Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s6.t1.1

c6.s6.t1.1

In the period between twelfth to eighteenth centuries, some of the renowned philosophers who created history by entering into diversified debates were Rāmānuja, Madhva and Madhusūdana Sarasvati. Rāmānuja derived his concept of soul from Śaṅkara and to an extent his philosophy of Viśiṣṭādvaita corroborated Śaṅkara’s postulations. The fundamental difference between Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja lies in their world-views. To Śaṅkara, the world is a *vivarta* (an appearance) while Rāmānuja regards it an evolution. According to Rāmānuja, the soul and the matter are different from *Brahman* in relation to the matter as being an object of enjoyment, and they are identical with Him as constituents of His body. The world of our perception is His *kāryāvasthā* (effected state). He exists in causal state when the world stands dissolved. All *jīvas* (souls) exist in him in subtle state and they just become manifest when He exercises His Will and creates them.