What is Dvaita Philosophy?

2021

Śivādvaita Vedānta is the name of a Sanskrit-language school of nondualist Vedānta (see nondualism; vedānta) that centers on Śiva as the conceptual and semantic equivalent of brahman. Its origins are generally traced back to the Brahmamīmām . sābhās . ya by Śrīkan . t . ha Śivācārya (c. fourteenth to fifteenth century), presumably the single premodern commentary on the Brahmasūtras (see vedānta) written from a Śaiva standpoint (see Duquette 2021a). Śrīkan . t . ha's teachings achieved wider recognition during the early modern period through the Śivādvaita writings of the celebrated scholar Appaya Dīks . ita . Although Appaya's writings successfully established Śivādvaita Vedānta as a major school of Vedānta in his time, the latter did not attract a huge following and did not give rise to an extensive body of commentarial literature. While Śivādvaita Vedānta never formed a "school" of its own (McCrea 2016), the writings of Śrīkan . t . ha and Appaya seem to have played a considerable role in the rise of another Śaiva school of nondualist Vedānta: the Śaktiviśis . t . ādvaita Vedānta of Vīraśaivas. Both schools would have been part of a "greater Śaiva Advaita" movement (Fisher 2017) that came to prominence in a context of increasing sectarian and theological debates between Śaivas and Vais . n . avas in early modern South India (Duquette 2021b). Key scriptural sources in Śrīkan . t . ha's exegesis include Śaiva Purān . as and upanis . ads with a Śaiva leaning (particularly the Śvetāśvatara and Mahānārāyan . a Upanis . ads), and to a lesser extent works by nondualist Kashmirians like Utpaladeva and Ks . emarāja (see nondualistic śaivism of kashmir). Śrīkan . t . ha was influenced in significant ways by the writings of rāmānuja. While several concepts foundational to his theology are distinctively Śaiva in origin, his core theological position and Vedānta terminology show a clear imprint of the viśis . t . ādvaita vedānta tradition viśis . t . ādvaita vedānta). The similarities between both systems were so striking to scholars of the Śuddhādvaita Vedānta tradition that they regarded Śrīkan . t . ha as a "stealer" (caura) of Rāmānuja's teachings (Duquette 2021b). In Śrīkan . t . ha's theology, the godhead Śiva (parameśvara, paramaśiva, maheśvara) is identified with the nondual brahman as the efficient and material cause (nimittopādānakāran . a) of the world, the inner controller (antaryāmin) of all beings, and the triad of existence, consciousness, and bliss (saccidānanda). Although Śiva possesses various attributes (sagun . a), it is by essence nondual (advitīya) and "distinguished" or "qualified" (viśis . t . a) by the phenomenal world and the selves (jīva) that live in it. The world (prapañca) constitutes as such the "body" (śarīra) of Śiva, a terminology that is reminiscent of Rāmānuja's theology. Śiva is endowed with multiple powers (śakti), the greatest of which is termed variously in his theology the "supreme The Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion.

The term Indian philosophy (Sanskrit: Darshanas) may refer to any of several traditions of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Traditionally, six schools of thought propagated Vedic wisdom, each from a different philosophical perspective. The sad-darshana (six philosophical views) are nyaya (logic), vaisesika (atomic theory), sankhya (analysis of matter and spirit), yoga (the discipline of self-realization), mimamsa (science of fruitive work) and vedanta (science of God realization). This paper deals with the Vaisheshika philosophy. Vaisheshika traces the variety of the objects of the world to the combination of material atoms of different kinds and qualities. The Vaisheshika philosophy is pluralistic realism which emphasizes that diversity is soul of the universe. This paper discusses in brief some major concepts of this philosophy.

Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2020

Madhvācārya's Bhāgavatatātparyanirṇaya is the oldest Bhāgavata commentary available to us, most probably predating the Advaitic commentary of Ś rīdhara (fourteenth century). Thus Madhva's commentary occupies a crucial place in the development of the Bhāgavata tradition. In this paper, I examine Madhva's commentary on the first verse of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, focusing on his exegesis. In so doing, I shall point out how Madhva emphasizes what are arguably the two most important doctrines of Dvaita Vedānta, namely, Viṡṅu's absolute independence and the reality of the world. With this teaching Madhva vehemently rejects absolute monism and the idea that the world is illusory, which, we might say, are the core doctrines of Advaita Vedānta. This paper is also a modest attempt to revise the general perception of Vedānta as 'the exegetical tradition on the prasthānatraya'. I argue that we need to include commentaries on the purāṇas within our understanding of Vedāntic discourse since, starting with Madhva, the purāṇas such as the Bhāgavata became an important text for Vedānta authors to comment upon. This is evidenced by the proliferation of commentaries on the Bhāgavata in the early modern period. The Bhāgavatapurāṇa attracted commentaries produced not only by Vaiṡṅava authors such as Sanātana, Jīva, Vallabha and Vīrarāghava but also by Advaita authors like Madhusūdana Sarasvatī and Ś aivas such as Rāghavānanda. In this connection, toward the end of this paper I will point out Madhva's influence on the Gauḋīya school that flourished in the early modern period.

Geeta for the Harmony and Self-realization

Philosophy East and West, 2005

INAC, 2024

The ART of DVARAWATI and what it tells us

INAC, 2023

The Enigma of Dvaravati