Tattvajnana of Sri Madhva

A Study By His Holiness Sri Sri Vishwesha Thirtha Swamiji, Sri Pejavar
Mutt, Jagadguru Sri Madhvacharya Samsthan, Udupi, S.K.

Dharmaprakash Publications, Madras – 7,

1971

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No Copyrights Related Details Mentioned

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 Foreword

By

Vidyabhushana, Shastranidhi, Dvaitavedantarasajna Dr.B.N.K.Sharma,

MA., P.hD., D.Litt, UGC Professor of Samskrit, Ruparel College,
Bombay – 16.

This summary of one of the contributions of H.H. Sri Sri Vishwesha Tirtha
Swamiji of the Sri Pejavar Mutt, Udupi, published some years ago as part of
the ‘Sri Madhvamunivijaya’ in the Mincinaballi publications from Dharwar
(1958) is a masterly survey and an illuminating exposition of the place of Sri
Madhvacharya and the part played by him in the history of Indian
philosophy. It also contains a beautiful and very readable exposition of Sri
Madhva’s principal philosophical tenets.

The matter and manner of the Swamiji’s exposition are alike impressive. He
is known for his cogent, reasoned and persuasive presentation of
philosophical doctrines. The lucidity of his exposition is indeed marvelous.
The work shows in a very able and convincing manner how Sri
Madhvacharya’s philosophy as a whole represents that truest and the most
complete reaffirmation of the ancient philosophy of the Vedas and other
source books of Hinduism in its pristine purity – freed from the cobwebs of
subsequent misconceptions and misinterpretations of later generations.

With a keen insight into the highways and byways through which India’s
religious and philosophical lore had traversed in the course of its long

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history from the Vedic to the Buddhistic and Post Buddhistic times, Sri
Vishwesha Tirtha has shown with ease and felicity and in his most
disarming way of explaining the contradictions and inadequacies of rival
interpreters, how Sri Madhvacharya answers to the perennial problems of
religion and philosophy such as problems of Karma, Jivaswarupa, relation of
matter and souls to God have been arrived at after the most careful and
dispassionate examination of all that had been said and could be said on
those problems by various other thinkers.

The method of exposition followed by Sri Vishwesha Tirtha is both generic

and philosophical. It strikes a thoroughly modern and scientific note in its
approach while being uncompromising in its adherence to the advocacy of
the truth; it keeps a thoroughly unprejudiced mind in its criticism and
evaluation of views for and against various topics examined in the course of
its survey.

Every unbiased reader will feel deeply grateful to the Swamiji for his most
illuminating and animated exposition of Sri Madhva’s Tattvavada, as the
highest expression of India’s philosophical contribution to thought – viewed
in its proper perspective. Many of our young men and women who feel
baffled by the exasperating conflict of theories and isms passing under the
banner of Hinduism will find here a sober and sublime light to guide them in
their quest of truth.

My friend Shri K. Raghupathi Rao deserves warmest thanks for the trouble
he has taken in giving a fine rendering in English of the Swamiji’s valuable
writing in Kannada – and bringing it to the notice of a wider circle of

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readers. I have no doubt that contents of this brochure will secure reverent
appreciation from readers from across the seas as well as from many earnest
men and women in our own country.

28 – 2 – 1970

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 Tattvajnana of Sri Madhva

By His Holiness Sri Sri Vishwesha Thirtha Swamiji, Sri Pejavar Mutt,
Jagadguru Sri Madhvacharya Samsthan, Udupi, South Kanara

Part One

India is the motherland of many religions. Many religions originated here,

developed and prospered. Many more coming from outside found in India a
ready home. In other countries of the world, normally only one religion
flourished. Not so in India where followers of many different faiths live in
large numbers. Even in the Hindu religion there are various and different
concepts and these have grown up substantially. There are many who say
that this difference in approach to religion is indicative of disunity among
Indians. This diversion in our mutual bickering about religion, has led to the
invasion of India by various people during our long history, as there was no
unity in India. Even in the most difficult times, when national unity was of
paramount importance, our religious leaders have failed to rise to the
occasion on account of their religious differences. They have been therefore
blamed for the subsequent slavery under various invaders. When the
country itself faced foreign invasions, these religious leaders were indulging
in their own quarrels. This is the general hue and cry raised against our
religious leaders and the blame for disunity amongst us is placed at the doors
of our religion.

However, unity in a nation should not be artificial. Forced unity either on

the basis of religion or any other ground indicates incivility and degradation.

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The minds of people are not machines to be ordered about. None should
stifle the various patterns and new ideas that continuously occur in the minds
of people, in the name of false unity. This would greatly hamper the vitality
of the nation. The calm prevailing in the burial ground and the unity seen in
the totalitarian country are not what the people desire. The presence of
various religions in our country is indicative of the freedom to pursue
independently the religion which appeals to one most. India alone provided
the forum for expressing one’s views without fear or favour. It also
provided safety for those who professed the same religion to work together
and live their religion. Their independence in this sphere was upheld by the
Kings. When uni-religion states in other parts of the world were literally
burning men belonging to alien religions, India alone could take pride in
having provided a home for people of all religions. Their kings built
temples for the Hindus, vihars for Buddhists and so on. When the people
belonging to other religions were persecuted and subjected to all kinds of
torture, India alone gave protection to even those who professed no faith in
God and even totally denied His very existence. India guaranteed the
independence of every one of its citizens to search for the truth in his own
way and subscribe to the thought that appeals to him most, as also its
propagation without, of course, infringing the rights of others. Owing to this
generosity and tolerant approach, hundreds of religions have made India
their home. Therefore, there is nothing that we should be ashamed of in this.
In fact, we should admire the broadness of outlook of our ancestors, who
have at all costs maintained the freedom for spiritual enquiry.

It might be said that these religious leaders did not take active part in
fighting for political freedom in their times. Even this will only be a partial

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truth. By their devotion to religious pursuits, they have preserved the culture
intact, in spite of political slavery. They have, by their sacrifices, held intact
the wonderful cultural heritage and thus deserve our gratitude. When many
civilizations have lost their entire cultural heritage too with foreign
invasions, as in Egypt, even after many and persistent invasions and slavery
for hundreds of years if our cultural heritage remains today, we owe it to
these religious leaders. This is no small effort. By their steady manifold
activities in the religious fields, they have preserved in the nation, the love
for spiritual inquiry even at the exclusion of material comforts and
considering the times they had to face, their work truly assumes great
importance. The true religion of India was held intact through all these
changing and vicious times. They have preserved the flame of spiritual
inquiry pure and glorious, through all the darkness our country had to pass.
The services rendered by these religious leaders in upholding the cultural
heritage of the nation is second to none. Truly, posterity has to be eternally
grateful to these religious leaders.

