Consider the following statements about the Vedanta philosophy : 1. Shankara was the founder of Advaita Vedanta. 2. The philosophy of Dvaita was elaborated by Madhva. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. Statement 1 is standard: Shankara, the eighth-century teacher from Kaladi in Kerala, is the founder of Advaita Vedanta, the non-dualist reading of the Upanishads on which Brahman alone is real, the world as ordinarily perceived is a superimposition, and the individual self is not different from Brahman. His commentaries on the Brahma Sutra, the principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are the founding texts of the school, and the four mathas traditionally traced to him carried it across the subcontinent. Statement 2 is equally standard: Madhva, the thirteenth-century teacher from Pajaka near Udupi in Karnataka, elaborated Dvaita, the dualist Vedanta on which the individual self and Brahman are eternally distinct, as are the selves from one another and from matter. Both statements name the right founder for the right school, so the answer takes them together.
- (a)1 only — Accepts Shankara for Advaita but rejects Madhva for Dvaita, and the second attribution is as secure as the first — Madhva is the founding teacher of the dualist school centred at Udupi.
- (b)2 only — Accepts Madhva but rejects Shankara, whose authorship of the Advaita position through his commentaries on the Brahma Sutra and the Upanishads is not in doubt.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Rejects both, which would leave the two best-known schools of Vedanta without their founders.
Vedanta is the Uttara-Mimamsa, the school that interprets the concluding portion of the Vedic corpus — the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita, together called the prasthanatrayi. It is not one doctrine but a family of readings of those three texts. Shankara reads them as teaching non-difference, Ramanuja as teaching qualified non-difference in which selves and matter form the body of Brahman, and Madhva as teaching difference. Each founder wrote his own commentary on the same three texts, which is why the schools can be compared line by line.
Items on Indian philosophy are usually decided on founder-to-school matching, so build the three-row table and keep it: Shankara with Advaita, Ramanuja with Vishishtadvaita, Madhva with Dvaita. The commonest confusion is to attach Ramanuja to Dvaita because the name sounds like a middle position, or to place Madhva earlier than he was; Shankara belongs to the eighth century, Ramanuja to the eleventh and twelfth, and Madhva to the thirteenth. Two further anchors are worth carrying: Shankara's home is Kaladi in Kerala, and Madhva's tradition is centred on the Krishna temple at Udupi.
- Shankara, of the eighth century, born at Kaladi in Kerala, founded Advaita Vedanta and wrote commentaries on the Brahma Sutra, the principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
- Madhva, of the thirteenth century, born near Udupi in Karnataka, elaborated Dvaita, on which the self and Brahman are eternally distinct.
- Ramanuja, of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, expounded Vishishtadvaita, qualified non-dualism, from Srirangam.
- Vedanta is also called Uttara-Mimamsa; Purva-Mimamsa, the school of Kumarila Bhatta and Prabhakara, deals with the ritual portion of the Vedas.
- The three foundational texts of every Vedanta school are the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita, together known as the prasthanatrayi.
Both names in the question are correctly paired, which is why the answer takes both statements.
- Attaching Ramanuja to Dvaita; his school is Vishishtadvaita, and Dvaita is Madhva's.
- Confusing Mimamsa with Vedanta; Purva-Mimamsa deals with the ritual portion, Uttara-Mimamsa with the Upanishads.
- Dating Madhva close to Shankara; five centuries separate them.
As a founder-to-school pairing, either as two statements or as a match-list of teachers and philosophies.
Which one of the following pairs does not form part of the six systems of Indian Philosophy?
- (a) Mimamsa and Vedanta
- (b) Nyaya and Vaisheshika
- (c) Lokayata and Kapalika
- (d) Sankhya and Yoga
Answer(c) Lokayata and Kapalika
The frame around this question. Vedanta is one of the six orthodox systems there; here the examiner goes inside Vedanta and asks who founded which of its branches.
Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched? Bhakti Saint Philosophy
- (a) Shankara : Avadhuta
- (b) Ramananda : Kevaladvaita
- (c) Ramanuja : Vishishtadvaita
- (d) Chaitanya : Advaita
Answer(c) Ramanuja : Vishishtadvaita
The same pairing exercise over an overlapping set of teachers. Between the two items you get all three of the major Vedanta schools attached to the right founder.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The philosophy of Vishishtadvaita, or qualified non-dualism, was expounded by
- (a)Shankara
- (b)Ramanuja
- (c)Madhva
- (d)Nimbarka
Answer(b) Ramanuja — whose school stands between Shankara's Advaita and Madhva's Dvaita.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The three foundational texts on which every school of Vedanta writes a commentary — the prasthanatrayi — are
- (a)the four Vedas, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas
- (b)the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita
- (c)the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas
- (d)the Yoga Sutra, the Samkhya Karika and the Nyaya Sutra
Answer(b) the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita — which is why the schools can be compared directly.