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Vaishnavism - (Hindu Philosophy)?
The exponants of Vaishnavism ( worshippers of Vishnu) as far
as South India is concerned , are Sri Ramanuja-acharia and Sri Madhvacharia. The philosophy of Ramanujar is known as
Vashistadvaida and that of Madhva is Dwaida. Ramanujar is said to have lived around 1100 AD and Madhva 1300 AD. Their philosophies are totally against Sri Shaknkara Acharia's Advaida philosophy.
My question is this, that I do not find any difference as such
in between Sri Ramanujar's Vashistadwaida and that of Sri Madhwa's Dwaida.
Can any one having knowlege of Vedanta Philosophy
explain the difference for the benefit of our members who are
interested in Vaishnava Vedanta Philosophy?
tmuthiah@yahoo.com
.
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavourite answer
Shri Shankaracharya, Shri Ramanuja and Shri Madhava acharya were great thinkers who developed philosophy suited for the time.
There are no contradictions between these three great thinkers.
Shankara Philosophy was Advait , he preached the science of self realization ( advait , tat twam asi etc) based on numerous ancient texts. One of them, the most difficult is the Brahma sutra.
Sri Ramanujar's Vashistadwaida preaches that in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterised by multiplicity.
Sri Madhwa's Dwaida preaches that only duality exists.
Now with a simple exercise of closing the eyes you can explain to others these philosophies.
When your eyes are open there is only duality. That means you and others around exists. Sri Madhwa's Dvaita - seeing the other.
When the process of closing the eyes begin then the philosophy of Sri Ramanuja's is known . This is so as you are closing you are aware of the both the outer and the inner existence. VishishtAdvaita- Seeing the other and knowing the one.
When the eyes are fully closed then Shri Shankara's philosophy is understood i.e Advaita- only one exists.
We need to work hard to understand them.
- 1 decade ago
I can't answer your question specifically, but I find the deeper you go into any philosophy, the more you find that they are all basically saying the same thing.