Now, we of this generation will have to consider calmly the various faiths
that have evolved and developed both in India and the world. Just because
many religions have sprouted, not necessarily all of them are true. We
should understand and weigh each religion by our scientific inquiry,
dedication to truth and unbiased approach. Even though all spiritual leaders
have set out to find out the truth and preach that truth, we cannot assume that
all of them have found the truth. If we assume that all of them have
preached only the truth, then there is no place for difference at all that we
see today.

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Some satisfy themselves saying ‘Truth is not absolute. It has many facets.
Each one has taken one aspect of the gigantic form of the Truth and
explained it in his own way. That is why we see contradictions. All that
every one of them has said is Truth. But they have said about various facets
of Truth. That is the reason why we see differences in various faiths.
Therefore, the inquiry as to which religion one has to follow is not
necessary. We will arrive at the Truth by following any of the many
religions” One can easily see through the fallacy of such a false satisfaction.

By following such a course, we may explain many wonderful aspects of the

Truth. But we cannot reconcile contradictory statements about the basis of
Truth. One may have many limbs of various forms and shapes. One may
have sense of varied strength and nature. One may describe one part and
another some other part. Both may be the truth to such an extent only. But
if one says that a thing exists and another contradicts it, both cannot be then
true, at the same time. When we have such mutually contradictory
statements about the world, soul, God – their nature and qualities, professed
by various religious leaders, if we say that all of them are true statements,
that will only be travesty of truth. If we say that the statements made on the
various aspects of a thing are true, we can understand that. We can also
understand many wonderful aspects explained about a thing, but not mutual
contradictions. We cannot also understand the statements of two religions,
one saying a thing exists and another other denying that very existence. We
can, for example, accept as truth two persons eating different parts of a
mango fruit explaining the parts tasted by them as sweet or as sour, but we
cannot accept as truth of the statements made by them, one saying that it is

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part of mango and the other denying it to be the part of mango
simultaneously.

Thus, even if we do not accept as the truth of all statements made by various
religious leaders, in their pursuit of truth, they certainly deserve our
reverence as seekers after truth. Similarly, even when we know that
scientific discoveries made by earlier scientists have been proved wrong by
subsequent discoveries, we give them the respect due for their pursuit of
knowledge to uncover the mysteries of nature. We do not for instance
blindly follow all that they say. We subject their findings to the touchstone
of the truth as we know, weigh and then follow. We reject what we have
after close scrutiny consider as false. Our desire is that every aspirant
should bring in this broad outlook and desire for truth in the field of
spiritual inquiry also, so that each one could weigh for himself, sift the truth
and then follow that truth with conviction. If we proceed on the basis of
accepting as truth all the statements made by all the religious leaders, we
would soon find ourselves in doubts and our progress in the spiritual pursuit
will be at stand still. While we should have reverence for all the religious
leaders as seekers of truth, we should with unbiased approach, weigh the
teachings of all the leaders and ascertain for ourselves as to which of them
are true and which of them false. We should see as to where the truth lies,
by bringing in our unbiased faculties to judge the interpretations offered by
various leaders. We shall accept only that which is finally passed by our
scrutiny and judgment for our subsequent pursuit. Only this kind of
scientific approach will help our people to pursue the spiritual inquiry which
will contribute to our spiritual evolution. In such an approach to spiritual
inquiry, there is no place for mutual rancor, hatred and other anti feelings.

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Our aim is the search for truth. We examine all that others have said in this
matter. We select for ourselves what is passed by our unbiased judgment.
In the light of the approach enunciated above, it is necessary now to
scrutinize the tenets of various systems of philosophy, trying to explain to us
the meaning of this world, our life here and hereafter.

Part Two

The eternal Vedic religion flowed continuously for many years on end until
the arrival of Buddhism in India. Buddhism sought to cut at the roots of
Vedic religion and create doubts in the minds of its followers. To this day
these doubts persist. Many forms of Vedic religion have absorbed tenets of
various religions that have subsequently come up, in their daily practice.
There are many changes that have taken place owing to this challenge from
other religions. Hindu religion today is not what it was prior to the influence
and the subsequent impact of other religions on it. Even the ritual forms
have changed considerably. Thus, the influence of Buddhism on Hinduism
is both considerable and far reaching. Great religious leaders like Sri
Kumarila Bhatta and other tried to resurrect the Vedic religion. We can see
the influence of Buddhism on him in that he too established a godless Vedic
religion. Even the religion sponsored by Sri Bhatta which accepts the
validity of Vedas and rituals as per the Vedas, denies the existence of God.
This clearly shows the enormous influence that Buddhism had on its
founder.

Sri Sankaracharya too tried to establish Vedic religion against Buddhism.

But the influence of Buddhism was so great that he too could not get out of

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its clutches. Sri Sankaracharya’s Advaita is full of tenets of Buddhism. He
was thus unable to resurrect the Vedic religion to its pristine purity. He
utilized the various tenets of Buddhism and presented them in the garb of
Vedic religion. This has been the complaint of many against him from his
times. Even though this was a mixture of Buddhism and the old Hinduism,
the credit of turning the tide in favour of Vedic religion goes to him. Hindus
again began to look to Vedas as sources of knowledge. To this extent all
followers of Vedic religion ought to be grateful to Sri Sankaracharya. The
exemplary dialectical skill displayed by Sri Sankaracharya even at that early
age and winning over allegiance of the Hindu masses for Vedic religion is a
glorious chapter in religious renaissance. In his time there was opposition to
Buddhism from Sri Kumarila Bhatta’s Vedic religion without the Godhead.
Sri Sankaracharya entered the arena at this time and taking the acceptable
tenets from Bhatta’s Vedic religion and from Buddhism, placed before the
people a mixed religion based on Vedas and Buddhism. He enriched this
with his own style of debating skill and explanatory ability. The result of
this was that both Bhatta school of Vedic religion as well as Buddhism lost
their placed in the hearts of people. This is a great achievement by any
standards. Thus, Sri Sankara’s Vedic religion came to be known as
‘Bhatta’s Vedic Religion in practice’. Even Vinobhaji has pointed out the
similarities of approach between Buddhism and Advaita. Thus, Sri Sankara
in the act of opposing Buddhism became its own victim, in that he accepted
its major tenets in his exposition of Vedic Religion.

The message of Buddhism as well as Advaita to the world is that the visible
world is only an illusion and is the representation of untruth. At the root of
all this is only one principle which has no quality or no form. We have to

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now see how far this represents the Vedic religion as well as how far it
stands to reason and scrutiny with respect to sacred texts. Even though the
world is transitory and not permanent and there are instances for illusion, the
scientific world of knowledge of today is not prepared to accept the world as
illusion in the sense propounded by Buddhism or Advaita. There is
established order in the various things that we see in this world. All the
wonderful aspects of the world follow some set pattern for their continuing
activity and the scientific investigations conducted so far clearly prove that
the world is no illusion, but is as real as anything that can be. It is not as
though the activities in this world take place as in the fictions of the
‘Arabian Nights’.

