27th January 2018
Disappearance Day of Sri Ramanujacharya
Ramanujacharya (1017-1137) was the principal acharya (spiritual teacher) in
the Sri sampradaya, one of the four main lines of Vaishnava teachers and
disciples. His Vedanta-sutra commentary — Sri-bhasya — establishes the
doctrine known as Vishishtadvaita, “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.
Srila Ramanujacharya traveled extensively throughout India, teaching
personalism and defeating proponents of monistic philosophy. He founded
seventy-four centers of Sri Vaishnavism and initiated seven hundred sannyasis
(renounced monks), twelve thousand brahmacharis (celibate students), and
thousands of householders, including kings and wealthy landowners.