The Vaikuntha Gadyam ( Sanskrit : वैकुंठगद्यम् , romanized : Vaikuṇṭhagadyam ) is a Sanskrit prayer written by the Hindu philosopher Ramanuja towards the end of the 11th century. It is one of the first bhakti prayers in the Sri Vaishnava school of thought and is the basis for many prayers of this style. It is recited in the 108 Divya Desam temples, including Srirangam .
130-574: According to Sri Vaishnava tradition, Ramanuja and his disciples visited the Ranganatha temple in Srirangam on Panguni Uttiram , a day in spring of the Tamil calendar month of Panguni ( phalguna ) on the day of the ascension of the star called Uttiram. According to tradition, Uttiram was in ascent when the goddess of the temple, Ranganayaki , a form of Lakshmi , was born. Ramanuja was inspired by
260-639: A Tamil Brahmin community, in a village called Sriperumbudur (present-day Tamil Nadu) under the Chola Empire . His followers in the Vaishnava tradition wrote hagiographies, some of which were composed in centuries after his death, and which the tradition believes to be true. The traditional hagiographies of Ramanuja state he was born to mother Kānthimathi and father Asuri Keshava Somayāji, in Sriperumbudur , near modern Chennai , Tamil Nādu. He
390-466: A qualified non-dualism , where both the souls and the material world, though deeply interconnected with Brahman, eternally remain different from Brahman. In Rāmānuja's philosophy, the foundational concept of the soul-body model revolves around the idea that the entire universe, including both souls ( jivas ) and matter ( prakrti ), serves as the body ( sarira ) of God, referred to as " sarira-sariri-bhava ", where " sarira " means body and " sariri " means
520-508: A relation between a knower and a known proposition , in the case above between the person Ravi and the proposition "kangaroos hop". It is use-independent since it is not tied to one specific purpose. It is a mental representation that relies on concepts and ideas to depict reality. Because of its theoretical nature, it is often held that only relatively sophisticated creatures, such as humans, possess propositional knowledge. Propositional knowledge contrasts with non-propositional knowledge in
650-412: A series of thought experiments that aimed to show that some justified true beliefs do not amount to knowledge. In one of them, a person is unaware of all the fake barns in their area. By coincidence, they stop in front of the only real barn and form a justified true belief that it is a real barn. Many epistemologists agree that this is not knowledge because the justification is not directly relevant to
780-407: A Chola king, Kulothunga II , had immense hatred towards Sri Vaishnavism. He was called Krimikanta Chola or worm-necked Chola, so called as the king is said to have suffered from the cancer of the neck or throat. Historian Nilakanta Sastri identifies Krimikanta Chola with Adhirajendra Chola or Virarajendra Chola with whom the main line ( Vijayalaya line) ended. Knowing the evil intentions of
910-442: A belief is information that favors or supports it. Epistemologists understand evidence primarily in terms of mental states, for example, as sensory impressions or as other propositions that a person knows. But in a wider sense, it can also include physical objects, like bloodstains examined by forensic analysts or financial records studied by investigative journalists. Evidence is often understood in terms of probability : evidence for
1040-634: A belief is justified if it coheres with other beliefs. Foundationalists , by contrast, maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Internalism and externalism disagree about whether justification is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances. Separate branches of epistemology are dedicated to knowledge found in specific fields, like scientific, mathematical, moral, and religious knowledge. Naturalized epistemology relies on empirical methods and discoveries, whereas formal epistemology uses formal tools from logic . Social epistemology investigates
1170-473: A belief is justified if the individual's evidence supports the belief and they hold the belief on the basis of this evidence. Reliabilism is an externalist theory asserting that a reliable connection between belief and truth is required for justification. Some reliabilists explain this in terms of reliable processes. According to this view, a belief is justified if it is produced by a reliable belief-formation process, like perception. A belief-formation process
1300-612: A belief makes it more likely that the belief is true. A defeater is evidence against a belief or evidence that undermines another piece of evidence. For instance, witness testimony connecting a suspect to a crime is evidence for their guilt while an alibi is a defeater. Evidentialists analyze justification in terms of evidence by saying that to be justified, a belief needs to rest on adequate evidence. The presence of evidence usually affects doubt and certainty , which are subjective attitudes toward propositions that differ regarding their level of confidence. Doubt involves questioning
1430-592: A belief, known as propositional justification , but also in whether the person holds the belief because or based on this reason, known as doxastic justification . For example, if a person has sufficient reason to believe that a neighborhood is dangerous but forms this belief based on superstition then they have propositional justification but lack doxastic justification. Sources of justification are ways or cognitive capacities through which people acquire justification. Often-discussed sources include perception , introspection , memory , reason , and testimony , but there
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#17327806059421560-414: A common view, this means that the person has sufficient reasons for holding this belief because they have information that supports it. Another view states that a belief is justified if it is formed by a reliable belief formation process, such as perception. The terms reasonable , warranted , and supported are closely related to the idea of justification and are sometimes used as synonyms. Justification
1690-529: A disciple under Ramanuja. Later another attempt was made on Ramanuja's life while he was about to take charge of the temple affairs in Srirangam . The head priest of the Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam did not like Ramanuja and decided to kill him. Accordingly, he invited Ramanuja to his house for having food and planned to kill him by poisoning his food. However, when Ramanuja arrived,
1820-551: A disciple who was helping him out with the temple affairs and asked him to go to Kanchi and bring Ramanuja. When Mahapurna met Ramanuja and informed him of his guru's desire, Ramanuja was overjoyed and they both immediately left for Srirangam. But bad news awaited them at Srirangam and they both learned that Yamunacharya had died. Heart-broken, Ramanuja then left for Kanchi and refused to worship Sri Ranganatha for he held him responsible for taking away Yamunacharya from this world. As for Mahapurna, he began to assist Tiruvaranga Araiyar,
1950-573: A disease helps a doctor cure their patient, and knowledge of when a job interview starts helps a candidate arrive on time. The usefulness of a known fact depends on the circumstances. Knowledge of some facts may have little to no uses, like memorizing random phone numbers from an outdated phone book. Being able to assess the value of knowledge matters in choosing what information to acquire and transmit to others. It affects decisions like which subjects to teach at school and how to allocate funds to research projects. Of particular interest to epistemologists
