Madhva tradition
Madhva Traditon (originally named Sadh Vaishnavism (IAST: "Sādh Vaiṣṇavism") and Brahma Sampradaya (IAST: Brahmā Saṃpradāya), is a denomination within the Vaishnavism—Bhagavata tradition of Hinduism, founded by the thirteenth century philosopher Madhvacharya. It is a movement in Hinduism that developed during its classical period around the beginning of the Common Era. Philosophically, Madhva tradition is aligned with Dvaita Vedanta, and regards Madhvacharya as its founder or reformer. The Madhva Sampradaya is referred to as the Brahma Sampradaya, referring to its traditional origins in the succession of spiritual masters (gurus) have originated from Brahma. According to Madhva tradition, the  creator is superior to the creation, and hence moksha comes only from the grace of Vishnu, but not from effort alone. Madhva says individual soul must acquire ceremonial purity through Karma - daily duties. Karma is also a kind of puja. Madhva regards Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya as necessary steps for moksha. So in Madhva Sampradaya Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga are equally important in order to attain liberation. Etymology. The term "Sadh Vaishnavism" is derived from "sadh", meaning "true", and the Hindu deity Vishnu, whose worshipers are known as Vaishnava; this name of the tradition may thus be  translated as "true Vaishnavism." The term "Madhva" is derived from the name of the tradition's founder, Madhvacharya. The term "sampradaya" refers to a Hindu religious tradition. The followers of "Sadh Vaishnavism" are known as "Sadh Vaishnavas". Philosophy and theology. Tattvavada (Dvaita). Sadh Vaishnavism's philosophical foundation was established by Madhva, who started his Vedic studies with Achyutapreksha in an Advaita Vedanta monastery. But there was constant disagreement between the master and the disciple and the studies ended soon. However, he sought initiation at the hands of this guru under the name of Poornaprajna and wrote his commentaries under the  name Ananda Tirtha. Madhvacharya converted his own guru Achyutapreksha to Dvaita Vedanta, like Ramanuja converting his Advaita guru Yadavapreksha renaming him Govindasure to Vishistadvaita. Madhva brought Vedantic and Upanishadic ideas to this tradition, and wrote texts on dualism, called Dvaita in the Hindu tradition. His ideas are one of three subschools in Vedanta, the other two are known as Adi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism) and Ramanujacharya's Vishistadvaita (qualified monism). According to Madhva, the Divine and the soul are completely distinct from each other. Madhva Sampradaya worships Vishnu as the highest Hindu deity and regards Madhva, whom they consider  to be an incarnation of Vishnu's son, Vayu, as an incarnate saviour. Madhvism regards Vayu as Vishnu's agent in this world, and Hanuman, Bhima, and Madhvacharya to be his three incarnations; for this reason, the roles of Hanuman in the Ramayana and Bhima in the Mahabharata are emphasised, and Madhvacharya is particularly held in high esteem. Vayu is prominently shown by Madhva in countless texts. Madhvacharya was a staunch Vaishnava who pushed strongly the belief that Vishnu was the highest of Hindu deities, and refused to accept any claims that other Hindu deities might be equally the highest . Madhvacharya says that in the beginning there was only one God and that was Narayana or Vishnu. Madhvacharya states that the ultimate divine reality, which Hindu traditions refer to as Brahman, and the individual souls, known as jīvātmans, exist as independent realities and that these are distinct. Madhva states ""brahmaśabdaśca Viṣṇaveva"", that Brahman can only refer to Vishnu. According to Madhvism, Vishnu was not just any other deva, but rather the one and only Supreme Being. Madhvacharya also asserted, "yathecchasi tatha kuru", which Sharma translates and explains as "one has the right to choose between right and wrong, a choice  each individual makes out of his own responsibility and his own risk". In Madhva Sampradaya, all devatas including Vishnu, Lakshmi, Brahma, Vayu, Saraswati, Shiva, Parvati, Subrahmanya and Ganesha are worshipped according to "Taratamya Bedha". In fact, Madhvacharya in his Tantra Sara Sangraha clearly explained how to worship all devatas. In many of his works Madhvacharya explained about Shiva Tattva, the procedure to worship Panchamukha Shiva (Rudra), and the Panchakshari Mantra Om Namah Shivaya and even clearly explained why everyone should worship Shiva. Many prominent saints and scholars wrote Stotras, Stutis and songs on Shiva in Madhva Sampradaya such is the  importance given to Lord Shiva in Madhva Sampradaya. Vyasatirtha composed "Laghu Shiva Stuti", Narayana Panditacharya composed Shiva Stuti and Satyadharma Tirtha wrote a commentary on Sri Rudram (Namaka Chamaka). Indologist B. N. K. Sharma says These are positive proofs of the fact that Madhvas are not bigots opposed to the worship of Shiva. Sharma says, Vaishnavism of Madhvacharya is more tolerant and accommodative of the worship of other gods such as Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Subrahmanya and others of the Hindu pantheon. This is the reason why Kanaka Dasa though under the influence of Tathacharya in his early life did not  subscribe wholly to the dogmas of Sri Vaishnavism against the worship of Shiva etc., and later became the disciple of Vyasatirtha. Madhva rejects Shankara's conception of the "Nirguna Brahman"—that is, Brahman without characterisations—and accepts the conception of the "Saguna Brahman"—that is, Brahman with characterisations—as