History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s7.8

v3.c41.s7.8

The teachings of Rāmānuja spread in the south and in later centuries were taken to the north by his future follower Rāmānanda. "His Vaishṇavism is that of the old Pāñcharātra system combined with the Nārāyaṇa and Vishṇu elements. The most prominent name of God with him is Nārāyaṇa and the name Gopāla Kṛishṇa is conspicuous by its absence (p. 57)". Rāmānuja's system is free from the debased cult of Rādhā. He takes up no doubt the Bhakti doctrine of the Bhagavadgītā but it is reduced to the form of a continuous meditation on the Supreme Soul. He has given a Brahmanical form to the traditional doctrine of devotion wherein Śūdras are not regarded as capable of attaining highest Moksha. But in the later school of Rāmānuja from Rāmānanda, the Śūdras asserted themselves (ditto). Thus though Rāmānuja stuck to the orthodox doctrine about the sanctity of the Brahmins, his northern school gave it up and removed its objectionableness on the ground of caste, though it did not give up Varṇa altogether.