Ramanuja

Short Biography

Ramanuja was born into a Vaisnava brahmin family in the village of Sriperumbudur (in the modern city of Chennai ). Now there is the Ramanujar Nagar district and the temple of the same name in his honor (Sri Ramanujar Temple, ). His mother's name was Kantimath, and his father's name was Kesava Somaya. The family was bilingual, his father knew both Tamil and Sanskrit .

It is alleged that Ramanuja lived a long life - 120 years (1017–1137). However, modern scholars question these dates. This is twice the average historical long life of the Indians of that era. Based on non-Sri Vaishnavism temple records and regional literature of the 11th-12th centuries, scholars suggest that Ramanuja lived for about 80 years from 1077-1157 ^[10] .

In his youth, Ramanuja demonstrated a developed intellect and a liberal view of castes, unusual for that era. He was on friendly terms with the local saint of Kancipurna (Kāñcīpurna), which belonged to the lower sudra caste. Kancipurna's lesson was to attend the murti Vishnu in the temple. Ramanuja admired the piety and devotion of the sudra and sought his guidance to the horror of Kanchipurna himself, who saw in the behavior of Ramanuja an insult to caste rules.

Parents married Ramanuja as a teenager, as custom required. After the death of his father, the whole family moved to the neighboring city of Kanchipuram , where he was apprenticed to the Vedantin Yadavaprakas (Yādavaprakāśa). The latter's tendency to interpret the Upanishads in the spirit of advaita was subsequently the reason for Ramanuji's break with him. Having fallen under the influence of South Indian Vaishnavism in the person of alvars , the young student did not agree with the interpretation of one of the Upanishads proposed by his teacher. There was a gap on this ground, which nearly cost Ramanuja his life.

After breaking up with a former teacher, Ramanuja went to the Yamunacharya , who developed the philosophical aspects of the creativity of the alvars. Yamunacharya was the spiritual leader of young Tamil Sri Vaishnavism in Srirangama . Kanchipurna belongs to this community and, upon his submission, Ramanuja headed for Srirangam. However, due to the death of Yamunacharya, Ramanuja did not see his new teacher, although he devoted all his future life to the development and continuation of his teachings.

Formally, Ramanuja joined the Srirangam community a year after the death of Yamunacharya. The senior student of the Yamunacarya, Mahapurna (Mahāpūrṇa), gave him initiation. He also became the second teacher for Ramanuja, and under his guidance a young Vaisnava studied the verses of Tamil alvars. However, Ramanuja’s wife was not happy with the teacher’s choice, since Mahapurna had lower Brahmin podcasts than Ramanuja himself. As a result, there was a gap between the teacher and the student. This was not the first time that Ramanuji’s wife interfered in his spiritual development. The previous time, she did not allow Ramanuja to share a meal with Kanchipurna on the grounds that he was a sudra. This time, Ramanuja sent his wife back to her parents and took sannyasa .

The renunciation of worldly life marks the beginning of his new life as a philosopher and Vaishnava theologian. He travels around India and participates in public debates with representatives of other Vedanta destinations. Many of his opponents subsequently become disciples of Ramanuji. The victory in the debate over the guardians of the temple gave him access to the administration of the temple of Srirangama. Thanks to Ramanuja, Srirangam introduced an orderly system of religious worship. Subsequently, it was distributed by Ramanuja to other Vaishnava temples, which led to the unification of the service of Vishnu in South India and laid the foundation for the integration of Sri Vaishnavism. And at present, the daily rules he developed are observed in temple and home worship both in India and abroad ^[11] .

Throughout his life, Ramanuja was active in preaching and missionary work. He converted Gentiles to Vaishnavism, rebuilt temples and created new ones, formed Vaishnava communities, developed rituals for worshiping Vishnu and traveled a lot (see also about Ramanuja 's stay in Tirupati ). All his efforts were aimed at expanding faith and returning to the teaching the original meaning. Although Sri Vaishnavism took root in South India long before the advent of Ramanuja, during the Alvar period, however, Ramanuja was the first thinker to come up with a rebuttal of Shankara 's ideas and offer an alternative interpretation of Vedanta.