What is not applicable in practice is well nigh useless. They cannot attract
nor hold the allegiance of reasonable people. Aims that are contrary to
experience and aims that are incapable of accomplishment can safely be
assigned to the archives. No well intentioned and reasonable person who
pursues truth can be attracted to these. Advaita reveals these qualities in
plenty. Its tenets are incapable of application to the world of experience.
Advaita which has for its base the Vedas, gives prominence to devotion and
rituals prescribed in the Vedas and Puranas. In the day to day world of
experience, enough importance is given to worship of the deity, devotion,
rituals and other aspects of a Truth seeker’s life. But what connection is
there to the final aim of acceptance of Truth and to these day to day
practices? To say the least, the life of devotion and rituals is just a show and
the truth seeker would naturally look down upon these practices as mere
exercises in futility. If the Supreme God of auspicious qualities is a mere
conception with no qualities and no form, what necessity is there to give

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Him form and offer worship to Him in our day to day lives? Why should we
again create in ourselves artificial devotion to such a God? If we suggest to
ourselves that this world is an illusion , that it is like seeing silver in the shell
or like seeing the blue colour in the sky, and then artificially ask ourselves to
offer devotion and worship, is it not height of imposture? Can any devoted
heart find fulfillment is such an artificial approach to God? By performing
acts of devotion to which we know for certain to be illusion, we not only
fool ourselves, but also subject ourselves not to our spiritual progress but to
its degradation. Thus a philosophy which has no connection between its
ultimate aim and actual practice can do no good to its followers. If out of
blind belief there is a surge of reverence towards Advaita, a true seeker of
Truth would straight away reject it as one with no aim, no purpose and
incapable of practices in life. Therefore this philosophy is one which has no
connection to our day to day life in this world and to such values which we
value most in our lives such as devotion to God, performance of one’s own
allotted duty in life, faith in attaining good qualities, good conduct, as all
these are applicable only to this illusory world of our imagination. What will
be the consequence of such an approach to philosophy? One does not have
to explain these things further. Suffice it to say that we are in need of a
philosophy the aim of is capable of being implemented in this world of our
day to day life and which has tenets capable of being practiced. Also where
there is no contradiction between the aim and the practice.

Further according to Buddhism and Advaita tenets, the creation of the world
is purposeless. Also it is incapable of explaining how the world came to be
created. If we can understand for example that a real thing of no qualities,
cannot undergo any change or transformation and added to it that it cannot

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have any influence over any other thing and without the influence of any
external agency cannot create anything, we cannot certainly understand how
a thing of no qualities can create the world. How did the soul for example
get the inclination for multiplicity originally? How is it again that this
wonderful universe get superimposed on the soul? These remain questions
without answers to this day. According to Advaita the following example is
given to explain the origin of the world. Even though there is only one
lamp, if it is surrounded by hundreds of reflecting mirrors, the lamp being
reflected in these appears as many lamps. Similarly one reality appears as
many in this world. But this is not conclusive. For the lamps to appear as
many there are hundreds of real mirrors. But in Advaita there is no second
principle to reflect the one real. This quality less one real has no second real
principle to make it appear as many in this world of illusion. This is the
stumbling block which Advaita fails to answer. There are others who
explain this as the semblance of Maya on the pure Consciousness. But there
is no separate existence to Maya apart from the pure consciousness. Then
the question comes as to how did the first impression of Maya occur to this
pure Consciousness? It is not possible to accept one reality at the exclusion
of all others and then establish the creation of the world. Thus the pure
Consciousness without any quality whatsoever, without any external
influence whatsoever, and without any purpose whatsoever, cannot be
concluded to appear as the Universe. This explanation of the origin of the
Universe will not appeal even to a lay man. How will it then stand the
scrutiny of the men of Science with all the knowledge of science that they
have mastered today? Therefore from the concepts of Buddhism and
Advaita, even an ordinary citizen of the world cannot get satisfactory answer

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to the origin of the world. The Seeker of Truth has necessarily to look else
where for the answer to such investigation.

Now let us turn to philosophies which accept the reality of the Universe as
well as its creator. These tell us that God Himself became the world, out of
His creative power. World is the transformation of God. Souls are particles
of God. Separated from Him by ignorance, they are yet his parts. The God
Himself descends to imperfection and becomes the soul. Since God Himself
out of His desire changed Himself to the world, the world too is real. The
particles of God which have separated from God and have become the souls
become united again in God ultimately. Sri Bhaskaracharya, Sri
Vallabhacharya and recently Sri Arobindo Ghosh follow this concept and
have propounded their theories on this basis.

The Truth seeker cannot get satisfaction even from this explanation. If God
Himself transforms into the world, then what is the purpose of such
creation? In Advaita, the world is taken an illusion covering the pure
consciousness due to the action of Maya. Since it is only an illusion, even if
an explanation for the creation of the world does not come forth, no great
harm is done. But in this, the complete God, out of His own free will
transforms Himself into the world and at the same time gives rise to
innumerable particles of Himself, which become the souls, clouded in
ignorance and trying to get to Godhead? What is the necessity for all this? Is
it the pleasure of God to descend into ignorance and suffer the trials of the
world and experience all the sorrow? Further if God had descended to
become the souls, all the souls just become actors of a drama, no more. So
no effort is called for getting liberation, not is it called for to undergo

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privation and exclusion of all material comforts for the sake of such
liberation. These worldly practices become meaningless exercise –
exercises in futility. The creation becomes purposeless, the God’s leela
becomes the experience of anguish, the rituals mere stage play and no truth
seeker will willingly undergo such hard ship, for he is God Himself.

If we say that the particles divorced from God, do not find fulfillment unless
they again become one with God, and if this thought for fulfillment drives
them through various efforts towards reaching God, then we have to give up
the idea that God Himself descended to become the World. Further if a
complete object descends to become incomplete, we have to assume only
that this object was never really complete and so it ceases to be God! And if
a change in god is to occur, then surely there must be some other power,
greater than that God. Then again God cease to be Supreme. So this concept
of God descending to become the world and His particles descending to
become the souls, completely destroys the supremacy of God as well as
makes Him subject to change by some other superior force. And since this
school also accepts no other agency other than god, there is no other force
that could bring about the necessary change of God into world or the souls.
Thus this concept of Gold becoming the world, as well as becoming particles
to become souls both seem to be impossible of occurrence and there are lot
of contradiction as shown above.

Further, saying that the finite, bound, incomplete, suffering all sorrows,
souls as parts of God, is a total rejection of God as complete in all aspects.

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 “Purnamidah purnamidam purnatpurnamaducyate”
“purnasya purnamadaya purnamevavasishyate”

Thus, if a part of the complete is incomplete and with blemishes, then that
original complete form cannot be termed as complete.

We see many qualities in the world, which did not have for their origin in
the God - passion, hatred, sorrow, ignorance and many other such qualities
which we see in the souls and the material objects are not accepted qualities
of God. The qualities that we see in the world are different from those of
God and in fact are the very opposites of those we see in God. So how can
anyone accept that this world is the transformation of God? How did the
qualities which were not in God get mixed up in the world? Why should
there be so much sorrow in this world which is the transformation of God?
There are no answers for such questions.

