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Ramanuja links devotion and Vedanta

c. 11th–12th centuries CE

Ramanuja developed Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, defending the reality of individual persons and the world within an encompassing divine unity. His scriptural interpretation gave devotion a central philosophical role. His life and teaching were closely connected with the Tamil region’s Vaishnava religious communities.

Why it matters

His interpretation offers a major alternative to Advaita and shows how devotion and rigorous philosophical reasoning could develop together around shared scriptures.

About the date

Traditional lifespan 1017–1137; scholarship also proposes 1077–1157. Broad plotted interval signals uncertainty.

Sriperumbudur

Birthplace identified by the biographical source; city orientation.

city orientation

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