Within the Dvaita Vedānta of Madhvācārya, hierarchy is a central feature, but it is primarily a metaphysical hierarchy rather than a novel social caste system. The tradition affirms an eternal and absolute distinction between Īśvara (Vishnu as the supreme, independent reality), the countless jīvas (individual souls, always dependent), and prakṛti (insentient matter). Among these, Vishnu alone is supremely independent, while all other beings are graded in terms of power, knowledge, and spiritual status. This graded order is often expressed through the doctrine of taratamya, a structured ranking that pervades the entire cosmos.

Within the category of jīvas, Dvaita Vedānta speaks of an intrinsic gradation. Souls are not all of the same spiritual “capacity” or destiny; some are of a higher order, some of a middle level, and some of a lower type, including those destined for eternal bondage or hell. This hierarchy is presented as eternal and essential to the very nature of each soul, rather than as a temporary arrangement. The same principle of gradation extends to the divine and semi-divine realms, where Vishnu stands at the summit, followed by Lakṣmī, then deities such as Brahmā, Vāyu, Śeṣa, Garuḍa, and so on, down through sages, ancestors, humans, animals, and lesser beings.

This metaphysical hierarchy should be carefully distinguished from the social institution of caste. Dvaita teachers, like most classical Vedānta traditions, operate within the broader Hindu framework of varṇa and āśrama, where different social classes and life-stages carry distinct duties and ritual roles. However, this social order is inherited from the wider dhārmic tradition and is not the distinctive doctrinal centerpiece of Dvaita. The unique emphasis of Dvaita lies instead in its ontological gradation of souls and deities, a cosmic ordering of worth and destiny that does not simply collapse into birth-based social categories.