
LESSON 8  DVAITA OF MADHVACARYA

INTRODUCTION:

vede ramayane caiva  purane bharate tatha
adavante ca madhye ca  visnu sarvatra giyate

"In the Vedas, Ramayana, Puranas and the Mahabharata, from the beginning till
end, and also in the middle, Visnu is glorified everywhere." (Harivamsa)

Sripada Madhvacarya's philosophy is known as Dvaita. While strongly establishing
the status of Visnu as Supreme Being, he emphasises that there are two
categories of realities:

svatantram asvatantram ca prameyam dvividham matam  (Tattva viveka 1)

The aim of philosophy, he says, is to realise the distinction or difference
between the Independent Reality (The Supreme Lord) and dependent realities
(jivas, world etc). There is order, regulation, mutual adjustment and harmony
in creation. This shows that there is no unrestricted independence to all to
act as they please. The realities that constitute this existence are dependent
on the Independent Reality, the Supreme Lord, Vasudeva who explains, controls
and inter-relates the dependent realities into this existence.

DOCTRINE OF DIFFERENCE:

It is shown that matter, souls and God constitute the three major realities of
Madhva's system. The number of souls is unlimited and the modifications of
matter are numerous, in various states. These three are conceived as distinct
entities. The reality of God is of the independent grade. That of the rest is
dependent. Between matter and souls, the former is of a lesser grade of reality.
The reality of things in space and time involves the differences in name, form,
attributes, relations and tendencies. He has given a scheme of "five-fold
difference" (pancabheda):

jivesvarabhida caiva jadesvarabhida tatha
jivabhedo mithascaiva jadajivabhida tatha
mithasca jadabhedo 'yam prapanco bhedapancaka  (Visnutattva nirnaya)

"(1) the distinction between Isvara and jiva
(2) the distinction between Isvara and jada (prakrti)
(3) the distinction among the jivas
(4) the distinction between the jiva and the jada
(5) the distinction among the jadas i.e, distinction between one inanimate
object and another.
This fivefold difference is collectively spoken of by Madhva as `pra-panca'.
It is real and eternal."

paramesvarena jnatatvat raksitatvatca
na dvaitam bhrantikalpitam
nahisvarasya bhranti  (Visnutattva nirnaya)

"This scheme of pancabheda is not illusory - as it is cognized, maintained
and controlled by the Supreme Lord; for there can be no illusions for God."

SCRIPTURES:

Sripada Madhvacarya quotes profusely from an exceptionally wide range of
Vedic literatures like the Mantras, Brahmanas, Khilas, Aranyakas, Upanisads,
Itihasas, Puranas, Pancaratras and the Smrtis. He has drawn to the largest
extent upon the Rg Veda. He refuses to give a secondary place to the Vedas as
apara vidya - dealing only with karma and demigods without any philosophical
content. He treats the ocean of Vedic literatures as an integral legacy
(samanvayatva) and not as fractional revelations of truth and religion. He
covers the entire range of the sastras and establishes the running unity
(gatisamanya) in establishing the dependency of everything on Vasudeva.

BRAHMAN:

Definition:

sarvatrakhilasacchakti  svatantro' sesadarsana
nityatadrsacicetyanta  istho no ramapati  (Tattvodyota)

"The Lord of Ramaa is the Supreme Independent Person possessing all adequate
and unrestricted energies in regard to the cit and acit and He is unlimitedly
cognizant. By His own will, He is the Supreme controller of both cit and acit
who are of a different nature from His."

All the Upanisads without exception, glorify Hari who is the abode of infinite
qualities as free from all imperfections:

gunavisistha - Full of qualities like omniscience etc, lordship, beauty,
               transcendence etc.
dosa abhava visistha - free from limitations as sin, misery, liability to
                       physical embodiment etc.
vangmanasa gocara - beyond the reach of mind and speech, transcendental
a-dvitiya - one without a second, to be sought to the exclusion of everything
            else
sarvartaka - the Supreme self, source of all existence, consciousness and
             activity of all else in the creation.


prakrtyadipravartakatvena taduttamatvat, naiva rupavat brahma

(Brahma sutra Bhasya III-2-14)

"Because He is transcendental to material nature and is the controller of all
that be, He is described as formless."

He is the source of all:

svabhava jiva karmani dravya kala sruti kriya
yat prasadad ime santi na santi yad upeksaya
iti sruterna sattadya 'pi narayanam vina
tat patanjali vindhyadi matam a purusartadam  (Anu vyakhyana)

"The nature, jivas, their karmas, ingredients, time, Vedas, interactions - all
these exist, function and are cognized only by Narayana's will and pleasure.
They cannot exist without Him. Thus it is explained in the srutis that
everything depends on His control. So the philosophy of Patanjali and Vidhya
etc. are not conducive for spiritual advancement."

