{"id":1978,"date":"2023-01-30T08:44:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T11:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/?p=1978"},"modified":"2026-02-16T04:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T07:40:10","slug":"ramanuja-who-was-he-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramanuja \u2013 Who Was He\u00a0Really?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Ramanujaby\u00a0Dr. D K Hari and Dr. D K Hema Hari<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n

Life Story \u2013 A 1000 Year Old History<\/h4>\n

60 yrs is the average life expectancy of man.\u00a0Ayurveda<\/em>\u00a0states the full life expectancy of man to be 120 years. Very few people round the world are blessed enough to lead a fruitful life that long. Sri Ramanujacharya was one of the blessed few who lived a hale, healthy and hoary life for 120 yrs, a full life,\u00a0Poornayush<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ramanuja was born on 4th<\/sup>\u00a0April, 1017 CE in Sriperambudur between modern Chennai and ancient Kanchipuram, to a pious, childless couple, Asuri Keshava Somayaji Deekshitar, a Vedic Pandit and Kantimati Amma, a devout lady. He was given the name Ilayazhwar at birth.<\/p>\n

Descending Across Forms and Generations<\/h4>\n

Ramanuja, is a name which means younger brother,\u00a0Anuja<\/em>\u00a0of Rama \u2013 a respectful way of referring to Lakshmana.<\/p>\n

Ramanuja was also called by this name meaning the brother of Rama, since He was believed to be the incarnation of the Divinity Adisesha, also found to have incarnated as Lakshmana, the brother of Rama, 7100 years ago and as Balarama, the brother of Krishna, 5100 years ago. Ramanuja, is revered as a form of Adisesha, descended as an incarnation 1000 years ago.<\/p>\n

Ascending Following<\/h4>\n

Ramanuja, who propounded\u00a0Vishishtadvaita<\/em>, a qualified form of non- duality, set\u00a0Vaishnavism<\/em>\u00a0on the path that it has been followed since, for the last 1000 yrs.<\/p>\n

In His long lifespan, He set the temple practices in all the\u00a0Vaishnava<\/em>\u00a0temples across the land from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Even the rituals at the premier temple of India, the Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala, were formalized by Ramanuja. He also reinforced the tradition of maintaining\u00a0Nandavanams<\/em>, flower gardens, attached to the temples for supplying flowers to the deities.<\/p>\n

Ramanuja also set the\u00a0Parampara<\/em>\u00a0of when and what rituals,\u00a0Seva<\/em>\u00a0are to be performed in the temples and which hymns are to be recited during these\u00a0Seva<\/em>. This\u00a0Parampara<\/em>\u00a0is since being followed in all\u00a0Vaishnava<\/em>\u00a0temples of the land.<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/p>\n

Ramanuja<\/strong><\/p>\n

Transcending Languages<\/h4>\n

Ramanuja was a scholar both in\u00a0Samskrt<\/em>\u00a0and Tamil. He was also a scholar in a language prevalent then called\u00a0Manipravalam<\/em>\u00a0which was a beautiful blend of\u00a0Samskrt<\/em>\u00a0and Tamil.<\/p>\n

Vishishtadvaita<\/em>\u00a0in Samskrt<\/h4>\n

He has authored many works which present the Veda and Upanishad from a\u00a0Visishtadvaita<\/em>\u00a0perspective. The prominent ones which are 9 in number, include,<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 3\u00a0Bhashya<\/em>\u00a0(commentaries) \u2013\u00a0Sri Bhashyam<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0Brahma Sutra<\/em>,\u00a0Gita Bhashyam<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0Bhagavad Gita<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vedartha Sangraha<\/em>\u00a0an overview on\u00a0Upanishads<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. 3\u00a0Gadya\u00a0<\/em>(Prose Texts) \u2013\u00a0Sharanagati Gadyam<\/em>,\u00a0Sriranga Gadyam<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vaikunta Gadyam on Sri Vaishnavam<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. 3 Vedanta \u2013 Vedantasara\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Vedantadeepa (<\/em>concise commentaries on\u00a0Brahma Sutra)\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Nitya Grantha\u00a0<\/em>(Daily Rituals for a\u00a0Sri Vaishnava<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These 9 popular texts are referred to as\u00a0Navaratna<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 9 gems.<\/p>\n

    For all these, He earned the title\u00a0Bashyakara<\/em>\u00a0which is one of the highest accolade one can receive in connection with the Veda. For, understanding the\u00a0Veda<\/em>\u00a0itself is a great feat. To be able to write commentaries on the Veda for others to understand is an even greater feat. The\u00a0Bashya<\/em>\u00a0works are usually bigger than the originals that they comment upon.<\/p>\n

    Ramanuja travelled all the way to Kashmir at the northern end of the land to read Bodhayana\u2019s exposition,\u00a0vritti<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0Brahma Sutra<\/em>\u00a0before completing His\u00a0Sri Bhashya<\/em>m, His commentary on\u00a0Brahma Sutra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Vaishnavism<\/em>\u00a0and Tamil<\/h4>\n

    Ramanuja popularized the Tamil form of\u00a0Vaishnavism.<\/em><\/p>\n

    He brought to fore the primacy of the\u00a0Nalayira Divya Prabandham<\/em>, the 4000 divine, specially composed verses in the traditional Tamil language by mandating their recitation as a daily temple ritual. He thus elevated Tamil to the status of a divine language.<\/p>\n

    He consecrated idols of the 12\u00a0Alwars<\/em>, Tamil poets who had composed this divine poetry, in all temples from Tirumala to Thiruvananthapuram. He thus gave a position of pre-eminence to these Tamil poets, to their poetry and thereby to the whole Tamil language and made poetic Tamil an integral part of daily life.<\/p>\n

    In appreciation of His service to Tamil and divine Tamil poetry, after His times, people out of reverence added His idol too at the end of the line of the 12\u00a0Alwars<\/em>. This happened in every Vishnu temple, in every town. It speaks volumes of the spontaneousness, the readiness with which people venerated Him and took to His teachings.<\/p>\n

    Of these 12\u00a0Alwars<\/em>, 8 were not Brahmins. Treating them all on par, showed how Ramanuja looked at all as equals irrespective of their\u00a0Jati \u2013 Varna<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Vaishnavism<\/em>\u00a0Across India<\/h4>\n

    Not just in the Tamil land, Ramanuja travelled far and wide to not just spread the tenets of\u00a0Vaishnavism<\/em>\u00a0but also to learn principles of\u00a0Veda<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Upanishad<\/em>\u00a0from across the land.<\/p>\n

    Besides Kashmir, Ramanuja also travelled to the northern slopes of Himalaya to Muktinath\u00a0Kshetra<\/em>\u00a0in present day Nepal.<\/p>\n

    1000 years ago he had travelled across the length and breadth of the country from Thiruvananthapuram to Dwaraka in the west, to Kashmir and to Muktinath, Nepal in north, to Puri Jagannath in East to establish a\u00a0parampara<\/em>\u00a0both in worship and good living. His prescribed format of rituals is still followed in many\u00a0Vaishnava<\/em>\u00a0temples of India today.<\/p>\n

    Ramanujacharya\u2019s codes of\u00a0Vaishnavism<\/em>\u00a0was taken up and spread further through the Vallabhacharya sect of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Varkari sect of Maharashtra, Chaitanya sect of Bengal and Central India, Shankar Dev sect of Assam and Eastern India as well as the Swami Narayan sect followed today. Ramanujacharya and His teachings thus were a source of inspiration to many.<\/p>\n

    Ramanuja had travelled all through the land, uniting people, for, He saw the land as one timeless cultural entity with many kingdoms that kept coming and going with time.<\/p>\n

    In Service of the Community<\/h4>\n
    Water Harnessing<\/h5>\n

    Temple Tanks,\u00a0Pushkarani, Kalyani, Sarovar Tirth, Teppam, Kulam<\/em>\u00a0are a common sight in every temple town that Ramanuja spent some time in, be it Tirumala, Kanchipuram, Srirangam or elsewhere. In all these places Ramanuja focussed on\u00a0Theerthavari Seva<\/em>\u00a0wherein, He had the temple tank,\u00a0Pushkarani<\/em>\u00a0cleaned, repaired and restored, thus ensuring clean water for the Lord and the community.<\/p>\n

