In plain words
This he taught in a way that could be well understood. His doctrine was that the jīva can become one with God, can reach God, through sādhana.
This is not right. The jīva is the jīva. God is God. The jīva may go on enjoying that Ānanda, but the jīva is not God. For this there is one fine example. Let us take milk. When we boil this milk and add a little curd to set it, it turns into curd. When we churn this curd, butter comes out of it. When we heat this butter, it takes shape as ghee. But where did this ghee come from? The basis of this ghee is butter. The basis of this butter is milk itself. In every drop of milk, in every particle, there is butter. Though it is there, we cannot see it. Only when we do what has to be done to it does that butter come apart. So milk is Advaita; butter is the very essence that came out of this milk. When we take the butter out, the buttermilk is left apart. In pure butter there is no buttermilk. In buttermilk there is no butter. Here buttermilk and butter are two. But butter is special. All the essence of the milk is in the butter. We need not think about the milk. Butter alone is what matters most. So Rāmānuja went on establishing it as a qualified Advaita. Next, Madhvācārya. He was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. 'Kṛṣṇa ever separate and I separate, and enjoying Ānanda with Him: that alone is the chief duty,' he said. If I myself became Kṛṣṇa, I would not understand the sweetness of Ānanda at all. Kṛṣṇa must stay Kṛṣṇa. I must stay just a servant. I am the one who enjoys. He is the one who delights. He is the hero. I am the heroine. Madhvācārya went on longing for an intimate bond of this kind. Whatever he did, he tried to do it only in relation to Kṛṣṇa. That Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Though He is, He stays separate from me. That is why Purandaradāsa too said:
The mother and father who gave me birth, my dear friend, are You; my eight kinsmen, my whole family, are You; O Lord of excellent form, while You are there, why am I poor, why am I a stranger?
All the eight ornaments laid away in the box are You. The mother, the father who gave me birth, the friend too, are You. As long as I have such a One as You, I have no need of others. I do not need even this world.
You are the one who imparts learning, You are the one who teaches wisdom; the One who uplifts, my Lord, are You; dear Śrī Purandara Viṭhala, at Your feet I have fallen and lie; what fear is there for me? Why am I poor, why am I a stranger?