Vaikuṇṭha Gadyam — Rāmānuja's Vision of the Divine Realm
Vaikuṇṭha Gadyam ('the prose of Vaikuṇṭham'; vaikuṇṭha = Bhagavān's transcendent abode, free from obstacles and suffering) is the third of Rāmānujāchārya's three gadya-traya — a sustained prose meditation describing Śrīvaikuṇṭham in theological and devotional detail.
The gadyam opens with a description of Bhagavān as He is in Śrīvaikuṇṭham — His supreme, luminous form (divya-maṅgala-vigraha), adorned with all His divine ornaments and surrounded by Śrī (Lakṣmī), Bhūmi, and Nīlā. The text then describes the inhabitants and structure of Vaikuṇṭham:
Nitya-sūris — The eternal divine servants who have never entered saṃsāra: Ādiśeṣa (the cosmic serpent on whom Bhagavān reclines, who serves as His couch and umbrella), Garuḍa (the divine eagle, Bhagavān's vehicle), Viśvaksena (the commander of Bhagavān's divine army and the first Āchārya in the lineage). These eternal servants perform continuous sevā (divine service) with perfect knowledge and love.
Muktas — Liberated souls who have attained paramapada through prapatti or bhakti — they receive sāmya (similarity) with Bhagavān in knowledge and bliss (though not in creative power), and joyfully engage in Bhagavān's eternal sevā.
Paramānanda — The supreme bliss (ānanda) of being in Bhagavān's direct, unmediated presence — the Bhagavad-anubhava (experience of Bhagavān) that the surrendered soul aspires to. Rāmānuja describes this as the ultimate state toward which the entire trajectory of tattva knowledge, hita (means), and puruṣārtha (goal) points.
The Vaikuṇṭha Gadyam is especially recited during Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī, when the Paramapada Vāsal of the temple is opened and devotees are given darśan of Bhagavān as the Lord of Vaikuṇṭham.