JIVA:

ahamityeva yo vedhya  sa jiva iti kirtita
sa dukhi sa sukhi caiva  sa patram bandha moksayo  (Visnu tattva nirnaya)

"He who undergoes happiness and misery, who is eligible for bondage and
release, is the jiva. He knows himself as `I am' in all his states."

Souls are conceived in Madhva's system as finite centres of conscious
experience, each with a unique essence of its own. The essence of individuality
is that one finite centre of experience cannot possess, as its own immediate
experience, the experience of another. It is this non-transferable immediacy of
experience that distinguishes one self from another, inspite of their possessing
certain similar characteristics. Each has a specific content of consciousness,
reality and bliss and constitutes a focalization which is nowhere exactly
repeated in nature. The nature of the souls is to be one of unalloyed bliss and
pure intelligence. It is essentially free from any kind of misery or pain;
though subjected to a natural gradation of intelligence and bliss in cosmic
hierarchy of selves and subject always to the Supreme, in bondage and in
release. The sense of misery, which is bondage, is external to their essence
and is brought about by a real though misplaced sense of independence of
initiative and conduct.

The jivas are reflected counterparts (pratibimbamsa) of Brahman (Visnu).
The bodies of the jivas, eternally present in Vaikuntha, the celestial abode of
Visnu, are transcendental (aprakrta). Hence, they are called unconditioned-
reflected-counterparts (nirupadhika-pratibimbamsa) of Visnu.
The bodies of the jivas of the material world are material; therefore, they
are called conditioned-reflected-counterparts (sopadhika-pratibimbamsa) of
Visnu.

(i) Plurality of Souls: Madhva holds the doctrine of multiplicity of selves.
He establishes that there are intrinsic or essential differences in the nature
of the jivas (svarupabheda). The uniqueness of each individual experience, which
forms the content of personality, is sufficient reason, according to Madhva, for
the acceptance of jiva-bahutva-vada (plurality of souls) and the distinctiveness
of each individual.

(ii) Gradation of souls: Madhva's doctrine of the soul insists not only upon
the distinctiveness of each soul but also upon an intrinsic gradation among them
based on varying degrees of knowledge, power, and bliss. This is known as
taratamya or svarupataratamya, which comes out all the more clearly in
the released state, where the souls realize their true status.

According to svarupataratamya, the unreleased souls are divided into three
grades (trividhya):

(1) muktiyogya (salvable)
(2) nitya-samsarin (ever-transmigrating)
(3) tamoyogya (damnable)

Sri Madhva also speaks about the intrinsic differences existing among the
released souls. Hiranyagarbha among the released (and in samsara too) occupies
a privileged position as jivottama.
He accepts innate distinction among (released) souls into deva, rsi (pitr, pa)
and naras. The devas are sarva-prakasa (fit to realize God as all pervasive),
the sages are antahprakasa (fit to realise God within) and the rest are
bahihprakasa. Madhva and his commentators have cited many texts from the
Vedic literature (from Gita XVI. 3, 5, 6, 18, 20; VIII. 3; Bhag. 6.14.5; Isa.
Up. 3 etc.), in support of the acceptance of the trividhya among jivas who are
entangled within the samsara. An intrinsic divergence of nature and faith into
sattvika, rajasa and tamasa which is rooted in the core of individual nature
(dehinam svabhavaja) as stated in the Gita, is the ultimate basis of this theory
according to Madhva. This theory is developed from the doctrine of trividha-
sraddha in the Gita. The term sattvika, rajasa, and tamasa are applied to
the jivas in their tripartite classification, according to Madhva, with
reference to their basic nature of caitanya going beyond the play of prakrti
and its gunas: "yo yac chraddhah sa eva sah" (Gita XVII. 3). This is clear from
Madhva's comment on the above verse, where he interprets the term "sattvanurupa"
as "cittanurupa".

(iii) Self-luminosity of souls: The individual soul, as a sentient being, is
admitted by Madhva to be self-luminous (svaprakasa). It is not merely of
the form of knowledge (jnanasvarupa) but is a knower (jnatr). The conception of
self as a conscious personality is the same as it is in respect of God, expect
for the fact that even the self-luminosity of the jiva is dependent on
the Supreme, which makes bondage possible.

