Indian Philosophy v2.c27.s8.5

v2.c27.s8.5

Madhva rejects all attempts to reduce the world of souls and nature to a mere illusion or an emanation of God, and sets forth an absolute dualism. The individual soul is dependent (paratantra) on God, since it is unable to exist without the energising support of the universal spirit, even as the tree cannot live and thrive without its sap. Even Lakṣmī, the consort of Viṣṇu, though supreme and eternal, is dependent on God. She is the presiding deity over prakṛti, which is the material cause of the world. Īśvara somehow energises prakṛti, which forms no part of his being. Prakṛti somehow lends itself to the control of Īśvara.