Similar question also arise if we examine the tenets of Christianity and

Islam. These religions too accept God as the store house of all auspicious
qualities and that He is different from the world. But they explain the origin
of the world in the most crude and unscientific way. They do not say for
example that god transformed Himself into this world. But they say that
God by His will, without any material created the world from nothing. From
a scientific view this seems impossible. Without a primordial matter, this
world with all its wonderful things could not be created as if from a
magician’s bag. It cannot also for example be accepted that there was
nothing else besides God, prior to Creation. In fact the cause for rejection of
the pursuit of spiritual knowledge in scientifically advanced countries is the

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supply of such half truths incapable of standing scientific scrutiny. Even
though Christianity and Islam accept the reality of the world, the supremacy
of God and God as the storehouse of all auspicious qualities and all other
such concepts which are useful to a practical life in this world, they are not
supported by scientific examination of the concepts, nor are they scrutinized
by logical challenges and so they have to give place sooner than now before
the scientifically inquisitive world opinion. Their main support has
throughout been from blind faith or forced faith and not conviction. They
are incapable of convincing the modern educated and well informed youth.
Instead of saying that God created this world from nothing, it may be
preferable to say that this world is only an illusion and not real as the
Advaita says. This may have greater appeal. Whatever the final truth, that
these religions have accepted that the souls are the servants of God and God
is the master of the world is an advance over the earlier concept that god
alone exists and that every thing else is illusion. These religions have also
gone a step further and have given credence to such useful qualities in life
such as devotion to God, devotion to duty and other qualities which are
useful in day today life. In these respects they are nearer to truth and so they
demand our respect to that extent.

Still the question remains, for example what is the purpose of the creation of
the world? Why should there be the world? Why is it this way, and not in
any other way? These questions still remain unanswered. Why did the
supreme god suddenly decide to create this material world as well as the
souls? Why did He not remain in full satisfaction in His own state of
completeness and supreme happiness? Why did He have to experience the
misery of worldly existence? Why should He create the souls and then ask

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them to pursue the life of worldly existence with all its bondage and misery?
Why should He again make arrangements for their bondage, order, liberation
and so on? Just as before creation, God could have remained absolutely
contented in his own existence, without the trouble of creation the matter
and souls and then go after them correcting them? Why should there be
difference between individuals in a world created by God and where the
souls are also created by Him? Why should God take pleasure in subjecting
the souls created by Him to all sorts of misery in this world? Why did God
provide this world with all miseries and make it the place of residence for
the souls created by him? Why did He not create a place full of happiness
for the souls created by Him? In the creation of the souls, why did he not
make them all alike or uniform, but show difference in the various souls?
Can we accept that the God who created such a confusing and contradicting
world as all powerful, complete, full of auspicious qualities and benevolent?
This miserable world in fact goes against the acceptance of the existence of
God Himself? These and similar question still remain unanswered by the
religions covered so far. For these religions have taken place in the concepts
of people and have not been subjected to the tests of the seeker after truth.
They therefore will have to have way to greater religions.

Sri Ramanuja, the founder of Srivaishnaism has gone further than those so
far enumerated. He has accepted the reality of the world, the reality of the
souls and their independent existence apart from God. He has also given
great importance to soul’s devotion to God and thereby made the life of the
soul meaningful and recipient of good qualities. He has accepted that the
primordial matter prakrti as eternal. He has placed the primordial matter, the
souls and the world as the body of the god. But he was also unable to get

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across the cross currents of spiritual atmosphere of his times and so has
taken the language of Advaita to cover the concepts he has in his mind. He
has not rejected outright the concepts of Bhaskara and Sankara that God is
both the material and immediate cause but has clothed the same concept in a
different way, at the same time accepting the reality of the world. This only
shows how difficult it was for him to go beyond the concept of Advaita.
However credit is due to him for re-establishing the Vedic religion on the
devotional platform with the acceptance of the Supremacy of God, the
reality of the world and soul. When we can visualize how difficult it was to
swim against the prevailing currents of the times, it is natural for us to bow
our heads in reverence to the enormous work done by him for the
resurrection of the Vedic religion. We can certainly say this much that Sri
Ramanuja’s exposition of the Vedic religion is nearest to Truth among the
religions so far covered.

Still the question remains as to why God created the world this way and no
other way? According to the tenets of Vishistadvaita, even though the souls
are eternal and uncreated by God, they were alike and of same essence at the
beginning. Then how did the difference that we see in the world come
about? Beginning with the same faculties and essences why did not God
make them all similarly happy, and all of good qualities only? Why did he
make each one different from another? These questions still remain. If in
the world we find qualities endowed in the souls that are not originally in it,
when we have to assume that these have been endowed on it by god. Why
should the all merciful equi-disposed, benevolent God endow some souls
with good qualities and some others with wicked qualities, that too without
any reason? This militates against the concept of the Supremacy and

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completeness in God. To day the question asked by the materialists is also
the same. If there were a God, all supreme and all merciful, then why did
He create a world of difference and with varied endowments? The same
question has to be answered by any philosophy which has to claim that it has
the truth to preach. If as in Advaita, we way that Karma is responsible for
variation in attainments, then as all souls have stated from the same point,
why should each soul have a different attainment? Why should there be
different Karma for different souls? If, as Sri Ramanuja says, all souls have
same attribute in essence at the start, then why this difference? This forms
the hot iron pill, which the various religions so far covered are unable to
swallow. The materialists and the Atheists put the same question in different
forms and make the believers in God answerless.

The Saiva Tattvajnana which accepts the reality of the world also accepts
that the soul and Siva are identical. Then how and why did Siva descend to
the form of incomplete soul in this world? What is the purpose of this
creation which shows a difference between Siva and the soul? To start with
as there was only Siva or one Atma, how did the difference crop up in this
world? Is it possible that there is some other more powerful agency which is
capable of inflicting real sorrow and bondage on even Siva? Similar
questions stare in the face of the protagonists of this view.

Thus when we subject each one of the religions so far enumerated with
unbiased inquisitiveness, though we come across many favourable and
impressive tenets, our questions remain unanswered. We do not find the
answers for the most glaring questions of inequity that we see in this world.
We do not for example also get a balanced and convincing answer for the

22
relationship between God and the world, the relation between our life in this
world and our pursuit of spiritual knowledge and similar quest remain
unexplored. To that extent these religions too remain away from the
ultimate truth. The thirst of the Seeker after Truth is not satiated. He is not
prepared to proceed with conviction in the pursuit of spiritual knowledge
with such doubts remaining unanswered.

