Across families
Dvaita Vedanta and Sunni Islam
Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.19 (0 would be identical).
God, souls and matter are permanently distinct — an unusually sharp dualism inside Vedanta, and the closest Hindu school to a classical theistic picture. Liberation depends on divine grace, not on realising an identity that was there all along.
Absolute and undivided oneness, a transcendent God who is nonetheless nearer than the jugular vein, and a revealed text taken as dictated rather than authored. People are born sound and forgetful rather than fallen, which places C3 far from the Christian position despite everything the two share.
Where they agree
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.00.
D3 The body
Both sit at leaning to be disciplined — a gap of 0.02.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.03.
C1 Survival of the self
Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.03.
A4 Locus
Both sit at leaning wholly beyond the world — a gap of 0.07.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at leaning literal and binding and literal and binding respectively — a gap of 0.08.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.09.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at leaning revealed and fixed and revealed and fixed respectively — a gap of 0.10.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at leaning a people, inherited and between a people, inherited and an individual choice respectively — a gap of 0.12.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.12.
Where they part company
C2 Shape of time
Dvaita Vedanta: cyclical return. Sunni Islam: one life, then judgment. A gap of 0.88 on an axis running from “one life, then judgment” to “cyclical return”.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Dvaita Vedanta: beginningless or natural. Sunni Islam: an intentional act. A gap of 0.83 on an axis running from “an intentional act” to “beginningless or natural”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Dvaita Vedanta | Sunni Islam | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.00 |
| A2 Personhood | a personal being one can address | a personal being one can address | 0.00 |
| A3 Plurality | leaning strictly one | strictly one | 0.26 |
| A4 Locus | leaning wholly beyond the world | leaning wholly beyond the world | 0.07 |
| B1 Source of truth | leaning revealed and fixed | revealed and fixed | 0.10 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | leaning literal and binding | literal and binding | 0.08 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.20 |
| C1 Survival of the self | continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.03 |
| C2 Shape of time | cyclical return | one life, then judgment | 0.88 |
| C3 The human condition | between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound | between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.03 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | leaning given as grace | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | 0.25 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | essential and prescribed | essential and prescribed | 0.09 |
| D3 The body | leaning to be disciplined | leaning to be disciplined | 0.02 |
| E1 Exclusivity | leaning one true path | one true path | 0.20 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | beginningless or natural | an intentional act | 0.83 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning a people, inherited | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | 0.12 |
| E4 Standing of nature | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | 0.12 |
Positions for Dvaita Vedanta rest principally on Madhva’s Anuvyakhyana and Dvaita commentarial tradition; for Sunni Islam, on Qur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.