    Ramanuja was one of those visionaries who had understood the importance of harnessing waters be it for serving the Divine or for the community. He built a few and renovated the many temple tanks right in the middle of the village, as a practice. This not only ensured availability of water for temple rituals but due to percolation, also ensured that the wells of those living near the temple, stayed ever full.<\/p>\n

    A standing example of the importance He gave to water harnessing can be seen in the form of the still in good repair, large, 2200 acre temple tank at Tondanur, called Tonnur Kere about 20km from Melkote.<\/p>\n

    With the derelict state of the temple tanks today, we need to take a leaf out of Ramanuja\u2019s practice and renovate each temple tank,\u00a0Pushkarani<\/em>, to rejuvenate the ground water for the village community living around each temple.\u00a0Pushkaram<\/em>\u00a0means fertile.\u00a0Pushkarani<\/em>\u00a0is that which gives fertility to the land, in this case the locality.\u00a0 This will be a socially useful, productive and befitting obeisance that we can pay to Ramanuja, on His 1000th<\/sup>\u00a0year anniversary.<\/p>\n

    Free Feeding<\/h5>\n

    Ramanuja also formalized the\u00a0parampara<\/em>\u00a0of giving\u00a0prasadam<\/em>, food, to devotees in every temple as He had recognized that this food,\u00a0prasadam<\/em>\u00a0was one way of bringing people together. It was a land of prosperity and there was plenty. So He brought in the concept of locals coming together, contributing food grains to the temple, which in turn, after due rituals to the Lord, was offered back as\u00a0Prasadam<\/em>\u00a0to the people. This one act brought locals together as it became a community service.<\/p>\n

    In times when hotels and restaurants were not the norm, travelers, mainly pilgrims across the land, had to rely on locals to offer them food and shelter. This practice of\u00a0prasadam<\/em>\u00a0ensured that pilgrims visiting the temples did not have to starve or go door to door seeking hospitality.\u00a0 The needy of the village too were looked after due to this practice.<\/p>\n

    Selflessness & Compassion<\/h4>\n

    There lived a great saint of those times in a temple town called Thirukoshtiyur near Madurai. Ramanuja learnt from this saint, His Guru the\u00a0Moolamantra<\/em>\u00a0which when recited would lead the one reciting it, to\u00a0Moksha<\/em>, liberation.\u00a0 The only hitch in this was that, there was a\u00a0Nibandana<\/em>, a bond, that it should be taught only to a true disciple, one to one. There was a condition that if it was taught to everybody, while the one who receives the knowledge would attain\u00a0Moksha<\/em>, the one who imparts the\u00a0Mantra<\/em>, will be denied\u00a0Moksha<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Ramanuja walked from Kanchipuram to Thirukoshtiyur to the\u00a0ashram<\/em>\u00a0of this guru seeking audience and this\u00a0Mantra<\/em>. He was refused audience repeatedly by His Guru, 18 times, before the Guru seeing Ramanuja\u2019s perseverance, relented to impart the\u00a0Moolamantra<\/em>\u00a0to Ramanuja along with the\u00a0Nibandana<\/em>\u00a0that went with it.<\/p>\n

    On learning the\u00a0mantra<\/em>, Ramanuja offered His respects to the Guru and then promptly climbed on to the\u00a0Gopura,\u00a0<\/em>tower of the Thirukoshtiyur temple. He called all the village folk and broadcast this\u00a0Moolamantra<\/em>\u00a0\u201cOm Namo Narayana<\/em>\u201d to everyone.<\/p>\n

    Hearing of this the Guru admonished Ramanuja for breaking the\u00a0Nibandana<\/em>, the bond. Ramanuja obediently asked of His Guru what the punishment would be. The Guru responded that Ramanuja Himself would be denied\u00a0Moksha<\/em>\u00a0for breaking the bond but all those who had now heard the\u00a0Moolamantra<\/em>\u00a0\u201cOm Namo Narayana\u201d and shall chant it, shall attain liberation.<\/p>\n

    Instead of remorse, Ramanuja was overjoyed on hearing this. He replied to His Guru that if at the cost of Him alone not attaining\u00a0Moksha<\/em>, if everyone else would attain\u00a0Moksha<\/em>, then He had achieved the purpose of His life.<\/p>\n

    It is then that the Guru realized the quality of a true guide and teacher as someone who is selfless in teaching and benevolent in nature, having the interest of the pupil, the people and welfare of the society at large, in heart.<\/p>\n

