The Śarīra-Śarīrī Relation
The concept of śarīra (body) and śarīrī (the one who has a body, the self/soul) is the foundational relational concept of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta. Rāmānuja defined a body as: that which an intelligent being completely controls, supports, and uses as its mode of self-expression, while being its inner self.
This definition allows Rāmānuja to say:
- All jīvas (souls) are the body of Brahman — Brahman is the śarīrī (the self of all souls)
- All of prakṛti (matter) is the body of Brahman — the material universe is Brahman's cosmic body
- Together: the entire universe (cit + acit) constitutes Brahman's body
The Upaniṣadic Basis
Rāmānuja derives this from the Antaryāmī Brāhmaṇa of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which declares: yaḥ pṛthivyāṃ tiṣṭhan pṛthivyā antaro yaṃ pṛthivī na veda yasya pṛthivī śarīraṃ — "He who dwells in the earth, yet is other than the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth is" — this is the Lord.
This passage is repeated for water, fire, sky, wind, mind, intellect, and finally for the ātman itself — revealing that Brahman is the antaryāmī (inner self) of even the individual ātman, whose śarīra the ātman is.
Practical Implication
If all things are Brahman's body, then worshipping Brahman through his body (the world, the arcā form, the devotees, nature) is legitimate. It also means the world is not māyā (illusion) but a real expression of the Lord — to be treated with reverence.