Sri Ramanujacharya
श्री रामानुजाचार्य
Śrī Rāmānujācārya
Vishishtadvaita acharya — codifier of the Srirangam Sri Vaishnava sampradaya and the saranagati doctrine
1017 CE – 1137 CE (traditional, age 120) · Born at Sriperumbudur, Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu
Tradition
Sri Vaishnava — Vishishtadvaita Vedanta — qualified non-dualism
Guru
Yadava Prakasha (initial Vedanta), Periya Nambi (Sri Vaishnava diksha), Yamunacharya (paramguru by spiritual succession)
Principal works
- • Sri Bhashya (commentary on Brahma Sutras)
- • Vedartha Sangraha
- • Gita Bhashya
- • Vedanta Dipa
- • Vedanta Sara
- • Sharanagati Gadyam
- • Sriranga Gadyam
- • Vaikuntha Gadyam
- • Nitya Grantha (daily ritual manual)
Signature verse
अकिञ्चनोऽनन्यगतिः शरण्यं त्वामहं प्रपन्नः।
akiñcano 'nanya-gatiḥ śaraṇyaṁ tvām ahaṁ prapannaḥ
Possessing nothing, having no other refuge, I take shelter of you alone as my sole resort.
— Sharanagati Gadyam (opening prayer of complete self-surrender to Vishnu and Lakshmi)
Life and work
Ramanuja was born at Sriperumbudur on the outskirts of Kanchi in 1017 CE and studied Vedanta first under the Advaita acharya Yadava Prakasha. A series of doctrinal disagreements over key Upanishadic passages forced a break, and he was received instead into the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya of the Alvars by Periya Nambi at Madurantakam. By the spiritual succession from Nathamuni and Yamunacharya he became the principal acharya at Srirangam, where he renovated the temple administration, codified the daily seva-krama still followed there, and wrote his Sri Bhashya as a Vishishtadvaita response to the Advaita Brahma Sutra Bhashya of Shankara. His central doctrine holds that Brahman is qualified by the inseparable attributes of the conscious souls and the unconscious universe, that bhakti culminating in saranagati to Sriman Narayana is the supreme means, and that the divine grace extended through the Mother Lakshmi as purushakara is essential for liberation. He is said to have climbed the Tirumala hills and stood in public utterance of the secret eight-syllable Tirumantra to the gathered crowd, scandalising the orthodoxy but opening Sri Vaishnava initiation to all jatis. He spent twelve years of exile at Melukote in Karnataka where he reorganised the Cheluvanarayana temple and incorporated the local Dalit community into the sampradaya as Tirukkulattar. He returned to Srirangam for his final period and is enshrined in mummified form within the temple as his living samadhi.
Key teaching
Brahman is Sriman Narayana qualified by the realities of the souls and the world; the highest sadhana is saranagati, complete self-surrender to the divine couple, and the grace of Lakshmi as purushakara opens the way to Vaikuntha liberation.
Associated places
- • Sriperumbudur (birthplace, Bhashyakara temple)
- • Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, Srirangam (chief acharya seat, living samadhi)
- • Cheluvanarayana Swami temple, Melukote, Karnataka (twelve-year exile residence)
- • Varadaraja Perumal mandir, Kanchipuram
- • Tirumala Tirupati (Tirumantra public utterance episode at Govinda Pushkarini)
Modern relevance
The 216-foot Statue of Equality at Sriperumbudur commemorates the millennium of his birth. The Sri Vaishnava sampradaya he organised at Srirangam, Melukote, and Tirumala remains one of the principal living Vedanta traditions, and the daily seva-krama of these temples follows his codification. His doctrine of saranagati is foundational for ISKCON, Swaminarayan, and most modern Vaishnava lineages.