Ramanuja

BORN: c. 1017 • Sir Perumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India

DIED: 1137 • Sir Rangam, Tamil Nadu, India

Indian theologian; writer

Sri Ramanujacharya is the name by which one of the great Hindu teachers of medieval India is known. He was born as Ilaya Perumal around 1017. At some point he changed his name to Ramanuja. After he became one of the most admired teachers of the era, the word acharya was added to his name. This word means "teacher" or "guru." It was added as a term of respect to the names of only a handful of India's most prominent and respected teachers and theologians (those who study religion) during this period. The parts of Ramanujacharya's name can also be written separately, as Ramanuja Acharya. Sri, which means "beauty" or "fortune" in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, is also a title of respect.

Early life

Ramanuja was born into a Brahmin family in the town of Sri Perumbudur, India. Brahmins, mostly priests, teachers, and intellectuals, are the highest caste, or hereditary social class, in Indian society. Both Ramanuja's father, Asuri Kesava, and his mother, Kantimati, were descendants of aristocratic families.

"We uphold unity because Brahman [Brahma] alone exists with all other entities …"

At the age of sixteen Ramanuja married Rakshakambal. Soon after the wedding, Asuri Kesava died, leaving his son in charge of the household. Ramanuja decided to move the family to the city of Kanchi, which was regarded as a holy city and was well known for its many temples and scholars.

Education

In Kanchi the young Ramanuja studied under the famed guru Yadava Prakash. A guru is a teacher and guide in spiritual matters. Yadava was a supporter of the doctrines, or principles, of an earlier famous acharya, Sankara (also spelled Sankaracharya; c. 788–c. 820). Ramanuja soon became one of Yadava's best pupils. In time, however, he began to reject some of the central doctrines taught by his master. Ramanuja then set up his own school in his home and attracted a number of followers.

Yadava grew angry with his pupil and began to see Ramanuja as a threat to his beliefs and to the central teachings of Hinduism. His anger and jealousy grew until he conspired with a group of his younger and most faithful students to kill Ramanuja. He planned a pilgrimage to the sacred Ganges river and invited Ramanuja to join him and his pupils. Ramanuja agreed, but he brought along his cousin, Govinda. After the party arrived at the site, Yadava's students took Govinda aside and told him of their plan to eliminate Ramanuja. Shocked, Govinda informed his cousin of the plan and urged him to flee. Govinda returned to the group and claimed that while he and his cousin were in the forest, they had been attacked by a tiger. The tiger, he said, had dragged Ram-anuja away. Yadava and his fellow conspirators were relieved that the tiger had killed Ramanuja for them.

After Govinda's deception Ramanuja made his way back to Kanchi. He later claimed that along the way he fell into a deep sleep, had a vision of God, and awoke on the outskirts of Kanchi without knowing how he had arrived. He then resumed his life in Kanchi. Several months later Yadava and his students returned from their pilgrimage and were astonished to find Ramanuja there, conducting his school as he had before. They gave up their plans to kill him.

Ramanuja, the teacher

Ramanuja continued to teach, and his fame soon spread. At one point he was approached by a saint named Yamunacharya from the town of Sri Rangam, who begged for money. The two engaged in lengthy discussion, and Ramanuja quickly recognized that Yamunacharya's religious views were compatible with his own. He asked to be accepted as Yamu-nacharya's disciple, or person who assists in spreading the teachings of another. Yamunacharya agreed, then left to return to Sri Rangam, the site of a temple to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Sankara

Ramanuja was one of a succession of three major acharyas, or teachers, in medieval India. The first of these was Sankara, or Sankaracharya, while the third was Madhva, or Madhvacharya (c. 1199–c. 1276). Sankara was born around 788 and died around 820. When he was born Hinduism was at a crossroads. The religion was breaking apart into a large number of sects (divisions) and cults (religious offshoots), many of which were blending magic, superstition, and mysticism into their belief systems. They placed great emphasis on rituals and animal sacrifices. Sankara almost single-handedly reformed Hinduism and restored some of its ancient teachings and intellectual foundations. In the twenty-first century the version of Hinduism promoted by Sankara is often referred to as "intellectual Hinduism."

Sankara was born to a poor Brahmin couple in southern India. After studying under the guru Govinda Bhagavatpada, he became an ascetic, meaning he gave up all worldly comforts in pursuit of spiritual knowledge. He possessed great skill as a speaker, and he put this skill to use in winning scholars over in debates. He was able to persuade his listeners to set aside their rituals and cultish practices and place their faith in the study of the ancient Hindu scriptures, especially the Vedas, the most sacred Hindu texts. At the time, the Vedas were written in an ancient language and were not very accessible to ordinary Hindus. Sankara changed that, reinterpreting and representing the teachings of the Vedas in a way that the average person could understand.

