Ramanuja

c. 1017 – c. 1137

Ramanuja (traditionally c. 1017 - c. 1137) was a South Indian Hindu philosopher, theologian, and the most influential exponent of the Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) school of Vedanta. Based for much of his life at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, he wrote the Sri Bhashya commentary on the Brahma Sutras and shaped the devotional Sri Vaishnava tradition. His traditional dates give him a lifespan of 120 years and are debated by modern scholars.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Ramanuja.

Life events

Born in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu
c. 1017

According to tradition Ramanuja was born around 1017 into a Tamil Brahmin family in Sriperumbudur, near modern Chennai.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied Vedanta under Yadava Prakasha in Kanchipuram
c. 1035

As a young man Ramanuja studied Advaita-inclined Vedanta with the teacher Yadava Prakasha, from whom he later broke over doctrinal disagreements.

Education ?
Renounced householder life and became a sannyasin
c. 1049

Tradition holds that Ramanuja took monastic vows in Kanchipuram, leaving his marriage to devote himself entirely to religious life.

Personal ?
Became the leading acharya of the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam
c. 1060

Ramanuja assumed leadership of the Sri Vaishnava community at Srirangam as the spiritual successor of Yamunacharya, reorganizing temple worship and administration.

Career ?
Fled Chola persecution and settled in Melkote in Hoysala territory
c. 1098

Tradition recounts that hostility from a Shaiva-aligned Chola king forced Ramanuja to leave Srirangam around 1098 for Melkote in present-day Karnataka, where he established a Vaishnava center.

Relocation ?
Composed the Sri Bhashya, his commentary on the Brahma Sutras
c. 1100

Ramanuja's principal philosophical work systematically expounds Vishishtadvaita Vedanta against the Advaita interpretation of Shankara.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Returned to Srirangam after years in exile
c. 1120

After the death of the persecuting Chola ruler, Ramanuja is said to have returned to Srirangam around 1120 and resumed leadership of the community.

Relocation ?
Died at Srirangam
c. 1137

According to tradition Ramanuja died around 1137 at Srirangam, having designated disciples to carry on the Sri Vaishnava lineage.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