Madhva

Madhva, also called Ānandatīrtha and Pūrṇaprajña, founded the Dvaita (“dualist”) school of Vedānta. Tradition dates his life from 1238 to 1317, though some scholars prefer earlier dates. He was born near Uḍupi on the coast of present-day Karnataka, and took monastic vows at a young age under Acyutaprekṣa, a teacher of Advaita. He soon broke with his teacher’s reading of the Upaniṣads, and spent his life opposing Advaita in writing and debate.

He travelled at least twice to North India and to the Himalaya, and at Uḍupi installed the image of Kṛṣṇa that remains the centre of his tradition, with monasteries founded by his disciples around it. His followers regard him as an incarnation of Vāyu, the wind god, the servant of Viṣṇu.

His works, traditionally numbered at thirty-seven, include commentaries on the Brahma Sūtras, the Bhagavad Gītā and ten Upaniṣads; the Anuvyākhyāna, a verse defence of his reading of the Brahma Sūtras; and the Mahābhārata-tātparya-nirṇaya, an interpretation of the epic. His commentaries are brief and often cite sources not otherwise known, which his critics questioned. His successors, especially Jayatīrtha and Vyāsatīrtha, developed his ideas into a rigorous system.