He conducted missionary work throughout the region of India, which at the time consisted of many kingdoms. During his travels Sankara established four monasteries in the four corners of the Indian subcontinent: in Kashmir to the north, in Dwaraka to the west, in Puri to the east, and in Sringeri to the south. All of these monasteries remained in operation into the twenty-first century, and over the centuries many pilgrims have visited them. The leaders of each of these monasteries are called Shankara-charyas, and because of their influence, they hold a good deal of political power in India. To distinguish themselves from the original Sankara, they refer to him, their first teacher, as either Adi Sankaracharya or as Jagadguru, meaning "universal teacher."

A messenger arrived in Kanchi with news that Yamunacharya was ill and near death. Ramanuja immediately set out for Sri Rangam, but he failed to arrive before the guru died. Legend holds that after Ramanuja arrived at the temple where Yamunacharya's body lay, a miracle took place. Reportedly the guru's left hand was in the Hindu position for peace, with three fingers extended and the tips of the thumb and last finger joined. His right hand, however, was clenched in a fist. Yamuna-charya's followers were baffled by the fist. Looking at the hands, Ramanuja concluded that the guru had three wishes he wanted Ramanuja to fulfill. Ramanuja deduced the first wish, and the first finger of the dead guru's right hand extended. The guru then extended his second and third fingers as Ramanuja guessed the other two wishes. All those in attendance were amazed and accepted Ramanuja as their teacher. Yamunacharya's wishes were vows that he wanted Ramanuja to carry out for him.

Ramanuja decided to remain in Sri Rangam, where he spent the remainder of his life. By this time his teachings had become so popular that even Yadava and his students had converted to Ramanuja's way of thinking. Ramanuja became one of the most respected teachers in India.

Final years

Until his arrival in Sri Rangam, Ramanuja was a "householder," the term Hindus used to refer to people who practiced Hinduism but were not ascetics. Ascetics are people who have given up their worldly goods and devote themselves completely to spiritual pursuits. After relocating, he led a life of renunciation, giving up worldly comforts and living as an ascetic. Although he attracted followers and disciples, he also made enemies. Some followers of the earlier views of Sankara appealed to the king of Kanchi to silence Ramanuja. The king agreed and commanded Ramanuja to come to Kanchi to take part in a theological debate with him. The king's goal was to convert Ramanuja, by persuasion if possible and by force if necessary.

One of Ramanuja's disciples, Kuresh, distrusted the king. He persuaded Ramanuja to allow him to go to Kanchi in his place, in disguise. At Kanchi the king at first treated Kuresh with respect, believing that he was Ramanuja. Yet when Kuresh refused to change his religious views, the king had him imprisoned and blinded. Later, with the help of some local people, Kuresh was able to gain his release from prison and return to Sri Rangam. There, according to legend, another miracle occurred. Ramanuja prayed to God on behalf of Kuresh, who had been willing to sacrifice his sight, and even his life, for his guru. Ramanuja prayed for his disciple's sight to be restored, and at that moment a wind blew across Kuresh's face and his sight indeed returned.

Ramanuja reportedly lived a very long life, dying in 1137 at the age of 120. According to tradition, he announced his desire to leave the world to his followers, who were very upset. Over the next three days he issued instructions to those followers, and on the third day, with his head lying in the lap of his cousin, Govinda, he died.

Ramanuja's teachings

Ramanuja produced a number of treatises, or essays, on Hindu theology. Many of these treatises were on Hindu sacred texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas, Hinduism's chief sacred scripture. Others were manuals for his followers. In these treatises and in his teachings Ramanuja challenged many of the core beliefs of Hinduism as it was practiced at the time. Such challenges were why such people as Yadava opposed him so vigorously.

During the twelfth century Hindu theologians debated the nature of God and the relationship between God and both the human soul and physical matter. Two major positions were taken. One was the position that had been outlined by Sankara in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Sankara looked at the state of Hindu practice and belief and opposed what he saw as meaningless ritual and animal sacrifice. Based on his interpretation of the Vedas, he adopted a monist position about the nature of God. The monist view, called Advaita Vedanta, said that there was a fundamental oneness to everything in creation, including God.

According to the monist view, all of creation is in truth just one entity. The supreme God does not have any form or characteristics and indeed does not even have a name. Thus, monists deem it impossible to be in any meaningful way "devoted" to God, because God is both nowhere and everywhere, and humans are incapable of understanding God's nature. Further, everything in creation is alike (which to Sankara made animal sacrifice unacceptable). That is, the human belief of individuality in creation is an illusion. This view was preached by Sankara and was the most widely accepted among Hindus at the time of Ramanuja's birth. Ramanuja's rejection of this view, in particular, made his teacher, Yadava, angry.

