Ramanuja

Ramanuja

Ramanuja (1017-1137) – thinker, reformer of medieval Hinduism, founder of the theistic direction of Vedanta – vishishta-advaita, and the Vaishnava school of Shri Sampradaya.

Born in South India, in the village of Shriperumbudur, in a Brahmin family. Ramanuja was a disciple of Yadavaprakasha, who, according to one version, was a Vedantist, according to another, a follower of the “bheda-abheda” doctrine, dating back to Bhaskara, one of the first critics of Shankaracharya. After studying for some time with Yadavaprakashi, Ramanuja leaves him to join the society of the Alvars – Tamil poets-saints who preach the cult of bhakti. They worshiped Vishnu and adhered to the theistic interpretation of Upanishads.

The main works of Ramanuja are "Shribhashya", a commentary on "Brahma Sutras"; "Gitabhashya", a commentary on "Bhagavad Gita"; treatises "Vedanta-sara" (the essence of Vedanta), "Vedanta-dipa" (the light of Vedanta) and "Vedartha-sangraha" (collection of sayings about the meaning of Vedas).

Ramanuja, relying on the triple canon of Vedanta (Upanishads, "Brahma Sutras", "Bhagavad Gita"), in his philosophy explored the nature of the highest reality, Brahman. He believed that Brahman is the same as a personal God, thus bringing together the extremes of monism and theism. The world emanating from Brahman should be as real as Brahman itself, he believed, thereby criticizing the Advaita Vedanta statements about Maya, the illusory nature of the perceived world. For Ramanuja, the unity of Brahman already contains the diversity of the world, and vice versa, the unity of Brahman follows from the diversity of the world.

Ramanuja recognized Brahman, God, numerous souls, and matter as equally real.

Souls mistakenly identify themselves with the body, being in the cycle of samsara, due to past deeds (karma) and ignorance (avidya).

The liberation of the soul, according to Ramanuja, is possible thanks to the rituals prescribed in Vedas; the study of Vedanta with further education, reflection on the nature of God, man, and world; the practice of worship of God, consisting of prayer, meditation and worship of God itself. At the same time, Ramanuja, unlike Shankaracharya, believed that the liberated soul does not become God (Brahman), it can only become like Him. Thus he rejects the idea of complete identity between God and individual souls.

In the advaita-vedanta of Shankaracharya, liberation means the complete erasure of the human "I", in Ramanuja, in his vishishta-advaita, the free "I" lives in eternal communion with God.

Ramanuja believed that every person, regardless of caste origin and social status, can follow the path of moksha, this made his teaching very popular in India for many centuries.