Appayya Dikshita

Appayya Dikshita (1520 to 1593) was a prominent South Indian philosopher and scholar associated with Advaita Vedanta and a theologian of Shaivism, remembered as a preceptor of the Advaita tradition though rooted in the Sivadvaita school, of which a 1580 inscription calls him the sole emperor. Born into a family of Shaiva scholars and poets, he enjoyed the patronage of Cinnabomma Nayaka of Vellore for nearly three decades and rivalled Tatacarya and Vijayendra Bhikshu at the Vijayanagara court. He is credited with roughly one hundred Sanskrit treatises on Shaiva and Advaita metaphysics, Mimamsa hermeneutics and poetic theory. His best known work, the Sivarkamanidipika, is a sub-commentary that integrates Shaivism with Vedanta, while the Parimala on the Kalpataru and the Siddhantalesasangraha became standard Advaita texts. His Caturmatasara compared the four major Brahma Sutra schools with respect. He is said to have died at Chidambaram aged 73.