Within the Dvaita Vedānta tradition, the affirmation of a real and eternal distinction between the individual self (jīva or ātman) and the supreme reality (Brahman/Viṣṇu) is not an optional add-on but the very backbone of the system. Its devotional life, scriptural interpretation, and understanding of liberation are all structured around this dualistic vision. To call a path “Dvaita Vedānta” in the proper, technical sense therefore entails accepting that God, souls, and matter are distinct, with Viṣṇu as the independent reality and the soul as forever dependent and different. This dualism is not something that is later transcended or dissolved; it is held to be ultimately and eternally real.

From this standpoint, the practices associated with Dvaita—such as worship, meditation, and ethical discipline—are designed to deepen awareness of that fundamental difference. Ritual worship presupposes a real devotee standing before a real Lord, and meditation is oriented toward contemplating the supreme nature of Brahman while remaining conscious of one’s dependent status. The very goal of spiritual life is framed as eternal service to Brahman, rather than any form of merger or identity with the divine. Scripture is read and assimilated through this lens of unbridgeable distinction, and moral conduct is grounded in duty toward a supreme being rather than in the realization of oneness.

It is certainly possible for someone who does not accept dualism to engage in many of the same outward forms of devotion—chanting, pūjā, surrender to a personal deity—and to draw inspiration from Dvaita teachings. However, such practice would then be interpreted through a different metaphysical framework, and would no longer be Dvaita Vedānta in a strict sense. The philosophy and the practice in this school form an integrated whole; to remove the dualistic core while retaining the name would be to separate a tradition from the very vision that animates it.