Madhvaon Brahma Sūtra 3.2.20
Dvaita Vedānta
Sūtra
वृद्धिह्रासभाक्त्वमन्तर्भावादुभयसामञ्जस्यादेवम्
vṛddhihrāsabhāktvamantarbhāvādubhayasāmañjasyādevam
Sūtra translation
Of that devotion, etc., (a higher degree) and (a lower degree) are to be admitted, as all are included under the devout class ; for only then justness on the part of the Lord towards both would be (seen).
Of the devotion, knowledge, etc., stated before, there exists the difference of degree (or a certain gradation, in different souls) ; for the exalted souls like Brahma, etc., are included under (the category of) the devoted ; (and they are entitled to a higher measure of bliss than the Rishis and men of the highest order who are entitled to it in varying degrees). Only then, t.e., only on the ad- mission of gradation in (the intensity of) devotion, etc., the even-handedness of the Lord towards Brahma and others on the one hand, and the other souls on the other hand can be explained. It is said in the Brahmapurana thus: “ The more efficacious the meaas are, the more exalted are the fruits which Brahma and other exalted souls obtain only in the order spoken of in the Ananda Sruti. [According as the meaus (devotion, etc., are superior, Brahma and others obtain also superior fruits, in the regular gradation in which they are de- dared in the Sruti, describing the gradation of bliss in heaven]. Whence (is this gradation) ?