Dvaita in the context of "God in Hinduism"

Dualism in Indian philosophy is a belief, or large spectrum of beliefs, held by certain schools of Indian philosophy that reality is fundamentally composed of two parts or two types of existence. This mainly takes the form of either mind-matter dualism, as in some strands of Buddhist philosophy, or consciousness-nonconsciousness dualism in the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy. These can be compared and contrasted with mind-body dualism in Western philosophy of mind and metaphysics.

Another form of dualism in Hindu philosophy is found in the Dvaita ("dualism") Vedanta school, which regards God and the world as two realities with distinct essences; this is a form of theistic dualism. By contrast, schools such as Advaita ("nondualism") Vedanta embrace nondualism or absolute monism, regarding dualism as an illusion (maya).

The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during the 6th century CE, it gained prominence through the poems and teachings of the Vaishnava Alvars and Shaiva Nayanars in early medieval South India, before spreading northwards. It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.

The Bhakti movement regionally developed around different Hindu gods and goddesses, and some sub-sects were Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), Shaktism (Shakti goddesses), and Smartism. The Bhakti movement preached using the local languages so that the message reached the masses. The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism of Dvaita to absolute monism of Advaita Vedanta.

Madhvacharya (IAST: Madhvācārya; pronounced [mɐdʱʋaːˈtɕaːrjɐ]; 1199–1278 CE or 1238–1317 CE), also known as Purna Prajna (IAST: Pūrṇa-Prajña) and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy Tattvavāda meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".

Madhvacharya was born at Pajaka near Udupi on the west coast of Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi), and is credited with thirty seven works in Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical supplement to his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras composed with a poetic structure. In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of Vayu, the son of god Vishnu.

The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement (sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India in general and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual influence over the masses and kingdoms that ruled South India.

This movement was ushered in by the Haridasas (lit "servants of Lord Hari") and took shape in the 13th century – 14th century CE period, prior to and during the early rule of the Vijayanagara Empire. The main objective of this movement was to propagate the Dvaita philosophy of Madhvacharya (Madhva Siddhanta) to the masses through a literary medium known as Dasa Sahitya (lit "literature of the dāsas").

Avadhuta Gita (Devanagari: अवधूत गीता, IAST: Avadhūta Gītā) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism whose title means "Song of the free soul". The text's poetry is based on the principles of Advaita and Dvaita schools of Hindu philosophy.

The text is attributed to Dattatreya, and extant manuscripts have been dated to approximately the 9th or 10th century CE. It consists of 289 shlokas (metered verses), divided into eight chapters. The first seven chapters are the text's oldest layer, and the eighth chapter is likely a later interpolation. It may have been composed in the deccan states of India, probably Maharashtra. Avadhuta Gita has been one of the most important texts of the Natha Yogi tradition of Hinduism.

Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद, acintyabhedābheda in IAST) is a school of Vedanta representing the philosophy of inconceivable one-ness and difference. In Sanskrit, achintya means 'inconceivable', bheda translates as 'difference', and abheda translates as 'non-difference'.The Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition employs the term in relation to the relationship of creation and creator (Krishna, Svayam Bhagavan), between God and his energies. The movement's theological founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534), is considered the philosophy's main proponent, and differentiates the Gaudiya tradition from the other Vaishnava Sampradayas. It can be understood as an integration of the strict dualist (Dvaita) theology of Madhvacharya and the monistic theology (Advaita) of Adi Shankara.