2080-411: A fellow devotee, regularly and soon decided that he would become Kanchipurna's disciple. When he approached Kanchipurna about this, Kanchipurna politely refused as he did not belong to the same caste as Ramanuja and told him that he would get a more appropriate guru. After this Kanchipurna left for Tirupati to worship Lord Venkateswara and would return only after six months. When he finally came back, it
2210-452: A letter, a newspaper, and a blog. Rationality is closely related to justification and the terms rational belief and justified belief are sometimes used as synonyms. However, rationality has a wider scope that encompasses both a theoretical side, covering beliefs, and a practical side, covering decisions , intentions , and actions . There are different conceptions about what it means for something to be rational. According to one view,
2340-945: A lively intellectual tradition, and his religious practices continue in major Vaishnava centres like the Ranganātha temple in Srirangam and the Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati . The Statue of Equality in Hyderabad , planned by Chinna Jeeyar , is dedicated to Ramanuja. It was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 February 2022. Ramanuja is also known as Śrī Rāmānujāchārya , Udaiyavar, Ethirājar ( Yatirāja , king of monks), Bhashyakara (Bhashyakarulu in Telugu ), Godāgrajar , Thiruppavai Jeeyar, Emberumānār and Lakshmana Muni Biographies Works Others Epistemology Epistemology
2470-416: A mental state is rational if it is based on or responsive to good reasons. Another view emphasizes the role of coherence, stating that rationality requires that the different mental states of a person are consistent and support each other. A slightly different approach holds that rationality is about achieving certain goals. Two goals of theoretical rationality are accuracy and comprehensiveness, meaning that
2600-410: A person already has, asserting that a person should only change their beliefs if they have a good reason to. One motivation for adopting epistemic conservatism is that the cognitive resources of humans are limited, meaning that it is not feasible to constantly reexamine every belief. Pragmatist epistemology is a form of fallibilism that emphasizes the close relation between knowing and acting. It sees
2730-744: A person has as few false beliefs and as many true beliefs as possible. Epistemic norms are criteria to assess the cognitive quality of beliefs, like their justification and rationality. Epistemologists distinguish between deontic norms, which are prescriptions about what people should believe or which beliefs are correct, and axiological norms, which identify the goals and values of beliefs. Epistemic norms are closely related to intellectual or epistemic virtues , which are character traits like open-mindedness and conscientiousness . Epistemic virtues help individuals form true beliefs and acquire knowledge. They contrast with epistemic vices and act as foundational concepts of virtue epistemology . Evidence for
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#17327806059422860-419: A person knows depends on the subjective criteria or social conventions used to assess epistemic status. The debate between empiricism and rationalism centers on the origins of human knowledge. Empiricism emphasizes that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge. Some empiricists express this view by stating that the mind is a blank slate that only develops ideas about the external world through
2990-600: A place that is located 40 km from present day Chennai . As fate would have it Ramanuja, who was on his way to Srirangam, arrived at the same place and to his joy found Mahapurna. They soon embraced each other and Ramanuja requested that he waste no time in initiating him into the Vaishnavite order. Mahapurna immediately obliged and Ramanuja received the Panchasamskaras (the five sacraments). Some hagiographies, composed centuries after Ramanuja died, state that
3120-507: A posteriori knowledge. A priori knowledge is knowledge of non-empirical facts and does not depend on evidence from sensory experience. It belongs to fields such as mathematics and logic , like knowing that 2 + 2 = 4 {\displaystyle 2+2=4} . The contrast between a posteriori and a priori knowledge plays a central role in the debate between empiricists and rationalists on whether all knowledge depends on sensory experience. A closely related contrast
3250-412: A true or a false proposition. According to the correspondence theory of truth , to be true means to stand in the right relation to the world by accurately describing what it is like. This means that truth is objective: a belief is true if it corresponds to a fact . The coherence theory of truth says that a belief is true if it belongs to a coherent system of beliefs. A result of this view is that truth
3380-402: Is and what types of knowledge there are. It further investigates the sources of knowledge, like perception , inference , and testimony , to determine how knowledge is created. Another topic is the extent and limits of knowledge, confronting questions about what people can and cannot know. Other central concepts include belief , truth , justification , evidence , and reason . Epistemology
3510-497: Is hyperrealistic or similar to naïve empiricism . The first two sources of knowledge are perception and inference, and they are trustworthy notwithstanding general human subjection to "beginningless ignorance." Knowledge is always of the real, even in dreams, and error is a disordered perception or faulty inference concerning what is really there. The third source of knowledge is the testimony of scripture, or more strictly, śabda ("eternal sound"), which helps to establish much that
3640-408: Is a closely related process focused not on external physical objects but on internal mental states . For example, seeing a bus at a bus station belongs to perception while feeling tired belongs to introspection. Rationalists understand reason as a source of justification for non-empirical facts. It is often used to explain how people can know about mathematical, logical, and conceptual truths. Reason
3770-409: Is a comparative term, meaning that to know something involves distinguishing it from relevant alternatives. For example, if a person spots a bird in the garden, they may know that it is a sparrow rather than an eagle but they may not know that it is a sparrow rather than an indistinguishable sparrow hologram. Epistemic conservatism is a view about belief revision . It gives preference to the beliefs
3900-521: Is a special epistemic good that, unlike knowledge, is always intrinsically valuable. Wisdom is similar in this regard and is sometimes considered the highest epistemic good. It encompasses a reflective understanding with practical applications. It helps people grasp and evaluate complex situations and lead a good life. Philosophical skepticism questions the human ability to arrive at knowledge. Some skeptics limit their criticism to certain domains of knowledge. For example, religious skeptics say that it
