1. Tradition asserts that Ramananda developed his philosophy and devotional themes inspired by the south Indian Vedanta philosopher Ramanuja evidence suggests that Ramananda was influenced by Nathpanthi ascetics of the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy.
An early social reformer, Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste.
Ramananda's verse is mentioned in the Sikh holy scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
Ramananda was known for composing his works and discussing spiritual themes in vernacular Hindi, stating that this makes knowledge accessible to the masses.
Ramananda's biography has been derived from mentions of him in secondary literature and inconsistent hagiographies.
The most accepted version holds that Ramananda was born in a Kanyakubja Brahmin family, about mid 14th-century, and died about mid 15th-century.
Ramananda is credited as the author of many devotional poems, but like most Bhakti movement poets, whether he actually was the author of these poems is unclear.
Ramananda developed his philosophy and devotional themes inspired by the south Indian Vedanta philosopher Ramanuja evidence suggests that Ramananda was influenced by Nathpanthi ascetics of the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy.
Antonio Rigopoulos states Ramananda's teachings were "an attempt towards a synthesis between Advaita Vedanta and Vaishnava bhakti".
Shastri suggests his theory offers an explanation why Ramananda's disciples co-developed saguna and nirguna as the two parallel currents in the Bhakti movement.
Ramananda asserts that austerity and penances through asceticism are meaningless, if an individual does not realize Hari as their inner self.
Ramananda criticizes fasting and rituals, stating that the mechanics are not important, and that these are useless if the individual does not take the opportunity to reflect and introspect on the nature of Brahman.
Ramananda is often honored as the founder of Sant-parampara in north India.
Fourteen influential disciples of Ramananda included 12 men and 2 women poet-sants.
Ramananda is the founder of the eponymous Ramanandi Sampraday.
Ramananda championed the pursuit of knowledge and direct devotional spirituality, and did not discriminate based on birth family, gender or religion.
One poem of Ramananda, originally written in Hindi, is a response to an invitation to go to a temple, and the answer states there is no need to visit a temple because God is within a person, all pervasive in everything and everyone.