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.

[5][9] Ramananda was known for composing his works and discussing spiritual themes in vernacular Hindi, stating that this makes knowledge accessible to the masses.

[3] Little is known with certainty about the life of Ramananda, including year of birth and death[5][10] The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature give dates of 1366–1467 for his lifespan.

[16]According to the medieval era Bhaktamala text by Nabhadas, Ramananda studied under Raghavananda, a guru (teacher) in Vedanta-based Vatakalai (northern, Rama-avatar) school of Vaishnavism.

Two treatises in Hindi, Gyan-lila and Yog-cintamani are also attributed to Ramananda, as are the Sanskrit works Vaishnava Matabja Bhaskara and the Ramarchana Paddhati.

[10] However, poems found in the original and well-preserved manuscripts of Sikhism and handwritten Nagari-pracarini Sabha are considered authentic and highlight the Nirguna (attributeless god) stream of thought in Ramananda.

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.

[20] The Ramananda literature that is considered authentic, states Enzo Turbiani, suggest a milestone development in metaphysical principles of the Bhakti movement.

He 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 (supreme being).

[22] His efforts, in a time when Ganges river plains of north India was under Islamic rule, helped revive and refocus Hindus to a personalized, direct devotional form of Rama worship, his liberalism and focus on the devotee's commitment rather than birth or gender set a precedent that attracted people to spirituality from various walks of life, and his use of vernacular language instead of Sanskrit for spiritual ideas made sharing and reflection easier for the masses.

He championed the pursuit of knowledge and direct devotional spirituality, and did not discriminate based on birth family, gender or religion.