4030-439: Is also responsible for inferential knowledge, in which one or several beliefs are used as premises to support another belief. Memory depends on information provided by other sources, which it retains and recalls, like remembering a phone number perceived earlier. Justification by testimony relies on information one person communicates to another person. This can happen by talking to each other but can also occur in other forms, like
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4160-458: Is an oversimplification of much more complex psychological processes. Beliefs play a central role in various epistemological debates, which cover their status as a component of propositional knowledge, the question of whether people have control over and are responsible for their beliefs , and the issue of whether there are degrees of beliefs, called credences . As propositional attitudes, beliefs are true or false depending on whether they affirm
4290-498: Is at the foundation of Hindu spirituality. Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita shares the theistic devotionalism ideas with Madhvāchārya 's Dvaita. Both schools assert that Jīva (souls) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are different, a difference that is never transcended. God Vishnu alone is independent, all other gods and beings are dependent on Him, according to both Madhvāchārya and Ramanuja. However, in contrast to Madhvāchārya's views, Ramanuja asserts "qualified non-dualism", that souls share
4420-593: Is believed to have been born in the month of Chithirai under the star Tiruvadhirai. They place his life from 1017–1137, yielding a lifespan of 120 years. However, based on 11th- and 12th-century temple records and regional literature outside the Sri Vaishnava tradition, modern era scholars suggest that Ramanuja might have lived from 1077–1157. Ramanuja married, moved to Kānchipuram , and studied with Yādava Prakāśa as his guru. Ramanuja and his guru frequently disagreed in interpreting Vedic texts, particularly
4550-424: Is better because it is more stable. Another suggestion focuses on practical reasoning . It proposes that people put more trust in knowledge than in mere true beliefs when drawing conclusions and deciding what to do. A different response says that knowledge has intrinsic value, meaning that it is good in itself independent of its usefulness. Beliefs are mental states about what is the case, like believing that snow
4680-403: Is between analytic and synthetic truths . A sentence is analytically true if its truth depends only on the meaning of the words it uses. For instance, the sentence "all bachelors are unmarried" is analytically true because the word "bachelor" already includes the meaning "unmarried". A sentence is synthetically true if its truth depends on additional facts. For example, the sentence "snow is white"
4810-439: Is correct. Some philosophers, such as Timothy Williamson , reject the basic assumption underlying the analysis of knowledge by arguing that propositional knowledge is a unique state that cannot be dissected into simpler components. The value of knowledge is the worth it holds by expanding understanding and guiding action. Knowledge can have instrumental value by helping a person achieve their goals. For example, knowledge of
4940-416: Is important for explaining the nature of illusions. Constructivism in epistemology is the theory that how people view the world is not a simple reflection of external reality but an invention or a social construction. This view emphasizes the creative role of interpretation while undermining objectivity since social constructions may differ from society to society. According to contrastivism , knowledge
5070-460: Is impossible to have certain knowledge about the existence of deities or other religious doctrines. Similarly, moral skeptics challenge the existence of moral knowledge and metaphysical skeptics say that humans cannot know ultimate reality. Global skepticism is the widest form of skepticism, asserting that there is no knowledge in any domain. In ancient philosophy , this view was accepted by academic skeptics while Pyrrhonian skeptics recommended
5200-587: Is insufficient for attaining m oksha . According to Rāmānuja, bhakti yoga , the discipline of devotion or worship, is the effective means for liberation. In his interpretation, moksha is not a negative separation from transmigration, or a series of rebirths, but rather the joy of the contemplating the divine perfection. This joy is attained by a life of exclusive devotion ( bhakti ) to Brahman, singing his praise, performing adulatory acts in temple and private worship, and constantly dwelling on his perfections. In return, Brahman will offer his grace, which will assist
5330-443: Is itself a knowledge claim. Another objection says that the abstract reasoning leading to skepticism is not convincing enough to overrule common sense. Fallibilism is another response to skepticism. Fallibilists agree with skeptics that absolute certainty is impossible. Most fallibilists disagree with skeptics about the existence of knowledge, saying that there is knowledge since it does not require absolute certainty. They emphasize
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5460-469: Is no universal agreement to what extent they all provide valid justification. Perception relies on sensory organs to gain empirical information. There are various forms of perception corresponding to different physical stimuli, such as visual , auditory , haptic , olfactory , and gustatory perception. Perception is not merely the reception of sense impressions but an active process that selects, organizes, and interprets sensory signals . Introspection
5590-534: Is now a temple town in Mandya district of Karnataka . Rāmānujā later returned on his own to Tamil Nādu after the demise of Krimikanta Chola. According to Sastri, Krimikanta or Adhirajendra Chola was killed in a local uprising of the Vaishnavas. According to "Koil Olugu" (temple records) of the Srirangam temple, Kulottunga III was the son of Krimikanta Chola or Karikala Chola. The former, unlike his father,
5720-497: Is one of the main branches of philosophy besides fields like ethics , logic , and metaphysics . The term is also used in a slightly different sense to refer not to the branch of philosophy but to a particular position within that branch, as in Plato 's epistemology and Immanuel Kant 's epistemology. As a normative field of inquiry, epistemology explores how people should acquire beliefs. This way, it determines which beliefs fulfill
5850-644: Is possible in theory, it is impractical for most. Instead, he advocates karma yoga , which involves fulfilling duties based on individual capabilities and nature, making morality accessible and suited to individual lives. Ramanuja argued that Shankara 's interpretation of the Upanishads had serious errors. He had four major objections: Ramanuja accepted that the Vedas are a reliable source of knowledge, then critiqued other schools of Hindu philosophy, including Advaita Vedānta, as having failed in interpreting all of
5980-408: Is relative since it depends on other beliefs. Further theories of truth include pragmatist , semantic , pluralist , and deflationary theories . Truth plays a central role in epistemology as a goal of cognitive processes and a component of propositional knowledge. In epistemology, justification is a property of beliefs that fulfill certain norms about what a person should believe. According to
