Dvaita Vedānta, as articulated by Madhvācārya, rests on a robust affirmation of real difference and dependence. At its heart stands Viṣṇu (Nārāyaṇa) as the one supreme, independent reality (svatantra), the personal God who is creator, preserver, and destroyer, while all other entities—individual souls (jīvas) and matter (jaḍa or prakṛti)—are dependent (paratantra) on Him. This dependence is not merely functional but ontological: souls and the world never become identical with God, even in the highest state of liberation. The tradition thus presents a thoroughgoing theism in which God’s sovereignty and the creature’s contingency are both taken with utmost seriousness.

The famous doctrine of pañcabheda, the fivefold difference, gives this vision its philosophical contour. Dvaita maintains that there is an eternal and real distinction between God and individual souls, between God and matter, between one soul and another, between souls and matter, and between one material entity and another. These differences are not provisional or illusory; they are constitutive of reality itself and remain even in the liberated state. The world, with its time, space, and causal order, is therefore affirmed as real, a genuine creation of Viṣṇu, not a deceptive appearance born of ignorance. Māyā, where acknowledged, is understood as the divine power of creation rather than as a principle that renders the world unreal.

Within this framework, the nature of the soul is given a distinctive, graded interpretation. Each jīva is eternal, distinct from God and from every other jīva, and endowed with an intrinsic nature and a fixed spiritual capacity. Dvaita authors speak of a hierarchy (taratamya) among souls, describing inherent gradations in their aptitude for knowledge, devotion, and bliss. On this basis, souls are described as falling into different broad types: some oriented toward liberation, some bound to ongoing transmigration, and some tending toward states of profound darkness or suffering. Liberation, however, never entails fusion with Brahman; the liberated soul abides in eternal, blissful proximity to Viṣṇu, retaining its individuality while engaging in devoted service.

The path that leads to this state is centered on bhakti, loving devotion to Viṣṇu, supported by right knowledge (jñāna), righteous action (karma), and above all divine grace. Scriptural revelation—Veda, Upaniṣads, Bhagavad Gītā, Purāṇas, and the Brahma Sūtras—holds the highest authority and is interpreted consistently in a theistic, dualist manner. When scriptural passages appear to suggest non-duality, Dvaita exegesis reads them as affirmations of the soul’s radical dependence on God rather than its identity with Him. In epistemological terms, this school recognizes perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), and verbal testimony (śabda) as valid means of knowledge, with śabda—especially scripture—serving as the decisive guide to understanding the eternal dualism of God, souls, and world.