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The 'Dvaitadvaita' (dualistic non-dualism, or Bhedabheda) philosophy is associated with:
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Answer: Option B — Nimbarkacharya
Detailed Solution
The "Dvaitadvaita" (dualistic non-dualism) philosophy, also called "Svabhavika Bhedabheda" (natural difference and non-difference), is associated with Nimbarkacharya (Nimbarka).
About Nimbarkacharya:
- He is believed to have lived around the 12th-13th century CE (some traditions give much earlier dates).
- He was a Telugu Brahmana, believed to have been born near Paithan or in the Bellary region, and lived for a long time at Vrindavan (or near Mathura, at Govardhan).
- He is said to have got his name ("Nimba" + "Arka", the sun on a neem tree) from a legend that he made the sun appear on a neem tree to feed a guest after sunset.
- He founded the "Nimbarka Sampradaya" (also called the Sanakadi Sampradaya or Hamsa Sampradaya), one of the four main Vaishnava traditions (sampradayas).
- He was one of the first to worship Radha and Krishna together as the supreme deity.
His philosophy - Dvaitadvaita:
- The individual souls (jiva) and the world are both different (bheda) and not different (abheda) from God (Brahman, identified with Krishna).
- They are different because they are dependent and limited, but not different because they are parts of God and cannot exist apart from him, like the rays of the sun and the sun.
- Liberation is achieved through complete surrender (prapatti) and devotion to Radha-Krishna.
- His main work is the "Vedanta Parijata Saurabha", a short commentary on the Brahma Sutras.
The four Vaishnava sampradayas:
- Sri Sampradaya: Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita).
- Brahma Sampradaya: a school founded in Karnataka, teaching dualism.
- Rudra Sampradaya: Vishnuswami and Vallabhacharya (Shuddhadvaita).
- Kumara (Sanakadi) Sampradaya: Nimbarka (Dvaitadvaita).
Other schools:
- "Achintya Bhedabheda": Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengal).
- Ramananda (14th-15th century): a Vaishnava saint who preached in Hindi and had disciples of all castes.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Vallabhacharya taught Shuddhadvaita.
- ✗Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught Achintya Bhedabheda.
- ✗Ramanandacharya was a later saint of north India.
Quick tip
Remember: Dvaitadvaita (Bhedabheda) = Nimbarka (Radha-Krishna; Vrindavan; Kumara Sampradaya; Vedanta Parijata Saurabha); Achintya Bhedabheda = Chaitanya.
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Bhakti & Sufi Movements — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Bhakti & Sufi Movements, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Bhakti and Sufi movements emphasised personal devotion to God over ritual and caste. This topic covers Bhakti saints such as Ramanuja, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Chaitanya, Namdev and Tukaram, and the Sufi orders (silsilas) such as the Chishti and Suhrawardi orders and their saints. Questions usually link a saint to their region, language, teacher or ideas, or ask which Sufi order a saint belonged to. For example, Moinuddin Chishti brought the Chishti order to Ajmer, and Kabir was a disciple of Ramananda. A table of saint, region and key teaching makes these questions easy. Practise the Bhakti and Sufi movements questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.