6110-407: Is relevant to many descriptive and normative disciplines, such as the other branches of philosophy and the sciences, by exploring the principles of how they may arrive at knowledge. The word epistemology comes from the ancient Greek terms ἐπιστήμη (episteme, meaning knowledge or understanding ) and λόγος (logos, meaning study of or reason ), literally, the study of knowledge. The word
6240-412: Is reliable if most of the beliefs it causes are true. A slightly different view focuses on beliefs rather than belief-formation processes, saying that a belief is justified if it is a reliable indicator of the fact it presents. This means that the belief tracks the fact: the person believes it because it is a fact but would not believe it otherwise. Virtue epistemology is another type of externalism and
6370-536: Is said to have been a repentant son who supported Vaishnavism. Ramanuja is said to have made Kulottunga III as a disciple of his nephew, Dasarathi . The king then granted the management of the Ranganathaswamy temple to Dasarathi and his descendants as per the wish of Ramanuja. Some historians hold that Krimikanta, who persecuted Ramanuja, had a personal animosity towards Ramanuja and did not persecute Vaishnavites. The Sri Vaishnavite order prior to Ramanuja
6500-420: Is sometimes understood as a form of reliabilism. It says that a belief is justified if it manifests intellectual virtues. Intellectual virtues are capacities or traits that perform cognitive functions and help people form true beliefs. Suggested examples include faculties like vision, memory, and introspection. In the epistemology of perception, direct and indirect realists disagree about the connection between
6630-405: Is synthetically true because its truth depends on the color of snow in addition to the meanings of the words snow and white . A priori knowledge is primarily associated with analytic sentences while a posteriori knowledge is primarily associated with synthetic sentences. However, it is controversial whether this is true for all cases. Some philosophers, such as Willard Van Orman Quine , reject
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#17327806059426760-462: Is taken by radical skeptics , who argue that there is no knowledge at all. Epistemologists distinguish between different types of knowledge. Their primary interest is in knowledge of facts, called propositional knowledge . It is a theoretical knowledge that can be expressed in declarative sentences using a that-clause, like "Ravi knows that kangaroos hop". For this reason, it is also called knowledge-that . Epistemologists often understand it as
6890-416: Is the dream argument . It starts from the observation that, while people are dreaming, they are usually unaware of this. This inability to distinguish between dream and regular experience is used to argue that there is no certain knowledge since a person can never be sure that they are not dreaming. Some critics assert that global skepticism is a self-refuting idea because denying the existence of knowledge
7020-421: Is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge . Also called theory of knowledge , it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in the form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief , truth , and justification to understand
7150-414: Is the case if the beliefs are consistent and support each other. According to coherentism, justification is a holistic aspect determined by the whole system of beliefs, which resembles an interconnected web. The view of foundherentism is an intermediary position combining elements of both foundationalism and coherentism. It accepts the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs while asserting that
7280-411: Is the direct awareness of Brahman's nature and thus is a kind of knowledge ( jñāna ). Being a realist, Rāmānuja firmly opposed the notion of māyā (illusion). In his understanding, three distinct realities exist: a vast expanse of material objects, countless conscious souls within material bodies, and the transcendent Brahman. Each of these categories possesses a different degree of awareness, from
7410-431: Is the full comprehension and realization of oneness of one's unchanging Ātman (soul) as the same as Ātman in everyone else as well as being identical to the nirguna Brahman. In contrast, Ramanuja's theory posits both Brahman and the world of matter are two different absolutes, both metaphysically real, neither should be called false or illusive, and saguna Brahman with attributes is also real. Ramanuja views Brahman as
7540-405: Is the question of whether knowledge is more valuable than a mere opinion that is true. Knowledge and true opinion often have a similar usefulness since both are accurate representations of reality. For example, if a person wants to go to Larissa , a true opinion about how to get there may help them in the same way as knowledge does. Plato already considered this problem and suggested that knowledge
7670-467: Is uncertain on the basis of sense perception and inference, notably the existence and nature of the ultimate reality ( brahman ). Though unlike some proponents of naïve empiricism, Rāmānuja does not think that it suffices to intermittently have an acquaintance with objects of knowledge. Knowledge ( jñāna ) only occurs when there is direct perception of an object. Unlike proper empiricists, Rāmānuja does not restrict knowledge to that which can be gathered from
7800-427: Is wet. According to foundationalism, basic beliefs are the foundation on which all other knowledge is built while non-basic beliefs constitute the superstructure resting on this foundation. Coherentists reject the distinction between basic and non-basic beliefs, saying that the justification of any belief depends on other beliefs. They assert that a belief must be in tune with other beliefs to amount to knowledge. This
7930-407: Is what distinguishes justified beliefs from superstition and lucky guesses. However, justification does not guarantee truth. For example, if a person has strong but misleading evidence, they may form a justified belief that is false. Epistemologists often identify justification as one component of knowledge. Usually, they are not only interested in whether a person has a sufficient reason to hold
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#17327806059428060-601: Is white or that God exists . In epistemology, they are often understood as subjective attitudes that affirm or deny a proposition , which can be expressed in a declarative sentence . For instance, to believe that snow is white is to affirm the proposition "snow is white". According to this view, beliefs are representations of what the world is like. They are kept in memory and can be retrieved when actively thinking about reality or when deciding how to act. A different view understands beliefs as behavioral patterns or dispositions to act rather than as representational items stored in
8190-661: The Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita , all in Sanskrit. His Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism ) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic dualism) philosophy of Madhvāchārya , and Advaita (non-dualism) philosophy of Ādi Shankara , together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium. Ramanuja presented the epistemic and soteriological importance of bhakti , or
8320-538: The Sri Vaishnava sampradaya was already an established organization under Yamunāchārya, and bhakti songs and devotional ideas already a part of Tamil culture because of the twelve Alvārs . Ramanuja's fame grew because he was considered the first thinker in centuries that disputed Shankara's theories, and offered an alternative interpretation of Upanishadic scriptures. When Ramanuja and his guru Yadava Prakaasa parted ways due to their differences in interpreting
