An Outline of Madhava Philosophy

The philosophy of Madhva is one of those systems of Indian philosophy which rose in revolt against the Absolute Monism of Samkara and his School and in this endeavour constructed a pluralistic and realistic system of Ultimate Reality based on the solid foundations of theism. His was an attempt to strengthen the old Vaishnavite tradition with a philosophical structure that believes in the absolute reality of every object of experience, accords to experience a supreme status as an instrument of knowledge, maintains the absolute reality of difference, considers both Self and Matter as different from God who is the instrumental cause of creation, sustenance, destruction and control of the world order and thus prescribes devotion and surrender to God as the means of achieving emancipation. All these problems of philosophy have been thoroughly discussed here. The author has systematically compared the Madhva position with the rival Advaita School to justify the validity of Sri Madhva’s philosophical standpoint along with a comprehensive account of Madhva ontology. The author says: In his epistemological analysis Madhva’s die-hard realism is the reason of his uncompromising pluralism which stands a good comparison to some of the striking conclusions in contemporary Western Realism. "Madhva’s theistic approach and his emphasis on the doctrine of Grace and Surrender have much in common with some of the important tenets of Christianity and has an important place in the history of religion and philosophy.