RAS question
Ramanuja's philosophy is known as:
Correct answer: (B) Vishishtadvaita (Qualified Non-dualism).
Ramanuja's philosophy is known as Vishishtadvaita, or qualified non-dualism.
Explanation
Ramanuja propounded Vishishtadvaita, usually translated as qualified non-dualism. The point is not simple dualism and not Shankara's unqualified Advaita: Brahman is real, but individual souls and matter are also real and qualify Brahman. Britannica explains this through Ramanuja's doctrine that matter, soul and God have an ultimate non-duality, yet God is modified or qualified by matter and soul. In Ramanuja's body analogy, souls and matter exist as the body of Brahman. This also explains why devotion matters in his system. Salvation is linked to bhakti towards Vishnu, so the philosophy gives devotional worship a firm Vedantic basis rather than treating it as separate from philosophy.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Dvaita means dualism, whereas Ramanuja's system accepts non-duality qualified by real souls and matter rather than a strict separation.
- (C) Advaita is unqualified non-dualism associated in this contrast with Shankara, while Ramanuja's doctrine is specifically qualified non-dualism.
- (D) Shuddhadvaita means pure non-dualism, but the defining feature of Ramanuja's view is that Brahman is qualified by real soul and matter.
Concept
This tests medieval Indian religious thought, especially the Vedanta schools linked with bhakti. RAS repeats this area because one-word philosophy labels such as Advaita, Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita are easy to confuse but central to Bhakti-era intellectual history.