Saints Of India Sri Ramanuja

On the life and works of Rāmānuja, 1017-1137, Vaishnavite leader and propagator of the Viśishtādvaita school in Hindu philosophy.

This book briefly and yet succinctly presents the life-stories of some of the great saints of India—Gautama Buddha, Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Tirugnana Sambandar, Tirunavukkarasu, Nammalvar, Andal, Mira Bai, Samartha Ramadas, Guru Govind Singh, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda. Authored by Sri Anna N. Subramanian, the well-known author and translator, the book is especially meant for college students as part of their religious studies.

Rare and blessed is the occasion when a saint, an illumined soul, Swami Ramakrishnananda, a direct-disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, undertakes the task of writing a biography of an Acharya, a world-teacher, Sri Ramanuja. No writer, however erudite and accomplished, can bring to his work that revealing insight which a saint does by virtue of his illumination. From this point of view, the biography of Sri Ramanuja in Bengali, authored by Swami Ramakrishnananda, is a unique work. Whether one belongs to the ranks of orthodox followers or to those of the heterodox, going through the pages of this book, one would surely feel the devotional fervour the author had for Sri Ramanuja. The book was translated into English by Swami Buddhananda, Interspersed with more than 150 colour photographs, annotated with many additional notes, and additional material appended, this new edition of the book, brought out to commemorate Sri Ramanuja’s 1000th Birth Year, will surely communicate the transforming power of the great life of a mighty and magnanimous world-teacher written by an illustrious apostle of another great world-teacher.

Srimad Bhagavad Gita is now widely recognised as a scriptural text of worldwide importance. Sri Ramanuja is one of the noted commentators on the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana and the Bhagavad Gita. This has brought him recognition as one of the greatest exponents of Vedanta from the Vaishnava point of view. Swami Adidevananda, one of the distinguished scholarly monks of the Ramakrishna Order who retained his inherent Sri Vaishnava heritage, has translated the original verses and Sri Ramanuja’s commentary into English. This book is of special importance because it is the only English translation now available with the original Sanskrit commentary as well. The book opens with meditation on the Gita followed by the Gitartha-sangraha of Sri Yamunacharya with English translation. Swami Tapasyananda, who was a scholarly monk with deep devotional temperament and one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order, has written a scholarly introduction to this work.

Saints are the great souls who have devoted their life, energy and experience for the welfare of the people. They are extraordinary human beings having great wisdom, vast experience and character worthy of imitation. They gifted everything to the world without seeking fame or any kind of gain. Welfare of the world was their sole objective. India has been blessed from time immemorial by the advent of innumerable saints. In this book you can read the stories of some of these known saints.

Jains are an ancient sect in India. Jain monks lived an austere life and traveled to preach spirituality. Stories came in handy for this purpose. Writings about travels of those times carried narratives of real or hearsay happenings at different locations