Skip to content
Indian PhilosophyOS

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta · Vedanta · Bhakti traditions

रामानुजाचार्य

Ramanujacharya

Traditionally 1017–1137 CE; the traditional lifespan of 120 years is often questioned and scholars treat the dates as approximate (11th–12th century CE).
Editorial overview

Historical context

Ramanuja is the principal systematiser of Vishishtadvaita ('non-duality of the qualified') and a central teacher of the Sri Vaishnava tradition of South India, associated especially with Srirangam. He inherited the teaching of earlier Sri Vaishnava teachers such as Yamuna and the devotional heritage of the Tamil Alvar poets. Traditional biographies, written later, describe conflicts with a Chola king and a period of exile; details are hagiographical. His commentaries give Vedanta a thoroughly theistic and devotional reading.

On attribution: The Sri Bhashya, Gita Bhashya and Vedartha Sangraha are accepted as his. Some scholars have questioned whether the Gadya Traya is his.

Core ideas

  • Brahman is a personal God (identified with Vishnu-Narayana), possessing infinite auspicious qualities, not an attributeless reality
  • Souls (chit) and matter (achit) are real and form the 'body' of Brahman, who is their inner controller: the body–soul relation (sharira–shariri)
  • Non-duality means an inseparable unity of God with the world and souls, not bare identity
  • Liberation is attained through devotion (bhakti) and refuge (prapatti) with divine grace; the liberated soul enjoys God while remaining distinct
  • The world is real, not maya in the sense of illusion

Major works

Textश्रीभाष्यSri Bhashya (Ramanuja)Ramanuja's commentary on the Brahma Sutras, the foundational text of Vishishtadvaita, 'qualified non-dualism'.Textगीताभाष्यGita Bhashya (Ramanuja)Ramanuja's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, reading it as teaching devotion to a personal God, supported by knowledge and action.Textवेदार्थसंग्रहVedartha SangrahaAn independent prose treatise in which Ramanuja sets out how the Upanishads, read as a whole, teach Vishishtadvaita.Textश्रीमद्भगवद्गीताBhagavad GitaA 700-verse dialogue in which Krishna counsels the warrior Arjuna, who has collapsed in despair on the battlefield, on action, the Self and devotion.Textब्रह्मसूत्रBrahma SutrasA collection of terse aphorisms that systematises the teaching of the Upanishads about Brahman and defends it against rival schools.Textबृहदारण्यकोपनिषद्Brihadaranyaka UpanishadThe longest and probably oldest Upanishad, a collection of dialogues and debates, many featuring Yajnavalkya, on the Self, Brahman, death and rebirth.Textछान्दोग्योपनिषद्Chandogya UpanishadA long prose Upanishad of the Samaveda, best known for Uddalaka's teaching to his son Shvetaketu that the Self is one with the underlying Being of all things.Textकठोपनिषद्Katha UpanishadA dialogue in which the boy Nachiketa, sent to the realm of Death, asks Yama what happens after death and learns about the undying Self.Textमुण्डकोपनिषद्Mundaka UpanishadA verse Upanishad that distinguishes 'lower' knowledge of the Vedas and sciences from the 'higher' knowledge by which the imperishable is known.Textश्वेताश्वतरोपनिषद्Shvetashvatara UpanishadA theistic Upanishad that identifies Brahman with a personal Lord, Rudra-Shiva, and weaves in early Sankhya and Yoga ideas.Textतैत्तिरीयोपनिषद्Taittiriya UpanishadAn Upanishad in three sections covering recitation and student ethics, Brahman as truth, knowledge and bliss, and the five 'sheaths' of the person.Textभक्तियोगBhakti YogaVivekananda's account of the path of devotion, from preparatory worship to supreme love for God.

Also: Vedanta Sara · Vedanta Dipa · Gadya Traya (three prose hymns of refuge; attribution sometimes discussed) · Nitya Grantha

Concepts

Conceptब्रह्मन्BrahmanThe ultimate reality, the ground from which everything arises.Conceptईश्वरIshvara — GodThe Lord — God as ruler, creator and object of worship.ConceptजीवJiva — the individual soulThe living, embodied individual who acts, experiences and transmigrates.Conceptभक्तिBhakti — devotionLoving devotion to God, as a path and as an end in itself.Conceptप्रपत्तिPrapatti — refuge in GodTaking refuge in God as the sole means, a central teaching of Sri Vaishnavism.ConceptशरणागतिSharanagatiTaking refuge in God; total surrender.Conceptअनुग्रहAnugraha — graceDivine grace — God's freely given favour that frees the soul.ConceptशरीरShariraThe body; in Vedanta, understood as gross, subtle and causal layers distinct from the Self.

Philosophical disagreements

Presented so you can understand each side — not to declare a winner.

  • With Adi Shankaracharya

    Ramanuja devotes a long section of the Sri Bhashya to refuting Advaita: he argues that an attributeless Brahman cannot be known or taught, that the theory of maya is incoherent, and that ignorance cannot reside in Brahman.

  • With Madhvacharya

    Madhva, writing later, agrees that the world and souls are real but rejects Ramanuja's model of the world as God's body, insisting instead on absolute and eternal difference between God, souls and matter.

Lineage of ideas

Continue exploring

Related thinkers

आदि शङ्कराचार्यAdi Shankaracharyaमध्वाचार्यMadhvacharya

Traditions

विशिष्टाद्वैतVishishtadvaita Vedantaवेदान्तVedantaभक्तिBhakti traditions