Hindu

Ramanuja

Ramanuja was the great Sri Vaishnava acharya and foremost teacher of Vishishtadvaita, qualified non-dualism. He illumined the path of loving devotion to the Supreme, opened temple worship and divine knowledge to all, and remains a luminous father of devotional Hinduism.

Ramanuja is cherished as one of the most luminous teachers in the history of Hindu devotion, the great acharya who gave philosophical voice to the love of God and opened the doors of grace to all who longed for it. Born at Sriperumbudur, near present-day Chennai in Tamil Nadu, to the devout parents Asuri Keshava Somayaji and Kanthimathi, he came into a Tamil Brahmin family during the flowering of the Chola age. Tradition lovingly remembers his lifespan as an exceptionally long one, traditionally given as one hundred and twenty years, while some modern scholars, weighing temple records, place his dates a little later; either way, his is a life measured less by dates than by the radiance of what he taught. From his earliest years Ramanuja showed a keen and questioning mind joined to a tender heart. As a young student he studied Vedanta deeply under the learned teacher Yadava Prakasha, to whom he remained ever grateful, and the tradition recalls how his own heart was drawn with growing clarity toward a God of love and freely given grace. His true spiritual lineage flowed from the great Vaishnava acharya Yamunacharya, also lovingly called Alavandar, the head of the community at Srirangam. Though the two are said never to have met in this life, Ramanuja received Yamunacharya's hopes as a sacred charge and devoted himself to fulfilling them. Initiated formally into the Sri Vaishnava fold through the compassionate guidance of teachers such as Mahapurna and the saintly Kanchipurna, he embraced wholeheartedly the worship of Vishnu-Narayana and Sri, the Divine Mother, as the very form of boundless mercy. At the heart of Ramanuja's teaching stands Vishishtadvaita, qualified non-dualism, a vision of breathtaking beauty and balance. He affirmed that there is one ultimate Reality, Brahman, the Supreme Person who is full of all auspicious qualities and infinite love; and he affirmed with equal reverence that individual souls and the world are wholly real, eternally distinct, yet inseparably held within and sustained by that Supreme. The soul is to God as the body is to the indwelling self, utterly dependent and utterly dear. In this way Ramanuja honored both the intimacy of the seeker's relationship with a personal, gracious God and the unity of all existence in the Divine. He beheld the world as the real and joyous expression of God's glory, and he taught that liberation, moksha, is the soul's eternal, conscious delight in the loving presence of the Lord. Ramanuja gave to bhakti, loving devotion, its full dignity as the royal road to liberation. He taught that the heart turned toward God in trust and surrender, prapatti, the casting of oneself entirely upon divine grace, is open to every sincere soul regardless of birth or station. This conviction shaped not only his philosophy but his deeds. Famous in the tradition is the story of how, having received a sacred mantra under a vow of secrecy, the young Ramanuja climbed the temple tower and joyfully proclaimed it aloud to the gathered people, so that all might share in its saving power, content to bear any consequence himself if only others could be blessed. That single act captures the whole spirit of his life: a love for God inseparable from a love for every living being. His labors as a teacher and reformer were tireless. He served at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram and later took charge of the great Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, where he reorganized worship with such care and devotion that his patterns endure to this day. He welcomed those who had been kept at a distance from temple life, lovingly calling the humble devotees Tirukulattar, those of noble lineage, and ensured their place in the worship of the Lord. Traveling across the length of India, he established centers of learning and devotion, and during years spent in the Hoysala country he founded the temple of Thirunarayanaswamy at Melukote in Karnataka, drawing the king Vishnuvardhana into the path of devotion. Wherever he went, communities of faith and study sprang up around him. Ramanuja set his vision in writing in works of enduring authority, foremost among them the Sri Bhashya, his great commentary on the Brahma Sutras, together with his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedartha Sangraha, and the tender devotional prose-poems of the Gadya Traya, in which the soul pours itself out in surrender at the feet of the Lord. Through these the river of his thought has watered countless generations. Honored by scholars as among the most influential thinkers of devotional Hinduism, Ramanuja gave to the great Bhakti movement an intellectual foundation and a tender, inclusive heart. His teaching still shapes worship at Srirangam, Tirupati, and temples across the land, and his memory is celebrated as an emblem of equality and grace. In Ramanuja the tradition reveres a sage who united the keenest philosophy with the warmest love, who made the highest wisdom a refuge for all, and whose blessing continues to draw seekers homeward to the Divine.