Acharya Ramanuja (English Language) VIDEO

 

April 16, 2021

Today is the Disappearance Day of Śrī Rāmānujācārya

Śrī Rāmānujācārya (1017 - 1137) was the principle acarya in the Sri Sampradaya, one of the four main lines of Vaisnava teachers and disciples. His Vedanta-sutra commentary -- Sri-bhasya -- establishes the doctrine known as Visistadvaita, "qualified nondualism." A staunch proponent of the philosophy of personalism, he taught that although the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are qualitatively one, there is still a difference between them, for the Lord is infinite and the living entities are infinitesimal. 

Śrīla Rāmānujācārya traveled extensively throughout India, teaching personalism and defeating proponents of monistic philosophy. He founded seventy-four centers of Sri Vaishnavism and initiated and initiated seven hundred sannyasis, twelve thousand brahmacaris, and thousands of householders, including kings and wealthy landowners.

In his introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is Srila Prabhupada refers to Rāmānujācārya as follows:

"Rāmānujācārya has explained the word sanātana as "that which has neither beginning nor end," so when we speak of sanātana-dharma, we must take it for granted on the authority of Śrī Rāmānujācārya that it has neither beginning nor end.

The English word "religion" is a little different from sanātana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanātana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken from fire. 

Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanātana-dharma is eternally integral with the living entity. When we speak of sanātana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Śrī Rāmānujācārya that it has neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries."