Ramanuja (c. 1017-1137 CE, dates disputed) was a South Indian Vaishnava theologian, philosopher, and social reformer whose systematic articulation of Vishishtadvaita (“qualified non-dualism”) established one of the principal schools of Vedanta philosophy. He is regarded within the Sri Vaishnava tradition as its foremost acharya and is venerated as a saint. The precise dates and details of his life are known primarily through hagiographic sources, and some biographical claims remain subjects of scholarly discussion.

Ramanuja is understood primarily through two bodies of material: his own Sanskrit theological writings and the hagiographic literature of the Sri Vaishnava community, principally the Guruparamparaprabhavam and the Divyasuricaritam. His authenticated works include the Sribhashya (a commentary on the Brahmasutras), the Vedartha-sangraha, the Vedantasara, the Vedantadipa, and several liturgical and devotional texts. Scholars broadly accept the authenticity of this corpus, though questions about the attribution of certain minor works remain open.

Philosophically, Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita holds that Brahman (ultimate reality) is one but possesses real internal differentiation: individual souls (chit) and the material world (achit) are genuine, though they subsist within and are dependent upon Brahman, identified with Vishnu. This position was developed in explicit critical engagement with the Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankaracharya, whose doctrine of the unreality of the phenomenal world (maya) Ramanuja contested directly in the Sribhashya. The relationship between the two schools-and the degree to which Ramanuja's critique accurately characterizes Advaita-remains a subject of ongoing philosophical discussion. See ramanuja-advaita-critique-debate.

Ramanuja is also credited with significant institutional and social activity, including the reorganization of temple worship at Srirangam and advocacy for the inclusion of devotees across caste lines within the Sri Vaishnava community. The historical extent and nature of his social reforms are discussed among historians of medieval South India. For detailed historical background, see ramanuja-history.

* Sri Vaishnava traditional view: Ramanuja is regarded as the preeminent acharya of the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, the authorized interpreter of both Sanskrit Vedantic texts and the Tamil devotional poetry of the Alvars, and a divine incarnation sent to restore correct understanding of the Vedas. See ramanuja-sri-vaishnava-traditional-viewpoint.

* Comparative Vedanta view: Within academic and cross-traditional Hindu philosophical discourse, Ramanuja is positioned as the most technically rigorous critic of Advaita Vedanta and as establishing Vishishtadvaita as an independent and philosophically viable system, distinct from both Advaita and the later Dvaita of Madhvacharya. See ramanuja-comparative-vedanta-viewpoint.

* Historian of religion view: Scholars of South Asian religious history situate Ramanuja within the broader Bhakti movement and the social and political context of medieval Tamil Nadu, emphasizing his role in integrating the Tamil Alvar devotional tradition into a Sanskrit philosophical framework and negotiating relations between brahminical and non-brahminical communities. See ramanuja-historian-of-religion-viewpoint.

* Social reform interpretation: Some modern interpreters, particularly within reform Hindu and Dalit intellectual traditions, emphasize Ramanuja's reported inclusion of lower-caste and outcaste devotees as an early challenge to caste hierarchy, while others question the extent or meaning of these acts within their historical context. See ramanuja-social-reform-viewpoint.

* Lifespan: The traditional attribution of 120 years to Ramanuja is accepted within the Sri Vaishnava hagiographic tradition but is regarded skeptically by many historians; the range of scholarly proposed dates for his birth and death varies considerably. See ramanuja-lifespan-dates-controversy.

* Relationship with Yadavaprakasha: Hagiographic accounts describe Ramanuja's break with his early teacher Yadavaprakasha over doctrinal disagreements; the historicity and nature of this rupture are discussed among scholars. See ramanuja-yadavaprakasha-controversy.

* ramanuja-history * ramanuja-advaita-critique-debate * ramanuja-sri-vaishnava-traditional-viewpoint * ramanuja-comparative-vedanta-viewpoint * ramanuja-historian-of-religion-viewpoint * ramanuja-social-reform-viewpoint * ramanuja-lifespan-dates-controversy * ramanuja-yadavaprakasha-controversy * Vishishtadvaita * Adi Shankaracharya * Vedanta * bhakti-movement * sri-vaishnavism

1. J. B. Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja: An Essay in Interreligious Understanding (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974). 2. Srinivasa Chari, Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1994). 3. T. K. Venkateswaran, “Ramanuja and the Sri Vaishnava Tradition,” in A History of Indian Philosophy, vol. 3, ed. Surendranath Dasgupta (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1940), 1-128. 4. Vasudha Narayanan, The Way and the Goal: Expressions of Devotion in the Early Sri Vaisnava Tradition (Washington, DC: Institute for Vaishnava Studies, 1987).