Early life of Ramanujacharya (1017-1137 C.E.): Ramanuja was the great exponent of Vishishtadvaita or qualified monoism. He was born in 1017 C.E. at Sri Perambadur near Chennai (T.N.). His parents were Keshva Somayaji and Kantimati. It is believed that Ramanuja was the incarnation of Adisesha. He studied in Kanchi under Yadhavaprakasha. As per the wishes of his mother, he married Tangamma at the age of 16. His married life was very unhappy. As his wife did not co-operate with him in his spiritual exercises, he left his family and became a sanyasi. He went to Srirangam. Later Ramanuja became the head of Srirangam mutt and popularized Vaishnavism. This was not liked by Kulottunga Chola, and Ramanuja left Srirangam and came to Karnataka.
Works of Ramanuja: Vcdanlha Saara, Vedantha Sangraha, Vedantha Sutra, Geetha Bhashya, Sree Bhashya, Sri Rangagadhya, Sharanagati Gadhya, Vykunta Gadhya, Nitya Gadhya etc., were the important works of Ramanujacharya.
Srivaishnava or Vishishtadvaita (qualified monoism) Philosophy: This was propounded by Ramanuja. lie differed from Shankaracharya’s views in many points. According to Ramanuja, the entire universe is divided into three parts. They are God‘(Brahma), individual Soul (Chit) and the world (Achit).
The universe was controlled by God.
- Vishnu is the supreme God, Sri Lakshmi is the mediator between God and humans. (Universal Soul) Vishnu may be called Brahma.
- God is omniscient, permanent and possesses all the great qualities (God is Suguna) like mercy, beauty, justice etc.
- God is the creator of all things in the world. The individual Soul and the world are controlled by God.
- According to Ramanuja, the Soul does not have independent existence. The individual Soul has limited power and it can never become identical with God. All Souls are the creations of God. In a state of salvation, the individual Soul becomes free from birth and rebirth and enjoys eternal bliss in the presence of God.
- Ramanuja condemned the illusion (Maya vada) of Shankaracharya. For Ramanuja, the world is not an illusion but is real.
- Ramanuja advocated Bhakti Marga as the only path for the attainment of Salvation. Through Bhakti, the individual Soul gets redemption and attains salvation.
Ramanuja advocated the worship of Vishnu accompanied by Lakshmi. His Philosophy is known as Srivaishnava or qualified monoism. There are two elements in Ramanuja’s Bhaktimarga. 1) Prapatthi – absolute surrender tq God. 2) Acharyabhimana – Subjugation to guru. Ramanuja preached that irrespective of one’s caste, the sure way to salvation was through Bhakti. He was an enlightened saint who tried to wipe out the evils of the caste system. He was able to equate all human beings at par, by breaking down the artificial barriers of the caste system.
