The founder of the Madhvism sect of Hinduism, Madhva (c. 1197-c. 1276) stressed the importance of bhakti, or devotion, in the worship of his Dvaita, or dualist, interpretation of the Vedanta, the philosophy of Hinduism as expressed in the Hindu scriptures, the Veda.

Believed to be the incarnation of the Hindu god Vayu, Madhva is believed by his followers to have performed many miracles. Regarding the Samkara branch of Hinduism to be a facsimile of Buddhism, Madhva developed his own theology based on his interpretations of the Upanishads, the last section of the Veda, in which he stressed his pluralistic view of the separate realms of the world, the human soul, and Vishnu (God). Madhva developed his theology from the Vedanta, a philosophy that stresses the search for ultimate meaning. Madhva's theories differ, however, from other such Vedantic faiths as Samkara. Similar to the Christian and Muslim faiths, Madhva...