Q. He was born in Tamil Nadu and is the most respected Acharya in the philosophy of Sri Vaishnavism. He is famous as the chief proponent of the Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedanta and wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya. 
Which of the following personalities is being described in the passage given above?

Explanation by: Indresh Gehalot

• What is the Statue of Equality? 
o The world’s second tallest statue in a sitting position is made up of ‘panchaloha’, meaning a combination of five metals i.e. gold, copper, silver, brass, and zinc. The inner sanctum deity of Sri Ramanujacharya is built of 120 kilos of gold. This commemorates the 120 years the saint spent on earth. 

• About Sri Ramanujacharya: 
o Born in 1017 CE in Tamil Nadu. 
o He is the most respected Acharya in the philosophy of Sri Vaishnavism. 
o He was also referred to as Ilaya Perumal which means the radiant one. 
o His philosophical foundations for devotionals were influential to the Bhakti movement. 
o He is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta. 
o He wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer. 

• What is Vishishtadvaita? 
o It is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy. It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity.
o It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism. 
o It is a school of Vedanta philosophy that believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity.