Dvaita
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Vedānta-darśana, the last of the six well-known systems of Indian philosophy, has three main branches: Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita. The Dvaita Vedānta system, vigorously propounded and propagated by Madhva (1238-1317 CE, Madhva is also known as Ānanda-tīrtha and Pūrṇa-prajña) is the most powerful reaction to the extreme idealism of Advaita as taught by Śaṅkara (788-820 CE) and his followers. The division of reality into two tiers, viz. the vyāvahārika (empirical) and the pāramārthika (absolute), the doctrines of Nirviśeṣa-brahman (attributeless Supreme Being) and mithyātva (falsity) of the objective world, as asserted by the Advaitins, have all received a very severe treatment at the hands of the dualistic philosophers, especially Madhva.
Literature
Contrary to the general understanding, the literature on the dvaita philosophy of Madhva is quite extensive. Madhva has to his credit 37 works in all, generally known as Sarvamūlagrantha. Apart from the commentaries on the ten Upaniṣads and the Bhagavadgītā, he has left three treatises on the Brahmasūtras: Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, Anubhāṣya and Anuvyākhyāna. Some of the other works that may be mentioned are: a special class of literature known as the Tātparyanirṇaya on the Bhagavadgītā, the Mahābhārata and the Bhāgavata; Viṣṇutattva-vinirṇaya, R̥gbhāṣya and Māyāvādakhaṇḍana.
Some more important works of this school are:
- By Jayatīrtha (13th cent. A.D.): Nyāyasudhā (on the Anuvyākhyāna), Tattvaprakāśikā (on the Brahmasūtrabhāṣya), Nyāyadīpikā (on the Gītātātparyanirṇaya) and Prameyadīpikā (on the Gītābhāṣya).
- By Vyāsatīrtha, also known as Vyāsarāya (A.D. 1447-1539): Nyāyāmṛta, Tarkatāṇḍava and Candrikā.
- By Rāghavendra (A.D. 1598-1671): Nyāyasudhāparimala.
Philosophy
Generally, the Indian systems of philosophy discuss their subject under four broad categories: pramāṇa (means of knowledge), prameya (what is to be ascertained by the pramāṇas), sādhanās (spiritual practices) and mokṣa (liberation from transmigratory existence).
Pramāṇas
Like most of the other schools, the Dvaita Vedānta of Madhva accepts the three pramāṇas, viz. pratyakṣa (direct perception), anumāna (inference) and śabda, śruti or āgama (scriptural testimony). However, it gives very great importance to pratyakṣa as far as the things of this world are concerned. It never concedes that this world of sensory experience is mithyā (illusion) since it has been a universal and direct experience. This direct experience attains certainty due to its being illumined by the energy of the jīva (the individual soul) called sākṣī in this system. The analogy of the snake being perceived in a rope in semi-darkness cannot be extended to this world-experience since that snake never existed and was only an illusory perception and hence was sublated by the later correct, perception of the rope. This ‘khyāti’ or the theory of illusory perception has been named here as ‘abhinava-anyathākhyāti’ (‘ultra-new theory of false perception’).
However, as far as the things beyond the ken of our sensory perceptions and inferences based on them are concerned, the śabda or the scripture (the Veda) is our ultimate authority. It is true that the Upaniṣads contain statements which support the theory of Brahman, the Absolute, being attributeless and also being a Person (God) with infinitely great and auspicious qualities.
Whereas the Advaita Vedānta treats the former as the main import of these statements and gives a lower status to Personal God in its two tier theory of vyāvahārika-satya (the empirical reality) and pāramārthika-satya (the absolute Reality), the Dvaita Vedānta of Madhva considers the latter as the main import and the former as supporting the same in a roundabout way. The latter texts are called ‘upajīvya’ (basic) and the former as ‘upajīvaka’ (dependent or explanatory). Since the world of multiplicity is a fact of universal experience, certified by the sākṣī, its denial by the upajīvaka texts should be construed rather in a symbolic way, as just asserting the unity of the many in the one (God, the absolutely independent Reality on whom all the other categories depend). This assertion of the unity must necessarily presuppose the many!
Prameyas
Coming to the prameyas, the following ten are the ultimate categories as accepted by this system: dravya (substance), guṇa (quality), karma (action), sāmānya (class character), viśeṣa (particularity), viśiṣṭa (the qualified), aṁśī (the whole), śakti (power), sādr̥śya (similarity) and abhāva (negation).
Dravya or substance is the substratum of attributes and the material cause of evolution of some entities like prakr̥ti and the emanation in others like Brahman and the jīva. Dravya, again, is of six types: Brahman or Viṣṇu (God), Lakṣmī (Consort of God), jīvas (individual souls), avyākr̥ta-ākāśa (unmodified space), prakr̥ti (the insentient material cause) and the three guṇas (sattva, rajas and tamas).
Guṇas are attributes. They are countless. They may be physical, mental or spiritual. But they always depend on the substances they qualify. God, however, is never touched by the bad guṇas.
Karma or action is of two kinds: puṇya (meritorious) and pāpa (sinful). They are responsible for the pleasant and the painful experiences of the jīvas. Sāmānya or universal is that property by which we see something common in a plurality of objects, as for instance ‘tableness’ in several tables, which are all different individual pieces.
Viśeṣa (particularity), translated more often as ‘difference-identity’ by the Mādhva scholars, is a special contribution of Madhva to the group of categories. When we say that we see a table, it also means that we see it as different from the floor on which it is placed. Again, we also see it as different from all other objects. There is only one process of knowing involved in the perception of both the entity as such and its difference from all others. This is viśeṣa, the self-linking capacity of substances, that enables them to assimilate the attributes into their very nature without obstructing the capacity of the attributes to display themselves. For instance, a ripe mango has several attributes: red colour, softness, sweet taste and a flavour of its own. This substance mango is not only identified with them but also different from them.
Not only that, even these several attributes are different from one another. This special quality of the substance, of being different and also being identified with the attributes is inherent to it and is called ‘savīśeṣa-abheda’.
The viśiṣṭa or the qualified is the ‘thing-in-itself’ (viśeṣya) with the qualifying adjuncts (viśeṣaṇas), seen together in a single perception as one. The subtraction or addition of any viśeṣaṇa will produce a new viśiṣṭa. Hence, the whole is something more than its parts.
Aṁśī is the entity that has aṁśas or fractions or parts. A cloth is an aṁśī whereas its threads are its aṁśas. Incarnations of God are called ‘svarūpāṁśa’ (a fraction of potency) whereas the jīvas are termed as ‘bhinnāṁśa’ (a potency in separation).
Śakti is the capacity or power and is said to be of four kinds: Brahman’s capacity beyond human comprehension, induced power as in consecrated images, the super-sensory power in causes that helps them to produce their effects, and the power of words to produce their meanings.
Sādr̥śya is resemblance or similarity. After seeing one cow, when we see another, we see not only a new cow but also the resemblance between the two. Since resemblance as such cannot reside in either of the cows, it must be recognised as a separate category.
Abhāva or negation, though not positive, is considered as a category in this system. The four varieties—same as accepted by the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika-system—are: prāgabāva (perception of non-existence before a thing is produced), pradhvaṁsābhāva (perception of its absence after it is destroyed), anyonyābhāva (perception of the mutual non-existence of one thing in another) and atyantābhāva (absolute non-existence). The absence of a pot before its production and after its destruction is the example for the first two abhāvas. The reciprocal negation between a jar and a cloth is the example for the third. The ‘son of a barren woman’ or the ‘horns of a hare’ are the illustrations for the last.
Theology
The doctrine of pañcabhedas or five-fold differences is fundamental to the dvaita philosophy of Madhva. According to this doctrine, Brahman is different from the jīvas and the prakr̥ti; the jīvas are different from one another and from the prakr̥ti; and the various objects evolved out of prakr̥ti are also different from one another.
Brahman or God
Dvaita metaphysics divides the ultimate categories into two groups: the svatantra (absolutely free Reality) and the asvatantra (the dependent reality). Brahman or God alone is svatantra and all the others—Lakṣmī (God’s consort), the jīvas or the individual souls and prakr̥ti or nature—are asvatantra. Though God does not create them (they being coeval with Him) He is their absolute master and controller both from within and from without. God is personal, but has no physical body, no anthropomorphic form. He is all-pervading. He is Viṣṇu, also called Hari, Nārāyaṇa, Puruṣottama, Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva and by several other names. He is not only the creator and destroyer of the universe but also the controller in each and everyone of its aspects. He is full of infinite, auspicious, attributes as described in the scriptures. He is the quintessence of all perfection. No imperfection in the asvatantra categories can ever touch Him. Māyā is His acintya-śakti (inconceivable power) by which He performs all cosmic activities like creation, sustenance, dissolution, control, enlightenment, obscuration, bondage and release of the souls. Grace is one of the most important of His attributes that helps a jīva devoted to Him to be redeemed. He can incarnate Himself as avatāras. All the avatāras are equal, though the manifestation of His power may be different in them.
The Vedas are the only source of information about God. Though He can be apprehended by them, He can never be comprehended. The authority of secondary scriptures like the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas should also be accepted since they too are works of Vyāsa, the editor of the Vedas.
Lakṣmī
Lakṣmī, represented as the consort of Viṣṇu, is the foremost among the conscious entities. Though absolutely dependent upon Him, She has no bondage and is coeval with the independent Viṣṇu and is hence called ‘Samānā’ (His equal).
Like Viṣṇu, She is omnipresent and has no material form. But She can manifest in infinite forms. Viṣṇu has bestowed on Her His own cosmic powers through which She can control the destinies of the jīvas and also the modifications of prakṛti, the insentient nature.
Jīvas or Individual Souls
A jīva or an individual soul is the centre of the I-sense which is endowed with consciousness and will. It has the powers to know, to act and to enjoy. It is atomic in size, but can pervade the body it occupies. It is a knower with an inherent capacity to know itself and others. It is a pratibimba or a reflection of God and hence gets a faint colouring of some of His attributes like self-luminosity and bliss. However, it is ever dependent on Him.
The jīvas are infinite in number and are all different from one another as also from all the products of prakṛti. Each is unique. Its ignorance of its real nature as the centre of consciousness, different from the body-mind complex, is called ‘avidyā’ and is due to the will of God. It is this that has brought about its saṃsāra or transmigratory bondage.
Unlike the other systems of Vedānta, the dvaita system of Madhva categorises the jīvas into three permanent groups: mukti-yogyas (those which are fit for salvation), nitya-saṃsārins (the eternally transmigrating ones) and the tamo-yogyas (the damned ones). The jīvas of the first group are receptive to spiritual values. By concentrated spiritual disciplines and the grace of God, they can get salvation.
Since prakrti is the upādānakārana or the maaterial cause of the universe, it is necessary to describe here the dvaita view about the cause and effect relationship. When a pot is produced out of clay, clay is the cause (kāraṇa) and pot is the effect (kārya). The Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika view that the effect did not exist in the cause is called ‘asatkāryavāda’, the doctrine that the effect did not exist (asat) in the cause. The Sāṅkhya-Yoga view, accepted by certain schools of Vedānta also, is that the effect (kārya) pre-existed (sat) in the cause (kāraṇa) though in a subtle form. This view is called ‘satkāryavāda’. The Dvaita Vedānta, however, differs from both these schools and puts its own view, viz. ‘sad-asat-kārya-vāda’, the doctrine that the effect is both sat (existent) and asat (non-existent) though not simultaneously. Before production, the pot existed as the kāraṇa or the cause but not as kārya or effect. After its production it existed as kārya or effect, but not as kāraṇa or cause. The Dvaita Vedānta, however, like other doctrines, recognizes the efficient cause (nimittakāraṇa) also.
Avyākṛta-Ākāśa or Unmodified Space
The dvaita system postulates an avyākṛta-ākāśa or unmodified space as a fundamental and permanent category coeval with God. It is different from the bhūtākāśa or elemental space which is a product of prakṛti. This ākāśa enables one to perceive dik (direction), like east and west. It exists even in pralaya or dissolution. It is infinite.
Mokṣa or Liberation
A jīva is in saṃsāra or bondage due to avidyā or ignorance induced in him by God, the absolutely independent Reality. Hence it is only by the grace of God that a jīva can get liberation from that bondage.
A jīva must first acquire jñāna or knowledge of God—his greatness and goodness—through the scriptures by approaching a competent guru or preceptor. Śravaṇa (listening to the scriptures), manana (reflecting on their teachings) and dhyāna (meditation) will induce bhakti or devotion towards God and ultimately win His prasāda or grace. Thus it is bhakti that is the primary means of salvation in this system. The ninefold devotion that is described in the Bhāgavata (7.5.23) is strongly recommended by Madhva for liberation. Madhva does not recognise vidveṣa-bhakti (‘hatred-devotion’) of Hiraṇyakaśipu or Śiśupāla as bhakti and considers it as a eulogy of concentration. He does not recommend madhura-bhakti (lustful attitude towards God as by the gopis of Bṛndāvana) to ordinary mortals and declares it as fit only for the apsara (nymph-like) jīvas.
Vairāgya or a spirit of renunciation and purity of mind by the practice of Karmayoga as described in the Bhagavadgītā must precede the above-mentioned disciplines. Duties pertaining to one’s life must be continued to be performed till the end.
All this applies only to the mukti-yogya jīvas and not to the other two varieties.
In mokṣa, the jīva attains its original state of freedom and bliss in accordance with its intrinsic capacity. Since no two jīvas are identical, gradation persists even in the state of liberation.
After the death of the body, such a jīva that has qualified to attain the final liberation has all of its karma destroyed, passes through several subtle regions led by the ātivāhikas or heavenly guides and goes to Brahmaloka, the supreme abode of Brahmā, also known as Hiraṇyagarbha. At the end of the kalpa or the creative cycle when Brahmaloka dissolves, the jīva, along with Brahmā, enters into Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of Viṣṇu, after abandoning the sūkṣmaśarīra or the subtle body and assuming a divine body made of śuddhasattva (pure, untainted sattva).
The system also posits a fourfold distinction in mokṣa:
- Sālokya (residence in the same region),
- Sāmīpya (being near God),
- Sārūpya (having a form similar to that of God) and
- Sāyujya (togetherness with Him).
Conclusion
The contribution of the dvaita of Madhva to Indian philosophical tradition is considerable. Madhva’s sharp logic cuts to pieces the snobbish attitude of some thinkers who consider devotion as secondary to knowledge, and restores it to its rightful place. For him, to love is to know and to know is to love.
Although his categorisation of the jīvas into three groups as salvable, world-bound and damnable appears a little strange, he lifts God above all the blame for the evil in the world. His theology and ethics are supported by a strong epistemology. The doctrines of sākṣī, viśeṣa and bheda are his original contribution. He has also successfully established the harmony of the Upaniṣadic thoughts with those of the itihāsas (epics) and the purāṇas (mythology). An earnest study of his dvaita system can certainly enrich our knowledge and increase our devotion to God thus making our spiritual evolution much easier.
Sources and References
- Three Systems of Vedanta, an Introduction by Swami Harshānanda