the ultimate divine reality. In Madhva philosophy, Brahman possesses all positive qualities; at the root of these are existence, consciousness, and bliss. An impersonal Brahman, such as Shankara's Nirguna Brahman cannot perform these functions. For Madhva, the personal Brahman is not different from Vishnu, whom Vaishnavas consider to be the creator , the maintainer and destroyer of the world. According to the Madhva viewpoint, nothing can condition Brahman. According to Madhva, Brahman is neither the limited infinite divine reality of the Nyaya school nor a being in inseparable relation with matter and selves as in the philosophy of Ramanuja. Rather, Brahman is viewed as completely independent, but whilst the jivas are viewed as dependent upon Brahman for activity, knowledge, and existence. According to the Vaishnava viewpoint, Vishnu creates the world by his will and brings into existence the world of objects and selves. Objects and selves, though real and irreducible to each  other, are dependent on Brahman. At the time of dissolution of the world, material and objects are considered to be transformed into undifferentiated matter and selves into disembodied intelligence by Brahman; it is believed, even in the state of dissolution, that Brahman, matter, and the jivas remain distinct from one another, and do not merge with one another. Influence. Haridasa movement. The devotional movement of the Haridasa of Karnataka was an expression of Madhva's religious thought. The Haridasa movement initiated by Madhva has had a deep impact on the people in different parts of the country. The Haridasas were  mostly Madhwas and almost exclusively of the Brahmin community. Other Movements. According to Sharma, the influence of Dvaita Vedanta ideas have been most prominent on the Chaitanya school of Bengal Vaishnavism, whose devotees started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - known colloquially as the Hare Krishna Movement. Institutions. Madhvacharya established many Mathas by defeating various acharyas of different sampradayas. The followers of Madhva are of many distinct groups, they are, the Tuluvas, the Kannadigas, the Marathis, the Telugus, the Tamilians, the Biharis, the Malayalis, and the Konkanis. Thus there are twenty-four separate institutions of the Madhva-Vaishnava faith . Tuluva Mathas. The mathas present in the Tulu region are called "Tuluva Mathas. Most of the Tulu-Speaking in the Tulu region and Malayalam-Speaking people in the Kerala region who follow Madhvacharya's philosophy are followers of the twelve Madhva Mathas. The twelve Madhva Mathas are Pejawara Matha, Palimaru Matha, Adamaru Matha, Puttige Matha, Sodhe Matha, Kaniyooru Matha, Shiroor Matha, Krishnapura Matha, Bhandarakeri Matha, Subramanya Matha, Chitrapura Matha, Bhimanakatte Matha. Out of these twelve Tuluva mathas, eight are part of the Ashta (eight) mathas of Udupi who take turns once every two years (Paryaya) to worship Lord Krishna in  at Udupi. These twelve mathas are descended from Madhvacharya's direct disciples, Adhokshaja Teertha, Hrishikesha Teertha, Narasimha Teertha, Upendra Teertha, Rama Teertha, Vamana Teertha, Janardhana Teertha and Madhva's brother Vishnu Tirtha. Deccan Mathas or Deshastha Mathas. Along with Ashta Mathas of Udupi Madhvacharya also founded Adi Matha or Moola Matha with his disciple Padmanabha Tirtha as its Peetadhipathi to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) Vedanta outside the Tulunadu region with instructions that his disciples Narahari Tirtha, Madhava Tirtha, Akshobya Tirtha should be future successors of this matha. The mathas present in the Desh or Deccan region are called "Deshastha Mathas". Marathi , Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Bihari, Tamil, speaking people following Madhvacharya outside Tulunadu and Konkan regions are all followers of these ten Madhva Mathas. These ten Madhva Mathas are, Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha, Raghavendra Matha, Sripadaraja Matha, Kanva Matha, Baligaru Matha, Kudli Matha, Tambehalli Matha (also known as Majjigehalli Maṭha), Kundapur Matha, Sagarakatte Matha. Mathatraya are the three mathas which are descended in the lineage of Madhvacharya's direct disciples, Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Madhava Tirtha, Akshobya Tirtha. Jayatirtha succeeded the main matha after Akshobya Tirtha. Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha and Raghavendra Math are descended from Jayatirtha. Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha and  Raghavendra Matha are considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions of Dvaita Vedanta and are jointly referred as "Mathatraya" . It is the pontiffs and pandits of the "Mathatraya" that have been the principle architects of post-Madhva Dvaita Vedanta through the centuries. As a matter of fact, these have taken the lion's share in the task of developing and propagating the philosophy of Madhva. For this reason they can unhesitatingly be regarded as the intellectual heirs to the legacy of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha. Konkani Mathas. Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and other Saraswat Brahmins who follow Madhvacharya and his  philosophy Dvaita Vedanta are followers of two Madhva Mathas. They are mainly concentrated in the Konkan coast (including Goa), Malabar Coast of Karnataka and Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh mainly Varanasi and surrounding areas. These two Saraswat Mathas are Kashi Math and Gokarna Math. Prominent Madhva teachers. Some of the prominent Madhva teachers include: