Vedānta Deśika

Vedānta Deśika (Veṅkaṭanātha), born at Thūppul near Kāñcīpuram, was the most encyclopedic Śrī Vaiṣṇava thinker after Rāmānuja — at once a rigorous philosopher, a master Sanskrit and Tamil poet, and a logician. His vast output includes the Nyāya-pariśuddhi and Tattvamuktākalāpa (epistemology and metaphysics), the Rahasyatraya-sāra (on the esoteric three mantras), the Śrīmad Rahasyatraya, and devotional poems such as the Pādukāsahasram. He defended Viśiṣṭādvaita against Advaita and other rivals and became the founding authority of the Vaḍakalai sub-tradition, which differs from the Teṉkalai school (associated with Piḷḷai Lokācārya) on the relative roles of effort and grace in salvation. His traditional dates are 1268–1369.