As we see the many short comings in the approaches made by the religions
so far enumerated, it is reasonable to assume that Truth will not be revealed
by following these paths. We want a philosophy which will not only answer
all our doubt not cleared by those so far referred, but such a religion should
also be what is sanctioned by authority. This religion should also be capable
of being practiced in life, useful in this world as well as capable of being
interpreted scientifically. This we can clearly see from a dispassionate
consideration of the writings of the religious leaders so far referred and the
writings Sri Madhvacharya. No true student of unbiased disposition will fail
to perceive the truth explained by Sri Madhva. The Vedic religion which lost
its pristine purity by the influence of Buddhism, went through various
changes during the years that rolled by since and found again a clear
exposition only in the writings of Sri Madhva. It was given to Sri Madhva
to again establish the supremacy of Vedic Religion. He has clearly
answered every question that a true aspirant will come across in his pursuit
of spiritual knowledge for the ultimate goal of life, a life of liberation from
the bondage and true happiness.

23
Part Three

According to Sri Madhva’s philosophy, Sri Narayana is supreme. He is the

store house of all auspicious qualities in their fullness. He is without any
blemish whatsoever. Prakrti or Nature, soul and material world are all real
and are at all times different from Him and are subject to His control. All
activities take place only at His instance. He is always independent.
Starting from Goddess Lakshmi and through all the gods and souls, there are
different and graded souls. The graduation does not melt away even in
liberation.

Aseshagunapurnatvam servadosha samujjhitih

Vishnoranyacca tattantramiti samyag vinirnayah
Svatantratvam sada tasya tasya bhedasca sarvatah
Muktanamapi bhedasca
Nirdoshatva ramayasca tadanantarata tatha
Brahma saraswati vindra sesharudrasca tatstriyah
Sakra kamau tadanyeca kramat mukta vapitica
Satsiddhanta iti jneyo nirnito harina svayam

This knowledge of the right philosophy has originated from God Himself,
says Sri Madhva. In this philosophy, all the questions so far remaining
unanswered are answered.

According to this philosophy, God has created the world for the realization
of the intrinsic nature of the souls by themselves. This creation of the world
is a great act of mercy on the souls by God. It is also His pleasure. The souls

24
putting forth their best efforts towards liberation find true nature of their
souls and are able to realize their intrinsic nature, which is their liberation
and fulfillment. God has taken upon Himself to create this world to provide
the field of action for the souls to evolve themselves to attain the true
knowledge of their intrinsic worth. This is the greatest mercy that God
could confer on the soul.

‘Jiva evatu dukhinah tesham dukhapraharanaya

srutirescha pravartate’

The scriptures carrying the message of the God also have come into being
for the removal of the sorrow of the souls. God, who is not subjected to any
order, binding or bidding, who is complete and full of happiness always, has
willingly taken upon Himself, out of His compassion, to create the world so
that the unliberated souls may work up their salvation and attain to eternal
bliss.

‘Strakshyehi cetanaganan sukhadukha Madhya smpratpaye tanubhrt –

svabhava sambhutaye’ (Tatparya Nirnaya)

For the God, Who is Happiness incarnate, this act of creation is not tiring in
the least. In fact, it is His pleasure and sport.

‘Soyam Vihara ihame’ – Tatparya Nirnaya

Thus, creation is both purposeful and sport of the Supreme Lord.

25
This creation by God is no illusion but real. Therefore, in this world, which
is the field of action for the soul, the soul by doing good actions and
dedicating itself to such noble qualities as truth, compassion, renunciation,
helping others, non violence, being free from hatred, it is able to elevate
itself and at the same time support goodness in the world. By performing all
actions as service to God, with no fruits of action in view, it is able to purify
itself and at the same time, elevate itself step by step. This step leads for
pure disposition, in which it is able to contemplate and dedicate itself to the
higher aspirations of life and live a life of devotion to God. As it elevates
itself, it is able to realize its true relationship with God – Bimba Pratibimba
bhava – or eternal metaphysical dependence of the soul on God. The soul is
then able to realize the nature of God with respect to itself and by His grace
attain svarupananda – eternal bliss due to realization of the true nature of
itself and its relation to God. Thus, the ultimate goal of the soul, the
relationship between soul and God, and the practical life of good conduct,
right living in this world do not contradict each other. In as much as the
world is real, the activities that have to be undertaken in this world need not
be neglected as unconnected with the ultimate aim, as in Advaita. In this
philosophy, the field of action has not been thrown into the field of
ignorance. It has been established in the field of truth and with the
background of knowledge. Action or performance of one’s duty has not
been relegated to the field of ignorance or as something which need not be
seriously performed. Performance of one’s duty has been prescribed as the
action to be performed by an aspirant desiring to work up for liberation.
Service to society has been given a pride of place in the scheme of action
prescribed for those who aspire to work for liberation.

26
 ‘Nanajanasya susrusha karmakhya karavanmiteh’ – Gita Tatparya

Thus, the service to society and fellow beings has not been left as an option,
but is made conditional for the aspirant in his way towards liberation. No
other religious teacher has given so much prominence to social service as Sri
Madhva has done. Thus, the vitality of life of the Vedic religion which was
lost due to the onslaught of Buddhism, has been restored to its pristine purity
by Sri Madhva, by upholding as must the life of Bhakti Yoga and Karma
Yoga. We are made again to live and learn a practical philosophy which is
useful both to this life and the life after. Sri Madhva by establishing the
difference in souls and the reality of the world was able to show purpose for
God’s creation and its necessity, also giving at the same time the due
importance of various sadhanas, with proper background for the soul’s
evolution in this world.

God did not transform Himself into the world nor did He create the world
without any primordial substances, so to say from nothing. This has been
conclusively established by Sri Madhva. God is the Lord of the world.
Prakriti is the primordial matter from which this world is created. God
entered the subtle form of matter and by His activating power, created the
world which we see. There is nothing unscientific or improbable in this
creation. In even the minutest of particles scientists have discovered a
motive force. God by His infinite power is able to enter into the minutest of
particles of primordial matter, which is the material out of which this world
is created. This primordial matter has not been created by God and is
eternal. With the activitization by the entry of God, the primordial matter

27
takes the shape of the physical world. Thus creation has been cogently
explained by Sri Madhva.

The differences that we see in this life also have been properly explained.
This philosophy does not accept that souls have been created by God as in
Christianity and Islam. If God had created the souls, why did He not create
them alike or with the same attributes or intrinsic values? What is the
purpose of creation of souls? And many other similar objections arise. So,
Sri Madhva accepts that souls are eternal and uncreated by God. They are
subject to the control of God. The nature and intrinsic essence of each soul
is its own particular specialty, unshared with any other. They also exist in
it eternally. Just as the flame and its effulgence are inseparable, so also is
the soul and its intrinsic essence. These intrinsic essences and their nature
are different for each soul and no two souls have identical attributes. These
form the guidelines for the lives that they live in this world. By following
this intrinsic nature of the souls, they experience happiness and sorrow in
this life. God provides the field for the development and display of these
intrinsic attributes and so is not partial to any. Each soul works up its way
according to its nature and God provides the field and surroundings for its
fulfillment. He is indifferent to the variations in the nature of souls. Even
though God is the moving principle behind all actions, He is not responsible
for the variations in the nature of souls, which are eternal. The cause for the
differences that we see is the variation in nature of the individual souls and
their subsequent achievements in their respective progress towards their self
fulfillment. Sri Madhva has thus clearly shown the most knotty problem of
philosophy and explained clearly the Vedantic explanation for the
differences in the world of action. Then the question may arise as to what is

28
the function of God in this creation? If each soul works out according to its
intrinsic nature, then what necessity is there for God? This would be a
natural question. The explanation offered is as follows: Even though the
nature and intrinsic essence is fixed, their fulfillment depends on the entry
and motivation by God. If there is no God, all these souls will become
immobile. Therefore, even though God is not responsible directly for the
wonder of creation, it cannot go on without Him. Therefore, here is the
absolute necessity of God for the continuous work of creation of the world
and all its activities.