8450-567: The Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple complex, undertook India-wide tours and expanded the reach of his organization. The temple organization became the stronghold of his ideas and his disciples. It is here that he wrote his influential Vishishtadvaita philosophy text, Sri Bhashyam . Ramanuja not only developed theories and published philosophical works, he organized a network of temples for Vishnu-Lakshmi worship. Ramanuja set up centers of studies for his philosophy during
8580-410: The Upanishads . Ramanuja and Yādava Prakāśa separated, and thereafter Ramanuja continued his studies on his own. He attempted to meet another famed Vedanta scholar of 11th-century Yamunāchārya, but Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that the latter died before the meeting and they never met. Ramanuja was the great-grandson of Yamunāchārya through a granddaughter. However, some hagiographies assert that
8710-706: The Vedic literature , Ramanuja became a devotee of the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchi . During this period, Ramanuja's discourses and fame reached far and wide. Yamunacharya , the Vaishnavite acharya and the religious head of the Ranganathasamy temple at Srirangam had been closely following Ramanuja from a very young age. When it was time to pass on the legacy, the acharya decided that he would call upon Ramanuja. Accordingly, he summoned Sri Mahapurna,
8840-543: The knowledge base of an expert system . Knowledge contrasts with ignorance , which is often simply defined as the absence of knowledge. Knowledge is usually accompanied by ignorance since people rarely have complete knowledge of a field, forcing them to rely on incomplete or uncertain information when making decisions. Even though many forms of ignorance can be mitigated through education and research, there are certain limits to human understanding that are responsible for inevitable ignorance. Some limitations are inherent in
8970-436: The suspension of belief to achieve a state of tranquility . Overall, not many epistemologists have explicitly defended global skepticism. The influence of this position derives mainly from attempts by other philosophers to show that their theory overcomes the challenge of skepticism. For example, René Descartes used methodological doubt to find facts that cannot be doubted. One consideration in favor of global skepticism
9100-532: The 11th and 12th centuries, by traveling through India in that era, and these influenced generations of poet saints devoted to the Bhakti movement. Regional traditions assert that his visits, debates and discourses triggered conversion of Jains and Buddhists to Vaishnavism in Mysore and Deccan region. The birthplace of Ramanuja near Chennai hosts a temple and is an active Vishishtadvaita school. His doctrines inspire
9230-402: The Vedas declare god as nirguna, they should be interpreted as saying that qualities such as pain, sorrow, mortality and age are absent in god. Ramanuja has long enjoyed foremost authority in the Sri Vaishnava tradition. A number of traditional biographies of Ramanuja are known, some written in 12th century, but some written centuries later such as the 17th or 18th century, particularly after
9360-620: The Vedas's meaning"), Sri Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Brahma Sutras ), Bhagavad Gita Bhashya (a review and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita ), and the minor works titled Vedantadipa , Vedantasara , Gadya Trayam (which is a compilation of three texts called the Sharanagati Gadyam , Sriranga Gadyam , and the Vaikuntha Gadyam ), and the Nitya Grantham . Some scholars have questioned
9490-561: The Vedic texts. He asserted, in his Sri Bhāshya , that purvapaksin (previous schools) selectively interpret those Upanishadic passages that support their monistic interpretation, and ignore those passages that support the pluralism interpretation. There is no reason, stated Ramanuja, to prefer one part of a scripture and not other, the whole of the scripture must be considered on par. One cannot, according to Ramanuja, attempt to give interpretations of isolated portions of any scripture. Rather,
9620-406: The assumption that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation; in contrast, Madhvāchārya believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned. Shankara's theory posits that only Brahman and causes are metaphysical unchanging reality, while the empirical world ( Maya ) and observed effects are changing, illusive and of relative existence. Spiritual liberation to Shankara
9750-647: The authenticity of the majority of his work except the three of the largest works credited to Ramanuja – Sri Bhashya, Vedarthasamgraha, and the Bhagavad Gita Bhashya. Ramanuja's philosophical foundation was qualified monism , and is called Vishishtadvaita in the Hindu tradition. His ideas are one of three subschools in Vedānta , the other two are known as Ādi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism) and Madhvāchārya's Dvaita (dualism). Rāmānuja's epistemology
9880-575: The author states as his goal, what he repeats in his explanation, what he states as his conclusion, and whether it can be epistemically verified. Not everything in any text, states Shankara, has equal weight and some ideas are the essence of any expert's textual testimony. This philosophical difference in scriptural studies helped Shankara conclude that the Principal Upanishads primarily teach monism with teachings such as Tat tvam asi , while helping Ramanuja conclude that qualified monism
10010-419: The belief following it and is supported by the belief preceding it. The disagreement between internalism and externalism is about the sources of justification. Internalists say that justification depends only on factors within the individual. Examples of such factors include perceptual experience, memories, and the possession of other beliefs. This view emphasizes the importance of the cognitive perspective of
10140-430: The belief in the right way. Another theory states that the belief is the product of a reliable belief formation process. Further approaches require that the person would not have the belief if it was false, that the belief is not inferred from a falsehood, that the justification cannot be undermined , or that the belief is infallible. There is no consensus on which of the proposed modifications and reconceptualizations
10270-457: The character of Brahman . According to Ramanuja, Brahman encompasses everything but is not uniform in nature. It includes elements of plurality, allowing it to manifest in a diverse world. Ramanuja views Brahman as a personal god who rules over a real world filled with his spirit. He believes Brahman to have the attributes of “omnipotence, omniscience and infinite love”. He writes: "Entities other than Brahman can be objects of such cognitions of
10400-562: The chief beneficiaries. After the period of Ramanuja, the Sri Vaishnava community split on this issue and formed the Vadakalai (northern and Sanskritic) and Thenkalai (southern and Tamil) sects. Both sects believe in initiation into Sri Vaishnavism through Pancha Samskara . This ceremony or rite of passage is necessary for one to become a Sri Vaishnava Brahmin. It is performed by Brahmins and non-Brahmins in order to become Vaishnavas. There were multiple attempts on Ramanuja's life. When he
