Shri Ramanujacharya (Appearance)

Ramanuja (traditionally, 1017–1137 CE; IAST: Rāmānuja; [raːmaːnud͡ʑə]) was a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. He was born in a Tamil Brāhmin family in the village of Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.

Rāmānuja's guru was Yādava Prakāśa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition. Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Rāmānuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Indian Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya. Rāmānuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta, and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad. Rāmānuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.

His Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic dualism) philosophy of Madhvāchārya, and Advaita (monism) philosophy of Ādi Shankara, together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium. Rāmānuja presented the epistemic and soteriological importance of bhakti, or the devotion to a personal God (Vishnu in Rāmānuja's case) as a means to spiritual liberation. His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Ātman (soul) and Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality), while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.

Rāmānuja grew up in the Tamil culture, in a stable society during the rule of the Hindu Cholas dynasty. This period was one of pluralistic beliefs, where Vaishnava, Shaiva, Smarta traditions, Buddhism and Jainism thrived together. In Hindu monastic tradition, Advaita Vedānta had been dominant, and Rāmānuja's guru Yādava Prākāsha belonged to this tradition. Prior to Rāmānuja, the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya was already an established organization under Yamunāchārya, and bhakti songs and devotional ideas already a part of south Indian culture because of the twelve Alvārs. Rāmānuja's fame grew because he was considered the first thinker in centuries that disputed Shankara's theories, and offered an alternate interpretation of Upanishadic scriptures.

Some hagiographies, composed centuries after Rāmānuja's death, state that he was expelled by a Chola king, Kulottunga II, Rāmānuja then moved to Hoysala kingdom for 14 years, converted a Jain king, Bitti Deva to Hinduism after miraculously healing his daughter. Bitti Deva changed his name to Vishnuvardhana and donated a piece of land in current day Melukote and helped Ramanuja build the temple town. Ramanuja later returned on his own to Tamil Nādu. However, verifiable historical evidence for these legends have been lacking, and epigraphical evidence establishes that Kulottunga II came to power in 1133 CE, while Rāmānuja died in 1137 CE according to sources that claim Rāmānuja was expelled. According to John Carman, Rāmānuja and his Srīvaiṣṇava disciples lived under the relatively stable and non-sectarian climate of the Chola empire, before its decline in the late 12th and 13th centuries.