Statue of Equality
Context:
- Muchintal, near Hyderabad, hogged the nationwide limelight during the unveiling of the Statue of Equality, ‘Samatha Murthi’, of the 11th century Saint Ramanujacharya.
- It is considered as one of the largest statues in the world, the statue of Ramanuja, in the sitting posture, is about 216 feet in height.
- Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy was the brain behind this mammoth statue.
About Sri Ramanujacharya:
- Sri Ramanujacharya 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.
- Born in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, in 1017 A.D, dedicated his entire life for reformism and left no stone unturned in dispelling darkness from the minds and lives of people.
- His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
- 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.
- 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 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).
- He also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.
- He bridged the gap between literate and illiterate, rulers and the ruled.
- He gave impetus to the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the Universe as One Family.
About Vishishtadvaita:
- It is a school of Hindu philosophy belonging to the Vedanta.
- Vedanta refers to the profound interpretation of the Vedas based on Prasthanatrayi.
- Vishishta Advaita, meaning “non-duality with distinctions”, is a non-dualistic philosophy that recognizes Brahman as the supreme reality while also acknowledging its multiplicity.
- This philosophy can be characterized as a form of qualified monism, attributive monism, or qualified non-dualism.
- It upholds the belief that all diversity ultimately stems from a fundamental underlying unity.
Syllabus: Prelims
