both of these come from God and
depend on Him for their continuing
existence. In this dualism, Madhva dif-
fers sharply from the major school of
Vedanta, Advaita Vedanta. The Advaita
school upholds a philosophical posi-
tion known as monism, which is the
belief that a single Ultimate Reality—
called Brahman—lies behind all
things, and that all things are merely
differing forms of this single reality.
Whereas Advaita collapses all things
into one thing, Madhva firmly insists
on maintaining differences.
Madhva’s stress on dualism leads
him to clarify these differing types of
things, which is known as the “fivefold
difference”: the difference between God
and the Self, between God and the
world, between individual Selves,
between Selves and matter, and
between individual material things.
Even though each Self is believed to
contain an aspect of God, this funda-
mental difference gives the Self only a
limited capacity for religious life. This
limited power means that final libera-
tion of the soul comes solely through the
graceof God, who alone has the power
to effect it. Final liberation is conceived
both as freedom from rebirth and as the
soul’s opportunity to remain in the
divine presence forever.
With its stress on God’s utter tran-
scendence and the emphasis on grace
as the sole vehicle for salvation,
Madhva’s Dvaita Vedanta has often
been compared to the theology of John
Calvin. Madhva even stated that the
world had three classes of beings:
those eventually destined for libera-
tion (muktiyogas), those destined for
eternal rebirth (nityasamsarins), and
those destined for eternal damnation
(tamoyogas). Like Calvin, Madhva did
not see these categories as promoting
fatalism, but rather that the prospect
of never attaining liberation could urge
one to the faith necessary to pursue an
active religious life. For further infor-
mation see Karl H. Potter (ed.),
Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies,
1972; and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
and Charles A. Moore (eds.), A
Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, 1957.Dvapara Yuga
Particular age of the world in one of the
reckonings of cosmic time. According to
traditional belief, time has neither
beginning nor end, but alternates
between cycles of creation and activity,
followed by cessation and quietude.
Each of these cycles lasts for 4.32 billion
years, with an active phase known as the
Day of Brahma, and the quiet phase
known as the Night of Brahma. In one
reckoning of cosmic time, the Day of
Brahma is divided into one thousand
mahayugas(“great cosmic ages”), each
of which lasts for 4.32 million years.
Each mahayuga is composed of four
constituent yugas (units of cosmic
time), named the Krta Yuga, Treta Yuga,
Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. Each of
these four yugas is shorter than its pre-
decessor, and ushers in an era more
degenerate and depraved. By the end of
the Kali Yuga, things have gotten so bad
that the only solution is the destruction
and recreation of the earth, at which
time the next Krta era begins.
The Dvapara Yuga is thus the third of
the four yugas contained in a mahayuga,
and lasts for 864,000 years. The metal
associated with the Dvapara yuga is
bronze—less valuable than the gold and
silver associated with the earlier ages,
but better than the iron of the Kali yuga.
This is popularly believed to be the cos-
mic age in which the god Krishna
appeared on earth.Dvarapala
(“door-protector”) Guardian images
placed on either side of the entrance to
a Hindu temple. These figures are usu-
ally portrayed as minor celestial beings
and conceived as the protectors of the
sacred space inside. Since any Hindu
temple is first and foremost the home
for the deitywithin, and since both
kings and gods often used the same
symbols to display and reinforce theirDvapara Yuga