Vedānta Deśika

Vedānta Deśika, born Veṅkaṭanātha near Kāñcīpuram, is the most important Viśiṣṭādvaita thinker after Rāmānuja and one of the most prolific writers in the history of Indian philosophy. Tradition dates his life from 1268 to 1369. He wrote in Sanskrit, in Tamil and in maṇipravāḷa, the mixed Sanskrit and Tamil prose of the Śrī Vaiṣṇava commentators, and was honoured with the title “lion among poets and logicians”.

His philosophical works include the Śatadūṣaṇī, a series of refutations of Advaita; the Tattvamuktākalāpa, a verse summary of Viśiṣṭādvaita metaphysics with his own commentary; and many commentaries on Rāmānuja’s works. His Rahasyatrayasāra expounds the three sacred mantras of the tradition and the doctrine of surrender to the Lord. He also wrote devotional poetry, including the Pādukāsahasra, a thousand verses on the sandals of the god Raṅganātha.

Deśika lived through the raids on South India in the early fourteenth century, and tradition credits him with protecting the community and its manuscripts at Śrīraṅgam. The northern school of Śrī Vaiṣṇavism, the Vaḍakalai, regards him as its founding teacher; the southern school, the Teṉkalai, follows Piḷḷai Lokācārya, and the two differ on the role of human effort in surrender to the Lord’s grace.