The other major point of view taken in this era was the dualist position, which would later be taught by another acharya, Madhva (c. 1199–c. 1276, see entry), in the thirteenth century. The dualist view (with the prefix duo- meaning "two") sees a complete distinctness, or difference, between God and physical matter. The dualist view also says that the distinctions between forms of physical matter that people can see are real and not illusions. Physical matter came before the existence of God, and then the universe evolved in response to God's will. Because God was separate from creation, people could come to know His names, His characteristics, and His form. Also, because God was separate from His creation, He could become the object of worship and reverence.

The monist and dualist positions represented the most opposing views that were preached on these matters. Ramanuja's lifetime fell between those of Sankara and Madhva, so the fact that his own position was a blend of the two different opinions seems appropriate. Modern-day religious scholars refer to his views as a "modified nondualist position," or, among Hindu scholars, as Visishtadvaita, a compromise between the two opposing positions.

Ramanuja began with the belief that one cannot have knowledge about anything unless that thing has characteristics that make it different from other things. If humans claim to know something about an object, then that implies that the object has characteristics. Ramanuja applied this principle to knowledge of God. If humans are to reach God, they have to somehow know God, as much as possible. To know God implies that God has form and characteristics and is different and separate from the human soul and from physical creation.

He believed that God did have an identity and that people could on some level come to know it. For Ramanuja, the chief characteristics of God were intelligence, truth, and infinity. God was not cursed with the ignorance of humans and other living things. He was never untruthful, and he had unlimited energy. Ramanuja rejected the accepted notion that a jiva, a lesser spirit, could somehow be equal to God, as the monist position held. Yet, departing from a strict dualist position, Ramanuja also argued that a jiva or any other living thing was a "particle" of God. Its purpose was to serve God and the common whole, just as a hand is part of the body and serves the rest of the body. He concluded that if the purpose of living things was to serve God, then the physical world could not be an illusion.

Ramanuja also believed in "personality," that is, the idea that all things in creation are different. Thus, each person's soul would be different. Because each soul is different, each has to have free will. Otherwise, without freedom of will, souls could not be manifestations of God, or indications of God's existence. In Ramanuja's view the only way that God and humans could have a relationship that made any sense was if God gave people the freedom to choose. The human soul could not in any meaningful way serve God if it was not free to do so.

Both Ramanuja and his successor, Madhva, were strong supporters of the bhakti movement, a loosely organized movement of Hindu sects that emerged in medieval India. The word bhakti comes from the Sanskrit word bhaj, which means something like "to revere or adore." The word bhakti, therefore, is usually translated into English as "devotion." The meaning the word suggests is much deeper, however, signifying a total, intense devotion to God. It refers to both an attachment to God and a way of reaching God. It was through bhakti that Hindu Indians overcame divisions of birth, caste, gender, and race to become a united people.

The original bhakti movement had a significant influence on Indian religion and society. Over the centuries, many figures preached the principle that bhakti was the only way to achieve salvation, which led to several large-scale bhakti movements. One of these figures was Ramanuja. In practicing complete devotion to God, he and his Hindu followers put aside the rituals and animal sacrifices of the ancient traditions, which placed emphasis on the outward form of religion. The bhakti movements instead relied on an intense worship of a separate, identifiable God.

For More Information

BOOKS

Bartley, C. J. The Theology of Ramanuja: Realism and Religion. Richmond, U.K.: RoutledgeCurzon Press, 2002.

Harré, Rom. One Thousand Years of Philosophy: From Ramanuja to Wittgenstein. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000.

Lipner, Julius J. The Face of Truth: A Study of Meaning and Metaphysics in the Vedantic Theology of Ramanuja. Albany, NY: State University Press of New York, 1986.

Tapasyananda, Swami. Sri Ramanuja, His Life, Religion, and Philosophy. Chennai, India: Sri Ramakrishna Math [n.d.].

WEB SITES

Kamat, Jyotsna. "Path of Devotion: Sri Ramanujacharya." Kamat's Potpourri. http://www.kamat.com/indica/faiths/bhakti/ramanuja.htm (accessed on June 2, 2006).

Sri Swami Sivananda. "Ramanuja." The Divine Life Society. http://www.dlshq.org/saints/ramanuja.htm (accessed on June 2, 2006).

Sri Vaishnava Home Page. http://www.ramanuja.org (accessed June 2, 2006).