10530-522: The circumstances under which they observed the cup. Evidentialism is an influential internalist view. It says that justification depends on the possession of evidence . In this context, evidence for a belief is any information in the individual's mind that supports the belief. For example, the perceptual experience of rain is evidence for the belief that it is raining. Evidentialists have suggested various other forms of evidence, including memories, intuitions, and other beliefs. According to evidentialism,
10660-485: The commentaries of Ramanuja on Vedanta , does not have detailed philosophical debates. Instead, it is a pure expression of bhakti and gives a detailed description of Vaikuntha seen through the eyes of a liberated one ( jivanmukti ). Ramanuja stresses the important message that surrender to Narayana 's lotus feet ( Narayana Sayujyam ) results in salokyam (attaining the abode of Narayana), sarupyam (purity of soul) and samipyam (remaining close to God). He glorifies
10790-525: The communal aspect of knowledge and historical epistemology examines its historical conditions. Epistemology is closely related to psychology , which describes the beliefs people hold, while epistemology studies the norms governing the evaluation of beliefs. It also intersects with fields such as decision theory , education , and anthropology . Early reflections on the nature, sources, and scope of knowledge are found in ancient Greek , Indian , and Chinese philosophy . The relation between reason and faith
10920-403: The corpse of Yamunāchārya miraculously rose and named Ramanuja as the new leader of Sri Vaishnava sect previously led by Yamunāchārya. One hagiography states that after leaving Yādava Prakāśa, Ramanuja was initiated into Sri Vaishnavism by Periya Nambi, also called Mahapurna , another Vedānta scholar. Ramanuja renounced his married life, and became a Hindu monk . However, states Katherine Young,
11050-478: The devotee in gaining release. Ramanuja's ethical framework asserts that morality has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Intrinsically, morality mirrors the divine nature of God, who is morally perfect and needs no external reasons to be moral. Instrumentally, morality serves as a means to alleviate the karmic burdens of past wrongdoings and to appease the divine, thus facilitating spiritual liberation. Ramanuja emphasizes that while detachment through jnana yoga
11180-515: The devotion to a personal God ( Vishnu in Ramanuja's case) as a means to spiritual liberation. His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Ātman (soul) and Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality), while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman. Ramanuja was born into
11310-405: The distinction, saying that there are no analytic truths. The analysis of knowledge is the attempt to identify the essential components or conditions of all and only propositional knowledge states. According to the so-called traditional analysis , knowledge has three components: it is a belief that is justified and true. In the second half of the 20th century, this view was put into doubt by
11440-584: The eternal kaimkaryam (devoted work) performed by devotees like Shesha , Garuda , Vishvaksena , a devotee considered first among equals, and the dvarapalakas (door keepers) to Vaikuntha, Jaya-Vijaya . He then gives a brief glimpse of the "bountiful treasure" awaiting a devotee who does similar devotional work. The work comprises alternate long and short sentences with many adjectival phrases. Ramanuja Ramanuja ( [ɽaːmaːnʊdʑɐ] ; Middle Tamil : Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit : Rāmānuja; c. 1017 – 1137), also known as Ramanujacharya ,
11570-607: The festivities of the day and composed the Sriranga Gadyam and the Sharanagati Gadyam . According to tradition, the deity Ranganatha is regarded to have been moved by these compositions, and gave Ramanuja a vision of his abode, Vaikuntha . This inspired Ramanuja to compose the Vaikuntha Gadyam . Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Vaikuntha Gadyam , unlike
11700-411: The form of knowledge-how and knowledge by acquaintance . Knowledge-how is a practical ability or skill, like knowing how to read or how to prepare lasagna . It is usually tied to a specific goal and not mastered in the abstract without concrete practice. To know something by acquaintance means to be familiar with it as a result of experiental contact. Examples are knowing the city of Perth , knowing
11830-416: The highest good lies in realizing our true nature and of understanding the true essence of Brahman. Moksha , or spiritual liberation, is seen as the joy of contemplating Brahman (rather than release from the life-death-rebirth cycle), and that joy is the result of devotion, praise, worship and contemplation of divine perfection. Knowledge of Brahman consists in liberation, for Rāmānuja, mainly because of
11960-510: The historical evidence on whether Ramanuja led a married life or he did renounce and became a monk is uncertain. Ramanuja became a priest at the Varadharāja Perumal temple ( Vishnu ) at Kānchipuram , where he began to teach that moksha (liberation and release from samsara ) is to be achieved not with metaphysical, nirguna Brahman but with the help of personal god and saguna Vishnu. Ramanuja believed that when scriptures such as
12090-427: The human cognitive faculties themselves, such as the inability to know facts too complex for the human mind to conceive. Others depend on external circumstances when no access to the relevant information exists. Epistemologists disagree on how much people know, for example, whether fallible beliefs about everyday affairs can amount to knowledge or whether absolute certainty is required. The most stringent position
12220-417: The individual in the form of their mental states. It is commonly associated with the idea that the relevant factors are accessible, meaning that the individual can become aware of their reasons for holding a justified belief through introspection and reflection. Externalism rejects this view, saying that at least some relevant factors are external to the individual. This means that the cognitive perspective of
12350-405: The individual is less central while other factors, specifically the relation to truth, become more important. For instance, when considering the belief that a cup of coffee stands on the table, externalists are not only interested in the perceptual experience that led to this belief but also consider the quality of the person's eyesight, their ability to differentiate coffee from other beverages, and
12480-471: The indwelling soul or consciousness. This concept is rooted in sruti passages like Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7.3-23: "This soul of yours who is present within but is different from all beings, whom all beings do not know. whose body is all beings, and who controls all beings from within - he is the Inner Controller, the immortal one" - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7.14 According to Rāmānuja,
12610-586: The inner ruler, all knowing, and the “essence of the soul”. He describes Brahman as the source of intelligence, truth and bliss, and as the controller of the world. God, like man, states Ramanuja, has both soul and body, and all of the world of matter is the glory of God's body. The path to Brahman (Vishnu), asserted Ramanuja, is devotion to godliness and constant remembrance of the beauty and love of personal god ( saguna Brahman, Vishnu). Harold Coward describes Ramanuja as "the founding interpreter of Sri Vaisnavite scripture." Wendy Doniger calls him "probably
