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