We thus see that Sri Madhva’s philosophy answers all the questions
encountered by the spiritual aspirant. For all the questions remaining
unanswered in other religions, there are satisfying answers in Sri Madhva’s
philosophy. This philosophy has been built upon pure logic, scientifically
and with great care. But one should not imagine that Sri Madhva has taken
whatever is attractive or convenient and has built his system with a view to
make it attractive. Indeed, he has only assiduously sifted the Vedic religion
from the confusion to which it has been subjected by religious leaders since
the onslaught of Buddhism. He has not added one new concept which is not
there already in Vedic religion. He has only removed misinterpretations and
proved from the thoughts that flow through the fountain heads of source
books, the correct knowledge. He has not interpreted Vedas as he pleased.
Wherever there was a genuine difficulty in the correct interpretation of the
Vedas and the Upanishads, he never deviated from the source books for
correct interpretation and scrupulously avoided the coloured versions of the
earlier commentators, who were more or less influenced by the impact of
Buddhism on the Vedic religion. Thus, the credit for resurrecting the Vedic

29
religion to its pristine purity should go clearly to Sri Madhva. By quoting at
each step from the sacred literature, Sri Madhva has completely kept himself
in the background in interpreting the sacred literature. He just made the
meaning of the sacred literature clear from the quotations culled out from the
sacred literature itself, so that personal colouring was scrupulously avoided.
He was known to have carefully collected various copies of source books
from all over the country and established a huge moving library, which was
the target of attack of his contemporaries. Sri Appaya Dikshita has made a
baseless attack on Sri Madhva with regard to the source books referred. But
none during the time of Sri Madhva, not even his most critical opponent Sri
Trivikrama Pandita has leveled this charge against Sri Madhva. Time
intervening between the time of Sri Madhva and that of Sri Appayya
Dikshita could have rendered the copies of books referred to by Sri Madhva
inaccessible. Contemporaries of Sri Madhva were satisfied with the source
books referred to by him and it is worthy to note that none of them leveled
this baseless charge. Had Sri Madhva been unable to show the source books
in his time, there would have literally been a pell mell. The opposition he
had to encounter was not small and they would have not have certainly kept
quiet and swallowed all that Sri Madhva said, especially Sri Trivikrama
Pandita who was the most renowned Advaita scholar of that time. Not even
did Sri Vidyaranya who wrote commentaries on the Vedas dispute the
references quoted by Sri Madhva. It is also to be noted that many opponents
of his, had an eye on his great library and are reported to have stolen his
books too. It was natural for the opponents to destroy his library for without
them, they could dispute his references. Suffice it is to say that none
disputed his references in his time. It will also be appropriate to say that Sri
Madhva was the only great research philosopher who re established the

30
Vedic religion and gave nothing on his own as new philosophy. He has by
his research and uncommon insight given rational answers to the problems
facing the spiritual aspirants.

Sri Madhva’s system is known as ‘Dvaitavada’. He was the first to classify

all principles under two categories viz., Independent and Dependent and
hence the name for his philosophy. But it has been surmised that this name
was given to his philosophy in recent times and that the original name for his
exposition was ‘Tatvavada’. That this system is called by the name
‘Dvaitavada’, there is no evidence –

‘Yovipralambha viparitamatiprabhutan vadan nirasya krtavan bhuvi

tattvavadam’

In this, his exposition has been referred to as ‘Tattvavada’. Again, Sri

Jayatirtha, his commentator par excellence has referred to his exposition as –

‘tattvavidovadanti’
‘Pare ca tattvavade(s)smin gariyasi bharo mama’

Sri Vadiraja Swamiji too has referred to it as ‘Tattvavada’. In another place,

Sri Vadiraja Swamiji has written that ‘Tattvavada’ is the correct name for
Sri Madhva’s exposition.

‘Namna catyulla samtyasit vallite yuktimallike’

31
Sri Vadiraja Swamiji has after an unbiased consideration of the exposition of
Sri Madhva and Sri Sankara, has accepted Sri Madhva’s exposition as most
satisfying. Thus the system founded by Sri Madhva may be appropriately
called as ‘Tatvavada’ as it has been known throughout, including the
reference by Sri Madhusudhana Saraswathi in his work called ‘Advaita
Siddhi’.

Supremacy of Lord Sri Vishnu

Sri Madhva has established the supremacy of Lord Sri Vishnu very ably. In
his exposition Sri Vishnu is Supreme. He is full of auspicious qualities. He
is without blemish whatsoever. These form the cardinal principles. He
proves that establishment of Sri Vishnu as the Supreme God as the most
considered meaning of all the scriptures – Vedas. The Vedas have for their
meaning only the praise of the auspicious qualities of Sri Vishnu. They are
also conducive to the liberation of good souls. Freedom from bondage and
attainment of liberation is possible only by constant meditation on God and
obtaining His grace. In order to meditate on Him, it is necessary to develop
reverence and deep attachment to Him. Only if we love a object we think of
it continuously. If we are to contemplate on God continuously we have to
develop a continuous love for Him. Only by thinking of His auspicious
qualities that we are able to develop reverence and love for Him. Only by
thinking of His auspicious qualities that we are able to develop reverence
and love towards Him. Then we will be able to contemplate on Him
continuously. The Vedas which hold the key for the revelation of God to the
soul for its liberation also holds the greatness of God, so that the soul may
develop reverence towards God. Thus, we see the purpose of the Vedas as

32
the establishment of God as Supreme and also to reveal to aspirant soul the
greatness of God, so that the soul may develop a constant love for God, by
which it is able to think of God at all times and get His grace. Therefore, Sri
Madhva contends that the purpose of all sacred literature is to establish the
supremacy of God and develop a reverence for God in the aspiring soul, so
that in the fullness of time, it is able to constantly concentrate on Him and
win His grace and thereby experience the continuous joy of liberation.