At the end of the life of Ramanuji, Vaisnavas faced opposition from the rulers of the state of Chola , which occupied the territory of South India ^[12] . The later Chol dynasties did not have a pronounced religious preference, and their princes patronized either Buddhism or Hinduism. History did not preserve the name of the Rajah who staged persecution of Ramanuja. However, most likely, it was his contemporary, Coulottung I Chola (1070-1122). It is known that Kulottunga patronized the temple complex of Shiva in Chidambaram and was himself a Shivaite . According to legend, Kulottunga I ordered to remove the Vishnu murti in the form of Govindaraja from the temple in Chidambaram and send him to Vishnu's residence, that is, to drown in the ocean ^[13] . The inscriptions on the walls of the temple in Chidambaram since 1160 indicate that the Shaivite priests, who maintained ties with the Vaisnavas, were forcibly deprived of their property. It is completely unknown who the political opponent of Ramanuji was (Kulottunga Kulottunga I or Kulottunga II, who came to power four years before the scientific date of Ramanuja's death). It is only known that under the threat of life Ramanuja was expelled by the Rajas from the state of Chola. For 12 years, Ramanuja resided in the territory of the neighboring principality in Melukot . Shortly before his death, Ramanuja returned to Srirangam, where he died, leaving behind a small written legacy.

According to legend, during his life he founded seventy-four maths and left several thousand followers. Among them were about 700 sannyasis , 12 thousand brahmacharis and 300 women who vowed to renounce worldly life.

Hagiography

Several hagiographies of Ramanuji have survived to this day. Some of them were written in the XII century, others - several centuries after his death, in particular in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Each of them has its own version of the biography of Ramanuja. Indologists question the veracity of legendary biographies in which the "virtuous imagination" of believers "embellished historical details." In particular, scientists reject the historicity of such incredible episodes from the life of Ramanuja, such as his study of the Vedas at the age of 8 days, his personal communication with Vishnu, his supernatural abilities with which he prevailed in philosophical debates with Buddhists and Advaitins, or the appearance of Vishnu in a dream in response to prayers with a request to suggest arguments for a philosophical argument ^[14] .

Ramanuja wrote nine works, of which only three are recognized as authentic by researchers ^[2] .

Sri Bhashya

“Commentary [on the Goddess] Sri [ Lakshmi ]” - Commentary on the Brahma Sutras. It contains the main provisions of the philosophy of visishta-advaita . The text is written in a complex, difficult to understand language. Ramanuja distinguishes 546 sutras and 140 thematic divisions (adhikarana) in the text of the Brahma Sutras. The compositional structure of the source text of Sri Bhashya consists of four chapters (adhya), each comprising four sections (pada). Each sutra is commented in detail and in detail, as a result of which Ramanuja skillfully substantiates the provisions of his philosophical system. Based on numerous quotes from the texts of the Sruti and Smriti , the views of Advaita and Bheda Abheda are refuted by him.

In the history of vishishta-advaita, the text of Sri Bhashi was commented on more than once. The most authoritative comments were given by Sruta Prakashika by Sudarsana Suri and Tattva-tika by Vedantadeshika .

Vedartha Samgraha

"A summary of the meaning of the Vedas " - a kind of commentary on the Upanishads . The text reflects the process of formation of the vishishta-advaita school during its confrontation with other philosophical systems: mimansa , advaita-vedanta and bheda-abheda . It contains three sections:

• introduction - a prologue that summarizes the main ideas of the treatise;
• criticism of another Vedanta system (advaita-vedanta, bheda-abheda Bhaskara and Yadavaprakasha);
• development of systemic provisions of the school in line with polemics with opponents and inclusion of a representative in the polemic dialogue.

In the discussion with the mimanda, Ramanuja defends a position that is significant for the Vedanta as a whole - that the sacred texts provide knowledge about Brahman , which is the basis of action, and a position that is significant only for visishta-advaita - that knowledge of the true nature of Brahman can only lead to love and worship of Vishnu as perfection.

Ramanuja’s criticism aimed at the basic principles of advaita (the concept of maya , the definition of Brahman’s nature as pure knowledge, understanding the path of liberation through knowledge ) was aimed at showing their logical failure and affirming the following principles of visishta-advaita-vedanta:

• the presence in Brahman's nature of all kinds of real perfections,
• reality of the world
• understanding the path of liberation as leading to loving veneration of the personified Lord in the form of Visnu ( bhakti ).

Criticism of bheda-abheda is based on Ramanuja's assertion about the impossibility of Brahman's condescension to the world: whatever assumptions are made, this means a certain "belittling" of Brahman's perfect dignity.

In the third section of the Vedartha-samgrahi, methods are developed for interpreting the Upanishads (the main one is the method based on the principle of correlative prediction - samanadhikaranya), on the basis of which the nature of Brahman is revealed and the way of liberation of the soul is determined. To confirm his ideas, Ramanuja attracts certain texts of the Sruti and Smriti , the main of which is the Chandogya Upanishad , on the basis of which Ramanuja puts forward the thesis about the reality of the world. To substantiate Vaishnava ideas, the main of which is the identification of Brahman from the Upanishads with Vishnu-Narayana, Ramanuja attracts smrti texts, first of all, Bhagavad Gita and Vishnu Purana .

Gita Bhashia

“Commentary on the Gita” - a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is important for understanding the religious doctrine of Ramanuja. The text was written by him in his late years and, in contrast to Sri Bhashya, is very light, easy to understand language. Ramanuja largely follows a similar comment by Yamunacharya, to whom he devotes his text. He divides the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad-gita into three shataks, the last of which explains the previous two. The main teaching of Ramanuja is to advance a follower along the path of bhakti to attain the Lord. The path is divided into two parts, the first of which (described, according to Ramanuji, in the first shatak of the Bhagavad Gita) is preparatory to the second, bhakti. In the Gita-Bhashya, Ramanuja describes to a greater extent the sensual aspect of bhakti. The polemic part of the work is minimal, it is an exclusively religious text, the task of which is to demonstrate the necessity of ritual action performed in glory of divine greatness, as the first step leading to the highest bliss on the path of bhakti.

Other works

Ramanuja is credited with several other texts ^{[15] [16]} :

• “Vedanta-sara” (Essence of Vedanta), “Vedanta-dipa” (Lamp of Vedanta) - short versions of “Sri Bhashya”;
• Gadia-trayi cycle: Sharanagati-gadia (On Asylum), Sriranga-gadia, Srivaykuntha-gadia, and Nitya-grantha — Vaisnava daily service manuals.

The philosophy of Ramanuja, vishishta-advaita , is classified as a union of monism and pantheism . This is one of the three schools of Vedanta, which appeared after the advaita (absolute monism) of Shankara and before the dvaita (dualism) of Madhva .

In the framework of Ramanuja theology, one can distinguish the doctrine of the Lord ( Vishnu ), the doctrine of the soul , the doctrine of salvation and the doctrine of world-creation. The doctrine of the Lord contains the concept of its five forms (couple - pure Absolute, view - manifestations, avatars - incarnations, antaryamin - inner leader, archa - idols and images), doctrine of the soul - classification of souls (drinking - forever free inhabitants of Vaikuntha , mukta - liberated, baddha - attached to the world or "samsara"), the doctrine of liberation - the specific duties of a Vaisnava and, finally, the doctrine of world-creation - the processing of Vaisnava cosmogonic myths.

The theology of Ramanuja is rooted in the Vaishnava teachings of Pancaratra , the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita . In this area, Ramanuja could not develop anything new and even more original. His merit as a theologian lies in the clear design of the Vaishnava creed, rallying and organization of the spiritual community.

Having declared the unquestioned authority of the Vedas that can tell us about the Higher Reality, Brahman , Ramanuja developed a way in which the contradictory statements of the Upanishads do not lose their meaning and can coexist with each other. A similar remedy was a new understanding of Brahman. Brahman is also the Supreme Reality, but it is also the whole Reality, that is, the world and souls that relate to the Lord in the same way that waves and the sea, body and soul, sparks and flame, attributes and substance relate.

Главной характеристикой мира, в отличие от души, полагается его бессознательность. Души же, которых бесчисленное множество, представляют собой неделимые субстанции, атомы самосознания, обладающие свободой выбора. Душа по природе своей богоподобна. Её богоподобность проявляется в ходе освобождения от неведения, которое заставляет человека отождествляться с тем, чем он не является. Например, с телом, с чувствами, с мыслями, с внешними объектами. Путь освобождения души, провозглашаемый Рамануджей, является путем бхакти , или путем любви и почитания личного (персонифицированного) Господа. Освобождение души подразумевает целенаправленную сознательную работу человека над собой. Вся энергия человека направляется к Господу, подготавливается и удерживается за счет карма-йоги и джняна-йоги .

Ключевые разработки Рамануджи продолжают философскую линию Ямуначарьи. Однако в наследии Рамануджи не последняя роль принадлежит опровержению альтернативных систем мировоззрения ( адвайта-веданты Шанкары , бхеда-абхеды Бхаскары и Ядавапракаши). Основным объектом критики Рамануджи стала адвайтистская концепция иллюзии ( майи ). Главный смысл критики заключался в неприятии положения об иллюзорности мира. В противном случае освобождение души было бы невозможно. Примечательно отметить, что критика Рамануджи сыграла роль в развитии не только виишшта-адвайты но и самой адвайты .

Vishishta-advaita Ramanuja is theologically close to the philosophy of dvaita Madhva ^[17] . Both traditions postulate a distinction between souls and Brahman (Vishnu), which can never be overcome ^[18] . Both Ramanuja and Madhva claim that only Visnu is independent, all other beings depend on Him. However, unlike Madhva, Ramanuja preaches a “limited non-duality” in which souls have the same quality nature as Brahman. He speaks of the universal qualitative unity of souls and Vishnu, that human souls are able to reach the Lord without losing their individuality.

