This introduction to the Madhva school of Vedanta is accessible to a wide audience with interest in Hinduism, Indian thought and in the comparative philosophy of religion. Deepak Sarma explores the philosophical foundations of Madhva Vedanta and then presents translations of actual debates between the Madhva and Advaita schools of Vedanta, thus positioning readers at the centre of the 700 year-old controversy between these two schools of Vedanta. Original texts of Madhvacarya are included in an appendix, in translation and in Sanskrit.

Description: 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.

Exposition of the philosophy of Sri Madhwacharya, the 13th century ascetic and proponent of the 'dvaita - dualistic theism' school. This book outlines the philosophy of Sri Madhwacharya based on his works. The first few chapters deal with the epistemological basis of Sri Madhwacharya's philosophy. The significant contributions of Sri Madhwacharya to Indian philosophy - epistemological and ontological find special elucidation in this book. The concept of Sakshi which is most fundamental in the system with the associated concepts of space and time are elaborated. The last two chapters are devoted to the enumeration and justification of the metaphysical categories of the system and the concept of Moksha (liberation) according to Sri Madhwacharya.

The volume is a good presentation of the philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya, complete in its architectonic unity. The author probes its ontological and epistemological foundations, and critcally examines the structure erected on them. The discussion focuses on crucial doctrines of theism, and brings to light for the first time the striking parallelisms of thought between Madhva and his Western contemporary St. Thomas Aquinas. Light is also thrown on how Madhva and his commentators anticipated the views of modern philosophers like Spencer, Russell and Hobhouse on the nature of time, space and memory. The latest researches on Madhvacarya's role in the Vedantic Bhakti movement and his attempt to harmonize the Upanisadic texts on monism and dualism are substantially drawn upon.