BONDAGE:

pramadatmakatvat bandhasya  (Brahma Sutra Bhasya I-1-17)

"Bondage is of the nature of ignorance."

svabhav ajnanavadasya nirdosavat na tad bhavet  (Anu vyakhyana)

"The theory that ajnana has the jivas for its locus and acts as a veil around
them is not open to any of the difficulties that beset other theories as Brahma
ajnana vada."

Madhva calls his theory of bondage by the name of svabhava ajnana vada.
Even though the jiva is a self luminous being, still, it is not inconceivable
that he should become subject to ignorance of his own true nature and of the
nature of God and of his true relationship with Him, as he is a dependent
being, and part.

Jayatirtha explains this natural ignorance as follows:

1) it is in the nature of jiva
2) it is real, not something imagined
3) it establishes the Supreme Lord as independent
4) it establishes the jiva as dependent
5) it covers jiva's true nature and the nature of the Lord and his relationship
   with Him from him.
6) it is under the control of the Supreme Lord

svagunacchadika tveka paramacchadika apara  (Bhagavata tatparya 10-81-13)

"One of this veils the jiva's own qualities and the other veils the true
nature of God from him."

According to Madhva the Lord actuates the latent power of prakrti known as maya
and avidya and then the bondage begins. Though the jivas are dependent on God,
(the theory of svabhava ajnana vada accepts that) the kartrtva (freewill)
and bhoktrtva (enjoyer-mood) allows the avidya to act upon them. These faculties
as well as the resultant false ego, intelligence, mind, the senses and
the senses are all God-given. In ignorance, the jiva thinks that they are all
under his control and his possessions. The fact is that they are our possessions
subject to the will of the Lord. Due to contact with such material existence
and the permeation of the consciousness through all these and the resultant
attachment to them, the jiva regards the dualities as his own and subjects
himself to continuous material existence in various levels. This is known as
samsara.

na ca karmavimamala kala guna prabhutimaccittanu taddhi yata

(Dvadasa stotra 3-6)

"The true and final explanation of bondage is therefore the will of the Lord
and not merely karma, ajnana, kala, gunas etc; for these are insentient and
totally dependent on the Lord."

RELEASE:

According to Madhva, the true knowledge of the soul's relation with the
Supreme Lord can redeem it from this bondage. But even by the power of such
knowledge, without the grace of the Lord, release is impossible:

ityaderna harim vina jnanasvabhavato 'pi syanmukti
kasyapi hi kvacit jijnasotthajnanajat
tatprasadadeva mucyate  (Anu vyakhyana)

"Release from samsara is possible only through Hari's grace. It is achieved
by this process:
1) Discipline of sincere study of sastras and proper association (`jijnasa')
2) This sets one's doubts at rest, and clears the ground for meditation
3) Constant meditation on the Lord in loving devotion guarantees direct vision
   of Sri Hari
4) Those who have such vision receive the grace of Sri Hari."

mahatmya jnana purvastu  suddhrda sarvato adhika
sneho bhaktir iti proktas  taya muktir na ca anyaya

(Mahabharata tatparya nirnaya I-86)

"The firm and unshakable love of God, which rises above all other attachments,
based upon an adequate knowledge and conviction of His glories, is called
bhakti. That alone is the process for release - nothing else."

bhaktya jnanam tato bhaktis  tato drsthis tatas ca sa
tato muktis tato bhakti  sa eva syat sukha rupini  (Anu vyakhyana iii-4)

"Sri Madhva explains the process of bhakti:
1) devotion, 2) understanding of one's original position, 3) devotion, 4) vision
of Lord, 5) devotion, 6) liberation, 7) devotion - essence of bliss and final
accomplishment."

harer upasana ca atra sadaiva sukha rupini
na tu sadhana bhuta sa siddhir eva atra sa yata (Brahma sutra bhasya IV-4-21)

"The worship of Sri Hari bestows an unalloyed bliss in itself. It is not
a means to any further end. It is the accomplishment itself and the fulfillment
of our real self."

nityasiddhatvat sadrsyasya nityanandajnanade
na bhakti jnana adina prayojanm ityato braviti
ambuvadagrahanattu na tathatvam
ambuvat snehena / grahanam jnanam /
bhakti vina na tatsadrsyam samyag bhivyajyate  (Brahma sutra bhasya II-2-19)

"The essential nature of jiva's relationship with the Lord, his consciousness,
bliss etc are all constitutional - hence they don't depend on sadhanas like
bhakti, jnana etc. This is explained in the Brahma sutra II-2-19: `ambuvat'.
When all the processes are united with a loving, deep attachment with the Lord
it is like the reflecting surface of the water. Without this loving devotion
the vision of the Lord is impossible and the manifestation of one's
constitutional relationship with the Lord is also impossible."

