The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2658 page)

 
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see
VI
U
.

 
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Vi
i
dvaita-ved
nta
.

The teaching and school, in Hinduism, of qualified non-duality, in contrast to
Advaita
. The name is derived from
vi
i
a
(‘distinct’, ‘particular to’) and
advaita
(‘not-dual’). Although introduced by the
Vai
ava
writer, Yamun
c
rya, the school is usually associated with
R
m
nuja
. The world, selves, and God are all real, but the world and self depend on God, since God creates the cosmos out of his
subtle body
by transforming it into a gross one—though he does not prevent faults or blemishes occurring. Selves depend in such a way that they are sustained in continuing, independent existence, even after liberation (
mok
a
). But they remain part of the whole body of
Brahman
as attributes, Brahman being ‘all that is’. Since the highest mode of being is personal (i.e. higher than inanimate, or non-relational being), Brahman is personal, i.e. containing the relational within his being ‘all that is’.