Now the question comes as to who is this Supreme God? Whether is Vishnu
or Siva or Sakti or any other deity as established in various faiths? We have
to come to some conclusion on this point of difference too. In Puranas and
Vedas we find it being narrated that Vishnu is Supreme in one place and at
another place Siva being extolled as Supreme and in some other place
Hiranyagarbha. This gives rise to seeming contradictions. If we are to take
at the face value these readings, we may have to come to the conclusion that
the Vedas convey no continuity of thought and that they are like statements
of a lunatic, with no connections whatsoever between the various statements.
In one place it refers to Siva as Supreme and in another place it refers to
Siva as the servant of Vishnu and His great devotee and yet in some other
places it refers to Siva and Vishnu as being identical. We cannot therefore
accept all these statements which are seemingly contradictory. We must
probe for the significance of such statements and light is thrown on these in
the Puranas. How can we find a cogent meaning for all these statements?
Again in the Vedas, we find at some places Agni being extolled as Supreme.
Therefore, we must find that key which unravels the meaning of the
seemingly contradictory statements such as these.

33
Sri Sankaracharya in his various stotras has given rise to greater confusion.
There is a bundle of contradictions between the truths enunciated in his
system and the stotras he has composed, between the nirguna aspects he has
so assiduously established and the stotras he has composed in praise of the
deities as for example –

‘Haribrahmadi na mapi nikata bhajamasulabham

siva tava padambhoja bhajanam’

Wherein he has extolled Siva, saying that the devotion at the feet of Siva is
difficult of achievement even to Vishnu and Brahma.

In another place –

‘Vedhah padatale patatyayamasau vishnurnamatyagratah

sambhuh dehi hagacala’

‘Brahma has fallen at the feet. Vishnu prostrates and Siva stands in front.
Show your mercy on him too’ addressing Tripurasundari.

Yet again:

‘Brahmendrarudra, marudarka kirita koti sanghattitanghri kamala’

‘That the feet of Lord Vishnu is in contact with the head ornaments of
Brahma, Siva, Indra and others’ while praising Sri Vishnu.

34
From these statements, it is not that Sri Sankara has established equality
between Vishnu, Brahma, Siva and Durga but that among the many gods of
saguna denominations, one may consider that any among them as superior to
any other depending on one’s devotion to particular deity. When Islam and
Christianity can claim allegiance to one Supreme God, how is it that
Hinduism propagates meaningless different gods? This has been the
platform for ridicule against Hinduism. When we create many gods, select
one of them and then say that others are lower in rank to the deity, how can
you expect allegiance or devotion to any god? In fact in this there is neither
reality in practice nor percept. Therefore many god precepts are not only
anti Hinduism, but that it is also not the meaning of the Vedas.

Sri Madhva has enlightened us in this question also. The real meaning of
Vedas and all Puranas is that Sri Vishnu is the Supreme God.

‘Vede ramayane caiva purane bharate tatha’

Adavantau ca madhye ca Vishnuh sarvatra giyate’

If at different places other names like Rudra, Hiranyagarbha are referred,

they are only other names by which Sri Vishnu is referred. Sri Vishnu alone
has been referred to as Rudra, Indra and other names in the Vedas and
Puranas. When Brahma, Rudra and others have been referred as the
devotees of Vishnu, these names refer to the corresponding gods who are
evolved souls. Thus where we have Siva and Vishnu as one; Siva and
Vishnu as Supreme and where we have Siva and Brahma as devotees of
Vishnu, we have cogently to interpret as Vishnu who is also known by all
the names when referred to as the Supreme God, and Brahma and Rudra and

35
others who are referred to as His devotees as elevated souls in the ranks of
gods who worship Vishnu.

‘Yo devanam namadhe eka eva’

Which means Vishnu alone bears the names of all other gods and that He
alone is the Supreme God worshipped by all these names. Again:

This sruti refers to :

‘ajasya nabhau athyekamarpitam’

by which is meant, One who has lotus at the navel viz., Vishnu. Thus,
Vishnu alone is referred to by various names of gods. Also all names
referred to in the Vedas and Puranas have for their prime import only Vishnu
as the Supreme God. This in fact gives the Golden Kay to unravel the
meaning of the Vedas. Having found this key it is now possible to cogently
render all meaning for the various visibly conflicting statements. To this
also the credit is due to Sri Madhva, who had the uncommon insight into the
correct import of the Vedas and other sacred literature. Thus, in the
Narayana Sukta, Vishnu has been referred to as:

‘sa brahmas a sivah sa harih sendrah so(s) ksharah paramah svarat’

This obviously does not mean that Brahma is Vishnu, Siva is Vishnu and
Indra is Vishnu. But it only means that Vishnu has the names such as
Brahma, Siva and Indra, in fact, all names referring to gods. In the

36
Brahmasutra Bhasya, Sri Madhva conclusively proves how every epithet
addressed to the gods refers in the prime import only to Vishnu. Therefore,
Vishnu alone is Supreme. He alone is full of auspicious qualities and
without any blemish whatsoever. Thus we see that the Supremacy of Sri
Narayana is the import of the Vedas and all other sacred literature, which we
term as Sanatana.

The credit for establishing One Supreme God again goes only to Sri
Madhva, for he alone was able to sift the meaning of the Vedas clearly and
establish one Supreme God who is Vishnu. He clearly broke through the
conceptions of all gods being equal and several conventions arising there
from. Sri Madhva hoisted the flag declaring the allegiance to one Supreme
God Vishnu and preached the Vaishnava concept of living. Even though
there are many gods, who are evolved souls in their various gradations,
Supremacy is attributed to one and only God, Vishnu. In the Bhasya for the
Atharvanopanishad, Sri Madhva traces the cream of knowledge –
Tatvajnana relating to the Krtayuga or the best of times and explains clearly
the original concept of One Supreme God Vishnu and how subsequently this
concept got clouded due to misinterpretations galore.

‘Kale krtayuge tada naiva cendradi namani vishno ranyatra kutracit

brahmarudrendra purvestu namabhih procyate harih’

‘Devatatvena cejyah sa brahmadya manunamakah’

‘Vaktra pitrtvena karitvenauvacadarat / iyjante devatah sarvah natu

devataya kvacit’

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In Krtayuga Vishnu alone was being worshipped as God by epithets such as
Brahma, Rudra and Indra. Other gods were addressed with epithets such as
preceptor and ancestor and not as God. Thus we see that the concept of God
prior to Buddhism was of one Supreme God and the rest were only
dependent gods who derived their powers from this One Supreme God
Vishnu. Subsequent to the influence of Buddhism people in their confused
ideas referred to every god as God, each one claiming superiority over the
other gods. This however has no sanction in the revealed texts or source
books of Hinduism. Sri Madhva has thus answered the criticism against
Hinduism which is described as a religion of many Gods.

Sri Vishnu who is known by all the names of gods, has all the forms of gods
and resides in the forms of all in the subtle form. Thus, Vishnu resides in all
gods and souls in their respective forms, but in subtle form. Thus, in Sri
Madhva’s exposition the Supreme God Vishnu, who is full of auspicious
qualities, who is responsible for the creation, who is blemishless,
independent and present everywhere, is not subject to contradiction in terms
of names and forms. He can be called by any name and worshipped in the
form of any god, but with this concept that He is the antaryamin or the
presiding deity in that god. The following –

‘Brahmani brahmarupo(s) sau Sivarupi sivesthitah’

‘Uddipayan devaganamsa Vishnurdevena rupena’

testify that Vishnu has the forms and attributes of all the gods and all the
souls.