12740-405: The justification of non-basic beliefs depends on coherence with other beliefs. Infinitism presents another approach to the structure of knowledge. It agrees with coherentism that there are no basic beliefs while rejecting the view that beliefs can support each other in a circular manner . Instead, it argues that beliefs form infinite justification chains, in which each link of the chain supports
12870-465: The king, Sri Rāmānujā's disciple, Sri Koorathazhwan persuaded Ramanuja to leave the Chola kingdom. Sri Rāmānujā then moved to Hoysala kingdom for 14 years, wherein he converted a Jain king, Bitti Deva to Hinduism after miraculously healing his daughter. Bitti Deva changed his name to Vishnuvardhana . King Vishnuvardhana assisted Sri Rāmānujā to build a temple of Lord Thirunarayanaswamy at Melukote , which
13000-440: The main topic in epistemology, some theorists focus on understanding rather than knowledge. Understanding is a more holistic notion that involves a wider grasp of a subject. To understand something, a person requires awareness of how different things are connected and why they are the way they are. For example, knowledge of isolated facts memorized from a textbook does not amount to understanding. According to one view, understanding
13130-457: The mind possesses inborn ideas which it can access without the help of the senses. Others hold that there is an additional cognitive faculty, sometimes called rational intuition , through which people acquire nonempirical knowledge. Some rationalists limit their discussion to the origin of concepts, saying that the mind relies on inborn categories to understand the world and organize experience. Foundationalists and coherentists disagree about
13260-409: The mind. This view says that to believe that there is mineral water in the fridge is nothing more than a group of dispositions related to mineral water and the fridge. Examples are the dispositions to answer questions about the presence of mineral water affirmatively and to go to the fridge when thirsty. Some theorists deny the existence of beliefs, saying that this concept borrowed from folk psychology
13390-418: The nature of joy only to a finite extent and for limited duration. But Brahman is such that cognizing of him is an infinite and abiding joy. It is for this reason that the śruti [scripture] says, ` Brahman is bliss’ ( Taittirīya Upaniṣad II.6.) Since the form of cognition as joy is determined by its object, Brahman itself is joy." Rāmānuja clarifies that mere theoretical knowledge of Brahman ‘s nature
13520-479: The nature of knowledge. To discover how knowledge arises, they investigate sources of justification, such as perception , introspection , memory , reason , and testimony . The school of skepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge while fallibilism says that knowledge is never certain. Empiricists hold that all knowledge comes from sense experience, whereas rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it. Coherentists argue that
13650-417: The need to keep an open and inquisitive mind since doubt can never be fully excluded, even for well-established knowledge claims like thoroughly tested scientific theories. Epistemic relativism is a related view. It does not question the existence of knowledge in general but rejects the idea that there are universal epistemic standards or absolute principles that apply equally to everyone. This means that what
13780-409: The non-aware material world to the fully-aware Brahman, but they are all equally real. In Rāmānuja's interpretation of advaita (non-dualism), it is not a form of advaita as proposed by Shankara . Rāmānuja's conception of bhakti maintains that there must always be a separation between the lover (the soul) and the beloved (Vishnu), for true love cannot exist without distinct identities. His stance suggests
13910-726: The other hand, represents the Tenkalai biography. Other late biographies include the Yatirajavaibhavam by Andhrapurna. Ramanuja grew up in the Tamil culture, in a stable society during the rule of the Chola dynasty . This period was one of pluralistic beliefs, where Vaishnava, Shaiva, Smarta traditions, Buddhism and Jainism thrived together. In Hindu monastic tradition, Advaita Vedānta had been dominant, and Ramanuja's guru Yādava Prākāsha belonged to this tradition. Prior to Ramanuja,
14040-453: The perceiver and the perceived object. Direct realists say that this connection is direct, meaning that there is no difference between the object present in perceptual experience and the physical object causing this experience. According to indirect realism, the connection is indirect since there are mental entities, like ideas or sense data, that mediate between the perceiver and the external world. The contrast between direct and indirect realism
14170-528: The priest's wife saw the divine glow of Ramanuja and immediately confessed her husband's plan. This did not deter the priest who then made another attempt when Ramanuja visited the temple. He poisoned the temple Theertham (holy water) and served it to Ramanuja. However instead of dying Ramanuja began to dance with joy. The priest taken aback at once realised his mistake and fell at the feet of Ramanuja. The Sri Vaisnava tradition attributes nine Sanskrit texts to Ramanuja – Vedarthasamgraha (literally, "Summary of
14300-532: The same essential nature of Brahman, and that there is a universal sameness in the quality and degree of bliss possible for human souls, and every soul can reach the bliss state of God Himself. While the 13th- to 14th-century Madhavāchārya asserted both "qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls", Ramanuja asserted "qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls", states Sharma. Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita school and Shankara 's Advaita school are both nondualistic Vedānta schools, both are premised on
14430-588: The scripture must be considered one integrated corpus, expressing a consistent doctrine. The Vedic literature, asserted Ramanuja, mention both plurality and oneness, therefore the truth must incorporate pluralism and monism, or qualified monism. This method of scripture interpretation distinguishes Ramanuja from Ādi Shankara. Shankara's exegetical approach Samanvayat Tatparya Linga with Anvaya-Vyatireka , states that for proper understanding, all texts must be examined in their entirety, and then their intent established by six characteristics. These include studying what
14560-644: The sense data it receives from the sensory organs. According to them, the mind can arrive at various additional insights by comparing impressions, combining them, generalizing to arrive at more abstract ideas, and deducing new conclusions from them. Empiricists say that all these mental operations depend on material from the senses and do not function on their own. Even though rationalists usually accept sense experience as one source of knowledge, they also say that important forms of knowledge come directly from reason without sense experience, like knowledge of mathematical and logical truths. According to some rationalists,
