VI
Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya · Vedānta
Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and Dvaita — three great philosophical schools reading the same Upaniṣads. And two Āgamic traditions — Pāñcarātra and Vaikhānasa — governing how the Lord is worshipped in temples.
The Three Vedāntas
How can the many
be reconciled with the one?
01
Advaita
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya · c. 788 – 820 CE
Brahman alone is real; the world is an appearance (māyā). The ātman is Brahman.
Śaṅkara's Advaita-vedānta holds that Brahman is nirguṇa — beyond attributes — and that the plurality of the world is a superimposition (adhyāsa) on the one non-dual reality. Liberation is the direct realization of the identity of ātman and Brahman: tat tvam asi.
02
Viśiṣṭādvaita
Śrī Rāmānujācārya · 1017 – 1137 CE
Brahman is qualified (viśiṣṭa) by souls and matter as its inseparable modes.
Rāmānuja teaches a qualified non-dualism: Brahman (Nārāyaṇa with Śrī) alone is real, but the world of souls and matter are His body — dependent yet real. The soul remains eternally distinct from Brahman, and yet inseparable. Liberation is service in Vaikuṇṭha.
03
Dvaita
Śrī Madhvācārya · 1238 – 1317 CE
Five eternal differences (pañca-bheda) between souls, matter, and God.
Madhva holds a strict dualism: God (Viṣṇu) is supreme and utterly distinct from the individual soul and from insentient matter. Liberation is the fulfilled service of the Lord in one's eternal individual capacity.
A Side-by-Side
Where the schools diverge.
| Question | Advaita | Viśiṣṭādvaita | Dvaita |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature of Brahman | Nirguṇa (attribute-less) | Saguṇa (Nārāyaṇa with Śrī) | Saguṇa (Viṣṇu) |
| Reality of the world | Vyāvahārika (empirical only) | Real, body of Brahman | Real and dependent |
| Soul & God | Identical | Distinct yet inseparable | Eternally distinct |
| Path | Jñāna | Bhakti + prapatti | Bhakti |
| Liberation | Merging into Brahman | Sāyujya in Vaikuṇṭha | Service in Vaikuṇṭha |
The Āgamic Traditions
How the Lord is
actually worshipped.
01
Pāñcarātra Āgama
The Pāñcarātra tradition holds that Nārāyaṇa manifests in five modes — para (transcendent), vyūha (fourfold: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha), vibhava (avatāras), antaryāmī (inner witness), and arcā (image). Its texts (Sātvata, Pauṣkara, Jayākhya, Ahirbudhnya) prescribe temple worship centered on mantras and bhakti. Rāmānuja established Pāñcarātra worship in most Śrī Vaiṣṇava temples.
02
Vaikhānasa Āgama
The Vaikhānasa tradition claims direct descent from the sage Vikhanas and is followed at Tirumala, Kāñcīpuram, and many ancient Viṣṇu temples. Its priesthood is hereditary; its rites emphasize the pañca-yajña of a householder brāhmaṇa carried into the temple setting. It uses the six Vaikhānasa sūtras of Ātri, Bhṛgu, Marīci, and Kāśyapa.