Not far from the birthplace of Ramanuja in Sriperumbudur is the Math Madhura Mangalam and next to it is a temple. It contains the murti Ramanuji, which, according to legend, was made according to his own instructions during his lifetime. It is believed that the murti repeats its lively original.

According to legend, Ramanuja lived at several temples, which have now become centers of pilgrimage. These include the Varadaraja temple in Kanchipuram , where Ramanuja spent his youth; Venkateswara Temple in Tirumal , where Ramanuja established the rules of worship for Balaji ; Narayana Temple near Tirupatcher, where Ramanuja openly taught the mantra "OM Namo Narayana"; Narasimha temple in Melukot , where Ramanuja lived for some time in exile; Tiruvellarai Temple, which he visited from Srirangam ^[19] .

In the Ranganatha temple complex in Srirangam there is a small temple (place of worship) of Sri Ramanuji. There is also an ancient stone murti Ramanuji. Popular legend says that the murti Ramunji in Srirangama is nothing more than his hardened ( mummified ) physical body ^[20] . The traditional ablution of the murti ( abhishek ritual) is not performed, however twice a year the deity is cleansed with certain herbs. Sandalwood paste and saffron are used to maintain the state of murti. In order to avoid the destruction of the murti, which is believed to be several centuries old, full worship is not held. However, temple visitors can pray to him, ask a brahmana to perform the arcana ritual (veneration with chanting of the name and offering flowers and sacred leaves), and also receive prasadam in the form of tulasi leaves.

In addition, in India there are temples dedicated to Ramanuja as the embodiment of Ananta Sheshi .

Three roles can be distinguished in the religious activities of Ramanuja. Ramanuja - a preacher and a missionary: restoration of temples, conversion to the faith, foundation of new communities, public speaking. Ramanuja is a great teacher and creator of Vaishnava theology. Ramanuja is a theologian, the developer of the norms of temple service and ritual practice. Most of the information about the first kind of activity of Ramanuja is known from various hagiographies, which indicate that Ramanuja played a significant role in the spread of Vaishnavism and its strengthening in relation to other areas of Vedanta. The third type of activity was that Ramanuja codified and standardized Vaishnava temple and home worship. As for the latter and the main kind of activity, the theological teachings of Ramanuja, its main source is the works of Ramanuji itself, the Gita-Bhashya, Gadia-trayi and Nitya-grantha.

Ramamuja occupies a special place in the history of Indian philosophy. He became the chief theologian of Vaishnavism, who ensured its complete and harmonious justification. Although the role of Ramamuji in the formation of Vaishnavism is disputed by some Indologists, one cannot but recognize his contribution to the popularization of Hinduism. In South India, Ramamuja is regarded as a saint who has revealed the truth to all social layers of caste society. As the American historian of Indian philosophy Karl Potter put it, “The Ramamuji tradition is one of the main arteries by which philosophy has reached the masses and thanks to which vishishta-advaita is today the most powerful philosophy in India in terms of the number of its followers, they call themselves as such or no ” ^[21] .

• Pskhu R.V. " Vedarthasamgraha" Ramanuja and the formation of visishta-advaita-vedanta. - M.: Publishing House of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, 2007.
• Pskhu R.V. Vedarthasamgraha Ramanuji: polemic of visishta-advaita-vedanta with bheda-abheda-vada // Bulletin of the RUDN University. Series "Philosophy", 2006. - No. 2.
• Pskhu R.V. Some problems of the study of the philosophy of Ramanuji: a historiographical review // Bulletin of the RUDN University. Series "Philosophy", 2002. - No. 3.
• Pskhu R.V. Basic Provisions of Vishishta-Advaita-Vedanta Based on the Material “Vedarthasamgrahi” by Ramanuji // Bulletin of the RUDN University. Series "Philosophy", 2000. - No. 1.
• Adluri S. Textual authority in classical Indian thought: Rāmānuja and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. - Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2015.
• CJ Bartley. The Theology of Rāmānuja: Realism and Religion . - Routledge, 2013 .-- ISBN 978-1-136-85306-7 .
• Bharadwaj K. The philosophy of Rāmānuja. - New Delhi: Sir Shankar Lall Charitable Trust Society, 1958.
• Carman J. The Theology of Rāmānuja: An essay in interreligious understanding. - New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974.
• Intirā P. Ramanujar: the life and ideas of Ramanuja. - New Delhi; Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
• Lipner J. The face of truth: a study of meaning and metaphysics in the Vedāntic theology of Rāmānuja. - Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.

• Ramanuja (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Ramanuja (New World Encyclopedia)
• Ramanuja's Quotes (Wikiquote)