14690-483: The senses. Rāmānuja asserts that knowledge about God comes exclusively from the Vedic scriptures, particularly the Upanisads, rather than from sensory perception or logical inference. Rāmānuja was unique in his view that bhakti or devotion is itself an epistemic state. He says that when bhakti takes firm root in an individual, it turns into parabhakti , which is the highest form of bhakti and that bhakti
14820-555: The single most influential thinker of devotional Hinduism". J. A. B. van Buitenen states that Ramanuja was highly influential, by giving "bhakti an intellectual basis", and his efforts made bhakti the major force within different traditions of Hinduism. Modern scholars have compared the importance of Ramanuja in Hinduism to that of scholar Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) in Western Christianity. Ramanuja reformed
14950-507: The son of Yamunacharya in managing the temple affairs. But as time passed by, Tiruvaranga Araiyar and other senior members of the Vaishnavite order felt that there was a vacuum after Yamunacharya's demise and that they lacked a person who could interpret the Vedas and Sastras like Yamunacharya. So it was finally decided that Sri Mahapurna should once again go and invite Ramanuja to Srirangam. Meanwhile, in Kanchi, Ramanuja met with Kanchipurna ,
15080-525: The split of the Śrīvaiṣṇava community into the Vadakalais and Teṉkalais , where each community created its own version of Ramanuja's hagiography. The Muvāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva by Brahmatantra Svatantra Jīyar represents the earliest Vadakalai biography, and reflects the Vadakalai view of the succession following Ramanuja. Ārāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva , on
15210-411: The standards or epistemic goals of knowledge and which ones fail, thereby providing an evaluation of beliefs. Descriptive fields of inquiry, like psychology and cognitive sociology , are also interested in beliefs and related cognitive processes. Unlike epistemology, they study the beliefs people have and how people acquire them instead of examining the evaluative norms of these processes. Epistemology
15340-407: The structure of knowledge. Foundationalism distinguishes between basic and non-basic beliefs. A belief is basic if it is justified directly, meaning that its validity does not depend on the support of other beliefs. A belief is non-basic if it is justified by another belief. For example, the belief that it rained last night is a non-basic belief if it is inferred from the observation that the street
15470-421: The taste of tsampa , and knowing Marta Vieira da Silva personally. Another influential distinction is between a posteriori and a priori knowledge. A posteriori knowledge is knowledge of empirical facts based on sensory experience, like seeing that the sun is shining and smelling that a piece of meat has gone bad. Knowledge belonging to the empirical science and knowledge of everyday affairs belongs to
15600-409: The truth. More specifically, this and similar counterexamples involve some form of epistemic luck, that is, a cognitive success that results from fortuitous circumstances rather than competence. Following these thought experiments , philosophers proposed various alternative definitions of knowledge by modifying or expanding the traditional analysis. According to one view, the known fact has to cause
15730-400: The validity or truth of a proposition. Certainty, by contrast, is a strong affirmative conviction, meaning that the person is free of doubt that the proposition is true. In epistemology, doubt and certainty play central roles in attempts to find a secure foundation of all knowledge and in skeptical projects aiming to establish that no belief is immune to doubt. While propositional knowledge is
15860-405: The world. While this core sense is of particular interest to epistemologists, the term also has other meanings. Understood on a social level, knowledge is a characteristic of a group of people that share ideas, understanding, or culture in general. The term can also refer to information stored in documents, such as "knowledge housed in the library" or knowledge stored in computers in the form of
15990-559: Was a Bhedabheda scholar. Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya . Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta , and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad . Ramanuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on
16120-434: Was a central topic in the medieval period . The modern era was characterized by the contrasting perspectives of empiricism and rationalism. Epistemologists in the 20th century examined the components, structure, and value of knowledge while integrating insights from the natural sciences and linguistics . Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge . Also called theory of knowledge , it examines what knowledge
16250-473: Was a student under Yadava Prakasa, the latter grew jealous of Ramanuja's rise to fame. So Yadava Prakasa tried to get rid of Ramanuja during a tour to the Ganges in northern India. Govinda, Ramanuja's cousin (son of his mother's sister), learned of this plot and warned Ramanuja who then left the group and escaped to Kanchi with the help of an elderly hunter couple. Later Yadava Prakasa realised his folly and became
16380-633: Was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer . He is noted to be one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism . His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement . Ramanuja's guru was Yādava Prakāśa , a scholar who according to tradition belonged to the Advaita Vedānta tradition, but probably
16510-458: Was instrumental in admitting them into the temple in Melukote . Ramanuja's liberal views also led to the reorganization of rituals in Srirangam and the involvement of non-Brahmin people in the Vaishnava worship. This policy change contributed to the enhancement of social status for artisanal and other non-Brahmin caste groups, especially the weavers ( SenguntharKaikola Mudaliyar ) who were one of
16640-769: Was not averse to people from other castes as both Kanchipurna and Mahapurna were non-Brahmins. So when Ramanuja revolted against the discrimination that had crept within the caste system, he was simply following the same lines as the Alwars and helped the people who were considered to be untouchables (dasa, dasulu, dasu), to get absorbed into the Sri Vaishnava Bhakti Movement, encouraging them to attain Spiritual enlightenment by teaching them Sri Alwar Divyaprabandham. He called these downtrodden classes as Tirukulattar , meaning "of noble descent" in Tamil , and
16770-454: Was only coined in the 19th century to label this field and conceive it as a distinct branch of philosophy. Knowledge is an awareness, familiarity, understanding, or skill. Its various forms all involve a cognitive success through which a person establishes epistemic contact with reality. Knowledge is typically understood as an aspect of individuals, generally as a cognitive mental state that helps them understand, interpret, and interact with
16900-540: Was through him that Lord Varadaraja conveyed his wish to Ramanuja. Accordingly, Kanchipurna advised Ramanuja that it was the Lord's wish that he leave for Srirangam and find solace in Sri Mahapurna. After it was decided that Mahapurna would go and invite Ramanuja to Srirangam , the acharya left for Kanchi with his wife. While on his way to Kanchi, Mahapurna and his wife decided to take some rest at Maduranthakam ,
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