Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect c8.61

c8.61

In the opinion of several scholars this Bhakti Religion was of foreign origin, and was preached in India for the first time by Rāmānuja. "There has been considerable mis-impression," says S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar³ "that the Vaishṇava movement originated in Rāmānuja....On the basis of this mis-impression, theories have been built up time and again that the characteristic features of the special teachings of Rāmānuja have been borrowed from Christianity." Dr. Keith observes:⁴ "The first great theistic movement of India is that of Rāmānuja...........But precisely at this point we are met with the fact that Christian religious influences are possible and even probable."