Bhakti Schools of Vedanta

The object of this book is to provide information to the general reader about the lives and doctrines of the Acaryas, who have an equal status as Teachers of Vedanta. The book was written to show that other teachers besides Shankara have equal status as teachers of Vedanta. The personages treated in this book are Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Madhva, Vallabha and Caitanya. While their theo-philosophies will be of special interest to philosophically minded readers, it should not be forgotten that their lives are of equal importance. For it is the support of their lives that gives more authority to their teachings than the philosophical writings of mere arm-chair philosophers. The frame-work of their lives are mainly historical, but most of the miraculous and extraordinary incidents included in them may largely be the projections of the pious imaginations of their followers. These too are to be respectfully received. His the way of the Indian mind to convey the idea that these Acaryas were endowed with extraordinary divine powers. But for this extraordinary power in them, their teachings could not have survived through so many centuries influencing the lives of innumerable generations of men.