Madhva tradition

Sadh Vaishnavism's philosophical foundation was established by Madhva, who started his Vedic studies with Achyutapreksha in an Advaita Vedanta monastery.[11] But there was constant disagreement between the master and the disciple and the studies ended soon. However, he sought initiation at the hands of this guru under the name of Poornaprajna and wrote his commentaries under the name Ananda Tirtha.[12] Madhvacharya converted his own guru Achyutapreksha to Dvaita Vedanta, like Ramanuja converting his Advaita guru Yadavapreksha renaming him Govindasure to Vishistadvaita.[13] Madhva brought Vedantic and Upanishadic ideas to this tradition, and wrote texts on dualism, called Dvaita in the Hindu tradition. His ideas are one of three subschools in Vedanta, the other two are known as Adi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism) and Ramanujacharya's Vishistadvaita (qualified monism).[14]

According to Madhva, the Divine and the soul are completely distinct from each other.[15] Madhva Sampradaya worships Vishnu as the highest Hindu deity and regards Madhva, whom they consider to be an incarnation of Vishnu's son, Vayu, as an incarnate saviour.[16] Madhvism regards Vayu as Vishnu's agent in this world, and Hanuman, Bhima, and Madhvacharya to be his three incarnations; for this reason, the roles of Hanuman in the Ramayana and Bhima in the Mahabharata are emphasised, and Madhvacharya is particularly held in high esteem.[17] Vayu is prominently shown by Madhva in countless texts.[18][19]

Madhvacharya, was a staunch Vaishnava who pushed strongly the belief that Vishnu was the highest of Hindu deities, and refused to accept any claims that other Hindu deities might be equally the highest. Madhvacharya says that in the beginning there was only one God and that was Narayana or Vishnu.[20] Madhvacharya states that the ultimate divine reality, which Hindu traditions refer to as Brahman, and the individual souls, known as jīvātmans, exist as independent realities, and that these are distinct. Madhva states "brahmaśabdaśca Viṣṇaveva", that Brahman can only refer to Vishnu. According to Madhvism, Vishnu was not just any other deva, but rather the one and only Supreme Being.[21][22] Madhvacharya also asserted, yathecchasi tatha kuru, which Sharma translates and explains as "one has the right to choose between right and wrong, a choice each individual makes out of his own responsibility and his own risk".[23]

Madhva rejects Shankara's conception of the Nirguna Brahman--that is, Brahman without characterisations--and accepts the conception of the Saguna Brahman--that is, Brahman with characterisations--as the ultimate divine reality. In Madhva philosophy, Brahman possess all positive qualities; at the root of these are existence, consciousness, and bliss. An impersonal Brahman, such as Shankara's Nirguna Brahman cannot perform these functions. For Madhva, the personal Brahman is not different from Vishnu, whom Vaishavas consider to be the creator, the maintainer and destroyer of the world. According to the Madhva viewpoint, nothing can condition Brahman. According to Madhva, Brahman is neither the limited infinite divine reality of the Nyaya school nor a being in inseparable relation with matter and selves as in the philosophy of Ramanuja. Rather, Brahman is viewed as completely independent, but whilst the jivas are viewed as dependent upon Brahman for activity, knowledge, and existence. According to the Vaishnava viewpoint, Vishnu creates the world by his will and brings into existence the world of objects and selves. Objects and selves, the though real and irreducible to each other, are dependent on Brahman. At the time of dissolution of the world, material and objects are considered to be transformed into undifferentiated matter and selves into disembodied intelligence by Brahman; it is believed, even in the state of dissolution, that Brahman, matter, and the jivas remain distinct from one another, and do not merge with one another.[24][25]

The devotional movement of the Haridasa of Karnataka was an expression of Madhva's religious thought. The Haridasa movement initiated by Madhva has had a deep impact on the people in different parts of the country.[26] The Haridasas were mostly Madhwas and almost exclusively of the Brahmin community.[27]

According to Sharma, the influence of Dvaita Vedanta ideas have been most prominent on the Chaitanya school of Bengal Vaishnavism, whose devotees started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - known colloquially as the Hare Krishna Movement. [28] and also in Assam.[29] Gujarat Vaishnava culture is also influenced by the Madhva philosophy.[30]

The mathas present in the Tulu region are called Tuluva Mathas. Most of the Tulu-Speaking or the Brahmins in the Tulu region who follow Madhvacharya's philosophy are followers of the twelve Madhva Mathas. The twelve Madhva Mathas of Tulu are Pejawara Matha, Palimaru Matha, Adamaru Matha, Puttige Matha, Sodhe Matha, Kaniyooru Matha, Shiroor Matha, Krishnapura Matha, Bhandarakeri Matha, Subramanya Matha, Chitrapura Matha, Bhimanakatte Matha.[31] Out of these twelve Tuluva mathas, eight are part of the Ashta (eight) mathas of Udupi who take turns once every two years (Paryaya) to worship Lord Krishna in at Udupi.[33][34] These twelve mathas are descended from Madhvacharya's direct disciples, Adhokshaja Teertha, Hrishikesha Teertha, Narasimha Teertha, Upendra Teertha, Rama Teertha, Vamana Teertha, Janardhana Teertha and Madhva's brother Vishnu Tirtha.

The mathas present in the Desh region are called Deshastha Mathas. Marathi, Kannada, Telugu Deshastha Madhva Brahmins are followers of these Madhva Mathas.[31] Most of the Brahmins in Deccan region who follow Madhvacharya's philosophy are followers of these mathas. The ten Madhva Mathas of Desh are, Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha, Raghavendra Matha, Sripadaraja Matha, Kanva Matha, Baligaru Matha, Kudli Matha, Tambehalli Matha (also known as Majjigehalli Maṭha), Kundapur Matha, Sagarakatte Matha.[31] These ten mathas are descended/founded by Madhvacharya's direct disciples, Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Madhava Tirtha, Akshobya Tirtha and Akshobya Tirtha's disciple Jayatirtha.[35][36][37]

Out of the ten Deshastha Madhva Mathas, Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha and Raghavendra Matha are considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions of Dvaita Vedanta and are jointly referred as Mathatraya .[39][40][38] It is the pontiffs and pandits of the Mathatraya that have been the principle architects of post-Madhva Dvaita Vedanta through the centuries.[41] As a matter of fact, these have taken the lion's share in the task of developing and propagating the philosophy of Madhva. For this reason they can unhesitatingly be regarded as the intellectual heirs to the legacy of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha.[36][42][43] [44]

Gaud Saraswat Madhva Brahmins are followers of two Madhva Mathas, Kashi Math and Gokarna Math.[31]