38
 ‘svasarirantargatavicitra bhagavadakara sadrsakaravatva matrena
pratibimbatva muktam’ (Sri Vadiraja Swami)

Thus, even though Sri Hari can be worshipped in various forms and names,
we should not forget that He is Supreme, full of auspicious qualities, and
other essential attributes of the Supreme God. This is the greatness of Sri
Madhva’s exposition.

We have so far said that the Supreme God Sri Vishnu could be called by
various names such as Brahma, Rudra and any other. Yet there is a
specialty with respect to two words referring only to Vishnu viz. Vishnu and
Narayana as they have the same meaning as for ‘Om’ and ‘Brahma’ which
mean that He is complete and full of auspicious qualities and the above two
words have the same meaning. Therefore, these two words have become too
common names to the Supreme God.

Gradation among the gods:

Even though the Supreme God resides in everything and is responsible for
all activities that are taking place, some importance is given to the lesser
gods in the working of the day to day affairs in the world. They have been
made the abhimani devatas or the presiding deities for the various material
objects and they carry out the Will of the Supreme God. Being under the
control of the Supreme God, they reside in the various material objects in the
world and activate their functions. The principle of Lakshmi is most
important of these god aspects. Goddess Lakshmi is the presiding deity of
the primordial matter – Prakriti, and is considered as the Mother of world

39
and consort of Sri Vishnu. She is eternally free and comes next in rank to
Vishnu. After her comes the creator of the world Brahma who is first among
the released souls. Then comes the preceptor of the world, Sri Vayu, the
presiding deity over the wind. They are main participants in the creation of
the world after Vishnu and Lakshmi. Sri Madhva is none other than this
Vayu, in his third incarnation, the previous two incarnations being Sri
Hanuman and Sri Bhima. It is he who re-established the Vedic religion,
after it was in a confused state owing to the influence of Buddhism. Then
Goddess Saraswati – the presiding deity over learning, Bharati – the
presiding deity over devotion, Rudra – the god presiding over the mind,
Sesha – the god presiding over the serpent kingdom, Garuda – the god
presiding over the bird kingdom, Parvati – the presiding deity over right
inclinations and Indra – the lord of heaven and other gods follow in that
order. All these gods follow in order, the control of the Supreme God
Vishnu at all times and they have individually no power other than what is
vested in them by the Supreme God. Thus, knowledge of all materials in
this world and the presiding deities over them help the spiritual aspirant in
his march towards the grace of God for ultimate liberation.

The Five Differences

It is now necessary to clearly understand the relationship between the

Supreme God Vishnu, His servants and souls, who are the aspirants for
liberation and the field of action which is this world, which Sri Madhva
accepts as all real. When we analyze, we see five fold differences. They are
differences between -

40
1. God and souls
2. God and matter
3. Souls and matter
4. Between souls themselves
5. The difference between matter itself

These have been termed as the five fold differences. Only when we
correctly understand these five fold differences, we are able to understand
the nature and meaning of this world. Only then we are able to place the
Supreme God, the soul and matter in proper perspective. Further, the soul is
able to place the many traits of material things like the body and mind and
that of the Independent God without getting mixed up with them thinking
that those traits are its own, and thereby release itself from the influence of
the ego which makes it tread the wrong path. The soul is also able to realize
its own relations with respect to the material things as well as that of the
Supreme God and treading the correct path through this correct knowledge,
will be able to attain liberation by the grace of God. These five fold
differences have a great significance in Sri Madhva’s system.

Mukti and Taratamya; Liberation and Gradation

In Sri Madhva’s system liberation means that the souls by the sight of God
and getting His grace realize and experience the true nature of themselves in
their subtle form of knowledge, bliss and other qualities. The soul which has
all along been considering qualities which are alien to itself as its own in its
passage through the mundane existence and thereby undergoing untold

41
miseries – qualities such as passion, hatred, ignorance and so on. This great
blunder alone is termed as bondage –

‘Pramadatmakatvat bandhasya’ – Bhashya

From the sight of God, the soul realizes its true nature and thereby is freed
from the bondage which has pinned it down to sorrow. In liberation, the
soul experiences its true nature of knowledge, bliss and devotion to God and
being free from baser qualities, which had been afflicting it in the world,
enjoys uninterrupted happiness thereafter.

‘muktirhitvanyatharupam svarupena vyavastitiah’

Just as the burning charcoal covered by ash, is freed from the ash by the
action of the wind burns brightly once again, the soul covered by ignorance,
but freed from it by the wind in the form of Grace of God lives brightly
again in the knowledge of its true nature which is bliss.

‘Muktirnaijasukhanubhutiramala’

For this liberation, God’s sight, as well as constant devotion and ultimately
God’s grace are necessary.

The bliss experienced by different released souls is not identical, but vary
with nature of different souls. As the souls are not all identical, and their
intrinsic essences are different and varied, it is only natural that the bliss
experienced by them is not identical but varied. Similarly, the effort and

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achievement of each soul in attaining liberation differs so that each soul just
experiences its true nature and this experience is different from any other
soul. There is thus a gradation in the experience of bliss, but each soul is
given in full measure the bliss due to its nature, so that no soul is envious of
some other soul having a different measure of bliss. There is thus a
gradation even in liberation and for their continuous joy they still depend on
the Grace of God. But in the released state, there is a sense of complete
fulfillment and each soul experiences in full measure, its nature just as
different persons carrying vessels to the sea and taking full quantity of water
in the vessels taken by them, have no cause to envy another taking a bigger
or smaller vessel. The principle is that each vessel is full. Similarly each
soul finds fulfillment and is not worried whether some other soul has greater
bliss or less. The concept of liberation in Sri Madhva’s system is thus both
attractive and meaningful and at the same time stands to reason and
scientific explanation. To attain this form of bliss which is its own, the soul
has to fly purposefully with the two wings of devotion and renunciation,
towards God with speed and that should be the constant aim of all souls.

Conclusion

Sri Madhva’s system can briefly be condensed as follows; ‘Sri Vishnu who
is worshipped by the Vedas and all sacred literature, is Supreme. This world
which is both the sporting ground of God and the field of action of the souls
is real. The souls which are dependent on and different from God work out
their salvation according to their intrinsic essence of nature. By pure
devotion and Grace of God, it should be the aim of each soul to attain the
true nature of itself, which contributes to its eternal happiness. This is

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capable of being understood from the revealed literature, the source books,
perception and logic.

We desire that this true knowledge should be studied by one and all and
spread throughout the length and breadth of the world, so that the aspirant
souls may understand the true significance of Sri Madhva’s philosophy and
by following the direction given by him, work out their salvation and enjoy
the bliss, which is of their own.

________

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