अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद

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Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद) is a school of Vedanta representing the philosophy of inconceivable one-ness and difference. In Sanskrit achintya means ‘inconceivable’, bheda translates as ‘difference’, and abheda translates as ‘non-difference’. The Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition employs the term in relation to the relationship of creation and creator, between God and his energies. It is believed that this philosophy was taught by the movements theological founder Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486 - 1534) and differentiates the Gaudiya tradition from the other Vaishnava Sampradayas. It can be understood as an integration of the strict dualist (dvaita) theology of Madhvacharya and the qualified monism (vishishtadvaita) of Ramanuja, rejecting the absolute non-dualism (advaita) of Adi Shankara which contradicts Vyāsadeva’s siddhānta.