Internal lineage · sampradāya
Dvaita (Mādhva)
द्वैतDvaitaFounder / origin — Madhvācārya (1238–1317 CE)
Strict dualism — Brahman (Viṣṇu), selves, and matter are eternally distinct.
Madhva's Dvaita insists on five eternal distinctions: God from self, God from matter, self from self, self from matter, and matter from matter. Viṣṇu is supreme and independent; every other reality depends on Him. Liberation is service and devotion within a permanent hierarchy — a striking philosophical alternative to both Advaita and Viśiṣṭādvaita.
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