Ramanuja in the context of "Dvaita Vedanta"

Pancharatra (IAST: Pāñcarātra) was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatar and forms of Vishnu as their central deities. The movement later merged with the ancient Bhagavata tradition and contributed to the development of Vaishnavism. The Pancharatra movement created numerous literary treatises in Sanskrit called the Pancharatra Samhitas, and these have been influential Agamic texts within the theistic Vaishnava movements.

Literally meaning five nights (pañca: five, rātra: nights), the term Pancharatra has been variously interpreted. The term has been attributed to a sage Narayana who performed a sacrifice for five nights and became a transcendent being and one with all beings. The Pancharatra Agamas constitute some of the most important texts of many Vaishnava philosophies including the Madhva Sampradaya or Brahma Sampradaya of Madhvacharya and the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya of Ramanuja. The Pancharatra Agamas are composed of more than 200 texts; likely composed between 600 CE to 850 CE.

Svabhava (Sanskrit: स्वभाव, svabhāva; Pali: सभाव, sabhāva; Chinese: 自性; pinyin: zìxìng; Vietnamese: Tự tính; Tibetan: རང་བཞིན, Wylie: rang-bzhin) literally means "own-being" or "own-becoming". It is the intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence of beings.

The concept and term svabhāva are frequently encountered in Hindu and Buddhist traditions such as Advaita Vedanta (e.g. in the Avadhūta Gītā), Mahāyāna Buddhism (e.g. in the Ratnagotravibhāga), Vaishnavism (e.g., the writings of Ramanuja) and Dzogchen (e.g. in the seventeen tantras).

Vaikuntha (Sanskrit: वैकुण्ठ, romanized: Vaikuṇṭha, lit. 'without anxiety / imperfections'), also called Vishnuloka (Viṣṇuloka), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, and his consort, Lakshmi, the supreme goddess of the sect.

According to Ramanuja, Vaikuntha is the Parama Padam or Nitya Vibhuti, an "eternal heavenly realm", and is the "divine imperishable world that is God's abode". In Vaishnava literature, Vaikuntha is described as the highest realm above the fourteen lokas (worlds), and the place where the devotees of Vishnu go upon achieving liberation. It is guarded by the twin deities, Jaya and Vijaya, the dvarapalakas, or gatekeepers of Vaikuntha. The army of Vishnu, stationed at Vaikuntha, is led by Vishvaksena. The planets of Vaikuntha are described as being full of golden palaces and hanging gardens that grow fragrant fruits and flowers.

Jagadguru Swami Ramananda (IAST: Rāmānanda) or Ramanandacharya was an Indian 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, the largest monastic Hindu renunciant community in modern times.

Born in a Kanyakubja Brahmin family, Ramananda for the most part of his life lived in the holy city of Varanasi. His date of birth is December 30, while his date of death is uncertain, but historical evidence suggests he was one of the earliest saints and a pioneering figure of the Bhakti movement as it rapidly grew in North India, sometime between the 14th and mid-15th century during its Islamic rule period. Tradition asserts that Ramananda developed his philosophy and devotional themes inspired by the south Indian Vedanta philosopher Ramanuja, however, evidence also suggests that Ramananda was influenced by Nathpanthi ascetics of the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy.

Meykandar (Tamil: மெய்கண்டார், Meykaṇṭār, lit. the truth seer), also known as Meykanda Devar, was a 13th-century philosopher and theologian who contributed to the Shaiva Siddhanta school of Shaivism. His literary work known as Śiva Jñāna Bodham (in Tamil) on Shaiva Siddhanta has enjoyed great vogue and prestige among Tamils comparable to other works of Hindu philosophy from the Advaita of Adi Shankara and Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja.

Sri Vaishnavism (Sanskrit: श्रीवैष्णवसम्प्रदाय, romanized: Śrīvaiṣṇavasampradāya) is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, predominantly practiced in South India. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who are together revered in this tradition.

The tradition traces its roots to the ancient Vedas and Pancharatra texts, popularised by the Alvars and their canon, the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The founding of Sri Vaishnavism is traditionally attributed to Nathamuni of the 10th century CE; its central philosopher has been Ramanuja of the 11th century, who developed the Vishishtadvaita ("qualified non-dualism") Vedanta sub-school of Hindu philosophy. The tradition split into two denominations around the 16th century. The Vadakalai or uttarakalārya sect emphasize the Vedas and follow the doctrine of Vedanta Desika, whereas the Tenkalai or dakṣiṇakalārya sect emphasize the Naalayira Divya Prabandham follow the principles of Manavala Mamunigal. The Telugu Brahmins of the Sri Vaishnava tradition form a single distinct sect called the Andhra Vaishnavas, and are not divided into the Vadakalai and Tenkalai denominations, unlike the Tamil Iyengars.