiry through a short, source-linked text.
Sources & further reading
- 01Valerie Stoker · Madhva · Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophyscholarly secondary
Reference consulted for the introductory account; follow the source for its full context.
Consulted 2026-11-07