Ramanuja
Fri, 02/01/2008 - 15:16 — admin
Sri Ramanuja appeared in this world in a small village near Madras in 1017 A.D. He lived to the ripe old age of 120.
Sri Ramanuja was a disciplic descendant of Jamunacharya, and was a forceful exponent of vishishtadvaita vada, or distinctive monotheism. His followers are called Sri Vaishnavas, as his line of teachers is traced back to the Supreme Personality of Godhead via Lakshmi, or Sri…10 His commentary on Vedanta-sutra is known as Sri Bhasya.
Ramanuja traveled widely throughout India, expounding his Vaishnava doctrine and often engaging in debate with followers of Shankara, whom he vigorously criticized and defeated.11 He is particularly well-known for the forcefulness of his arguments and also his ability to convince others of the validity of his doctrine. Ramanuja was a brilliant scholar. In his youth, his preceptor, Yadavaprakash, became so humiliated by Ramanuja’s regular disagreement with his own commentary on the Upanishads, and Ramanuja’s strong arguments to support this disagreement, that he plotted to kill the young man by poisoning him. Fortunately, Ramanuja got wind of the plan and escaped. Later, Ramanuja became the initiated disciple of Periya Nambi and after some time became recognized as the leader of the Sri Vaishnava community. His former teacher, Yadavaprakash, experienced a change of heart, recognized Ramanuja’s greatness, and became his student.12
Ramanujacharya rejected Shankara’s assertion that the individual soul and the Supreme Soul were one and that the material manifestation is an illusion. Rather, he recognized three distinct categories: the soul, matter, and God. Thus recognizing the difference between the Supreme Soul and the individual soul, Ramanuja declared that the individual soul continued to exist as a conscious entity after liberation. In this condition, the soul also has a body, but it is not material. Thus, he declared that in every condition the soul has a body-either material or spiritual. Ramanujacharya professed the relationship between God and the individual souls in the world to be similar to the relationship of the individual soul within his body. Just as the body is an instrument of the soul within it, the cosmic manifestation is an instrument of God. Like the other Vaishnava acharyas, Ramanuja declared that unalloyed bhakti is the only method by which the individual soul can free herself from the clutches of maya.
LIVING ENERGYRamanuja
We may think we are attracted to the beautiful body of a woman, but actually it is the spark of life which attracts us. When Marilyn Monroe “died”, when the life force left the material body, the body was no longer attractive. All that was left was a lump of unattractive matter that was thrown in the dirt. So is it logical to think that material energy is all-attractive? No. Life force or spirit is the attractive element.
Science of Identity Foundation – Siddhaswarupananda
Sri Ramanuja appeared in this world in a small village near Madras in 1017 A.D. He lived to the ripe old age of 120.
Sri Ramanuja was a disciplic descendant of Jamunacharya, and was a forceful exponent of vishishtadvaita vada, or distinctive monotheism. His followers are called Sri Vaishnavas, as his line of teachers is traced back to the Supreme Personality of Godhead via Lakshmi, or Sri…10 His commentary on Vedanta-sutra is known as Sri Bhasya.
Ramanuja traveled widely throughout India, expounding his Vaishnava doctrine and often engaging in debate with followers of Shankara, whom he vigorously criticized and defeated.11 He is particularly well-known for the forcefulness of his arguments and also his ability to convince others of the validity of his doctrine. Ramanuja was a brilliant scholar. In his youth, his preceptor, Yadavaprakash, became so humiliated by Ramanuja’s regular disagreement with his own commentary on the Upanishads, and Ramanuja’s strong arguments to support this disagreement, that he plotted to kill the young man by poisoning him. Fortunately, Ramanuja got wind of the plan and escaped. Later, Ramanuja became the initiated disciple of Periya Nambi and after some time became recognized as the leader of the Sri Vaishnava community. His former teacher, Yadavaprakash, experienced a change of heart, recognized Ramanuja’s greatness, and became his student.12
Ramanujacharya rejected Shankara’s assertion that the individual soul and the Supreme Soul were one and that the material manifestation is an illusion. Rather, he recognized three distinct categories: the soul, matter, and God. Thus recognizing the difference between the Supreme Soul and the individual soul, Ramanuja declared that the individual soul continued to exist as a conscious entity after liberation. In this condition, the soul also has a body, but it is not material. Thus, he declared that in every condition the soul has a body-either material or spiritual. Ramanujacharya professed the relationship between God and the individual souls in the world to be similar to the relationship of the individual soul within his body. Just as the body is an instrument of the soul within it, the cosmic manifestation is an instrument of God. Like the other Vaishnava acharyas, Ramanuja declared that unalloyed bhakti is the only method by which the individual soul can free herself from the clutches of maya.