    With this selfless act, from thereon, He was referred to as Ramanuja Acharya.<\/p>\n

    \"3\"<\/p>\n

    Leading by Walking The Path<\/h4>\n

    The word\u00a0Guru<\/em>, etymologically comes from the root\u00a0Gur<\/em>, which means to lift, draw up, draw towards. A\u00a0Guru<\/em>\u00a0is one who elevates thoughts, words and deeds of people around.\u00a0Guru<\/em>\u00a0also denotes heaviness as heavy objects tend to pull and\u00a0Gurutva Akarshana<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Samskrt<\/em>\u00a0is the phonetic and semantic root for the sound and understanding of Gravity.<\/p>\n

    If\u00a0Guru<\/em>\u00a0is one who elevates us, an\u00a0Acharya<\/em>\u00a0is one who helps us stay elevated by showing us how to act, to stay elevated. An\u00a0Acharya<\/em>\u00a0leads by action, by example. For, the very word\u00a0Acharya<\/em>\u00a0comes from\u00a0Achar, Acharam<\/em>\u00a0meaning practices, acts.<\/p>\n

    This land has been fortunate to have been adorned by hundreds and thousands of noble\u00a0Acharya<\/em>. Of all these, 3 stand apart for expressing clearly the 3 basic philosophies. Adi Shankara for\u00a0Advaita<\/em>, Madhva for\u00a0Dvaita<\/em>\u00a0and Ramanuja for\u00a0Visishtadvaita<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    With His choice of propounding\u00a0Visishtadvaita\u00a0<\/em>as well as His teachings, Ramanujacharya was building the bridge between\u00a0Dvaita<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Advaita<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \"4\"<\/p>\n

    Social Engineering<\/h4>\n

    Ramanuja was one who found social discrimination to be incorrect and acted on it to bring in the concept of\u00a0Thirukulaththor<\/em>\u00a0where everybody was regarded as belonging to the same\u00a0Kula<\/em>, the lineage that comes from the divine.<\/p>\n

    Today people speak of social engineering as a new age jargon. What Ramanuja had practically implemented 1000 years ago itself, was way beyond all this jargon.<\/p>\n

    Temples and Rituals As Tools for Uniting Than Isolating<\/h5>\n

    He established a model keeping the temple as the centre, creating roles for each community around it, finally joining them all through food,\u00a0prasadam<\/em>\u00a0as a\u00a0SamaPankti bhojana,\u00a0<\/em>eating food, sitting as equals in a row. Pankti<\/em>\u00a0meaning row and\u00a0sama<\/em>\u00a0is equal.<\/p>\n

    Every community in the village had an important role to play in the running of the temple. He thereby amalgamated different sections of the society by associating them with a local temple the center of their community.<\/p>\n

    Every conceivable community such as potter, weaver, carpenter, ironsmith, farmer, oil producer, had their roles carved out to ensure the smooth and successful functioning of the temple.<\/p>\n

    He thus setup a model that brought in families from different communities, all as one, in service of the divine.<\/p>\n

    This was a major achievement, executed 1000 years ago, an amalgamation that had stood the test of time till recent years when such a model of using the temple itself as a uniting edifice, was wrecked in the name of \u201csecular\u201d Government policies.\u00a0 No other social engineering effort of people building, community building and harmonious living has stood the test of time for 1000 years like this.<\/p>\n

    Read the full article here >><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by\u00a0Dr. D K Hari and Dr. D K Hema Hari Life Story \u2013 A 1000 Year Old History 60 yrs is the average life expectancy of man.\u00a0Ayurveda\u00a0states the full life … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":31,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-1978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-ramanuja","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nRamanuja \u2013 Who Was He\u00a0Really? - VNN - Vaishnava News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"VNN Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"VNN Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/#\/schema\/person\/697219dd9c21dd216a0ea9f7de1cc9c9\"},\"headline\":\"Ramanuja \u2013 Who Was He\u00a0Really?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-30T11:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-16T07:40:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/\"},\"wordCount\":2102,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ramanuja-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ramanuja\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ASIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vaishnava-news-network.org\/vaisnava-news\/ramanuja-who-was-he-really\/\",\"name\":\"Ramanuja \u2013 Who Was He\u00a0Really? 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