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Madhvacharya

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Madhvacharya
Shri Madhvacharya's idol at his birthplace Pajaka, Udupi
Personal life
Born
Vāsudeva

c. 1199 (or 1238)[1]
Diedc. 1278 (or 1317)
HonorsPūrṇa-prajña
Jagadguru
Religious life
ReligionHinduism
OrderVedanta
Founder ofUdupi Sri Krishna Matha
PhilosophyTattvavada (Which later popularly came be known as Dvaita Vedanta)
Religious career
GuruAchyuta-preksha[3]
Quotation

Reality is twofold: independent and dependent things. The Lord Vishnu is the only independent thing.[4]

Madhvacharya (IAST: Madhvācārya; sa; 1199–1278 CE[5] or 1238–1317 CE[6]) was an Indian philosopher and theologian (person who studies theology). He was also called Purna Prajna (IAST: Pūrṇa-Prajña) and Ānanda Tīrtha. He believed in the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta.[1][7] Madhva called his opinions Tattvavāda.This word means "arguments from a realism viewpoint".[7]

Madhvacharya was born at Pajaka near Udupi in 13th-century India.[8] He became a Sanyasi (monk) when he was a teenager. When he became a monk, he joined the Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order.[1][3] Madhva studied Hindu philosophy. He also wrote commentaries (opinion pieces) about the Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi).[1] He wrote 37 works that were written in the Sanskrit language.[9] He was known to use very specific words. He did not use many words, either. His greatest work is thought to be the Anuvyakhyana. This work was written with poetic structure.[8] In some of his works, he said that he was an avatar the Hindu god Vayu.[10][11]

Madhvacharya criticized Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta teachings.[7][8] He went through India many times. He would have debates and visit Hindu learning places.[9] Madhva created the Krishna Mutt at Udupi with a murti created from Dwarka Gujarat in 1285 CE.[8]

Madhvacharya taught that there is a difference between the self (Atman) and reality (Brahman). He said that the self is dependent on the reality.[7] His teachings disagreed with the monist[12] teachings of the other schools of Vedanta.[7][13] Madhvaharya said that liberation is only possible through God.[7] Madhvacharya's Dvaita school influenced Vaishnavism. It also supported the Bhakti movement in medieval India. The Dvaita school is one of the three important Vedānta philosophies.[8][14][15]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sharma 1962, p. xv.
  2. Bryant 2007, p. 357.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sheridan 1991, p. 117.
  4. Bryant 2007, p. 361.
  5. "Madhva | Hindu philosopher | Britannica". Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. Sharma 2000, p. 103.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Stoker 2011.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Sharma 1962, pp. xv–xvii.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Sharma 1962, p. xv–xvi.
  10. Sarma 2000, p. 20 with footnotes 3 and 4.
  11. Sabapathy Kulandran and Hendrik Kraemer (2004), Grace in Christianity and Hinduism, James Clarke, ISBN 978-0227172360, pages 177–179
  12. Sharma 1962, pp. 36–37.
  13. Bryant 2007, pp. 315, 358–361.
  14. Bryant 2007, pp. 12–13, 359–361.
  15. Stafford Betty (2010), Dvaita, Advaita, and Viśiṣṭādvaita: Contrasting Views of Mokṣa, Asian Philosophy: An International Journal of the Philosophical Traditions of the East, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 215–224

Further reading

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Other websites

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