Ramanujacharya

The teaching

God, soul, and matter are all real and ontologically distinct, yet the souls and matter constitute the body of God — they are inseparable from Him as a wave from the ocean. Liberation comes through prapatti (loving surrender) and bhakti directed at Sriman Narayana, with Lakshmi as the divine mediatrix. Every soul is eligible — Ramanuja famously climbed the Tirupati hill and shouted the Ashtakshari mantra to all castes, breaking the priestly monopoly.

Major works

• Sri Bhashya — magnum opus commentary on the Brahma Sutras
• Vedartha Sangraha — concise summary of his Vedantic position
• Gita Bhashya — commentary on the Bhagavad Gita
• Vedanta Dipa, Vedanta Sara — shorter primers
• Three "Gadyas" — Sharanagati Gadya, Sriranga Gadya, Vaikuntha Gadya — prose devotional poems of surrender
• Nityagrantha — manual of daily worship

What he changed

• Synthesised Tamil Alvar bhakti poetry (the Divya Prabandham) with Sanskrit Vedanta — created the "Ubhaya Vedanta" tradition
• Reformed temple worship at Srirangam and codified the Pancharatra Agama liturgy still used in Sri Vaishnava temples
• Opened mantra initiation to all jatis — radical for the 11th century
• Established the 74 simhasanadhipatis (succession seats) to ensure his teaching survived

Living lineage today

The Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya splits into two sub-schools after him: Vadakalai (northern, more Sanskrit-leaning, headquartered at Kanchi) and Tenkalai (southern, more Tamil-leaning, headquartered at Srirangam). The Ramanuja Mission and many Iyengar temples continue the tradition.

Where to read more

• Sri Vaishnava Granthamala edition of the Sri Bhashya (Madras)
• Swami Adidevananda · "Sri Ramanuja Gita Bhashya" (Sri Ramakrishna Math)
• John Carman · "The Theology of Ramanuja" (Yale UP)
• Vasudha Narayanan · "The Vernacular Veda" (South Carolina UP) — on the Divya Prabandham