Sri Madhvacharya considers Itihasa-Purana Prasthana also as a source of Vedanta Philosophy along with Upanishad Brahmasutra and Gita Prasthanas. He gives utmost importance to Mahabharata as a source of Vedanta Philosophy and Vaisnava religion.This work helps the understanding of Vedanta Philosophy in two ways:
(1) It contains all essential teachings of Vedanta Philosophy. (2) It helps to understand the purport of Veda and Upanishads. It is well said that itihasapuranabhyaam vedam samupabrahmayeth. While Veda and Upanishads teach the theory of Vedantha the Mahabharata teaches the practice through appropriate illustrations. Therefore Sri Madvacharya attaches great importance to Mahabharata.
For the utilisation of Mahabharata both as a source and as an aid to the exposition of Vedanta Philosophy two undertakings were necessary (i) To fix an authentic Text of Mahabharata (ii) To unearth the indepth meaning of it going beyond the mere story, episodes, events and the personalities. That is to say to identify the moral and spiritual issues behind the story, episodes etc. It is this that is acheived in this work viz., Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya
Mahabharatha TatparyaNirnaya is a critical exposition of Mahabharat. It has 3 dimensions It gives an authentic version of entire theme of Mahabharat supplementing the details from Harivamsha, VishnuPurana, Bhagavatha and other satvika purana’s. In fact it is a critical digest of all these. Ramayan is also summarized in it. This gives a complete picture of Ramakatha, Krishna katha and Bheema katha.
It is not just a narration of above 3 kathas. It explores the ethical and theological issues embedded in the above kathas, the events and the characters and resolves the apparent conflicts and ticklish issues Finally it is a document of spirtual knowledge.