Vedanta Desika

Vedanta Desika (about 1269 to 1370) was an Indian polymath, Sri Vaishnava guru and philosopher who wrote philosophical, religious and poetical works in Sanskrit, Manipravalam, Tamil and Prakrit. Born in present-day Tamil Nadu in a city called Tuppul, he studied under his maternal uncle Atreya Ramanuja until he was 20. He significantly shaped Vishishtadvaita Vedanta by integrating the insights of Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa, solidified and expanded the teachings of Ramanuja, and made prapatti, complete surrender to God, an independent path to liberation. More than 100 works in Sanskrit and Manipravalam are attributed to him, among them the Tattvamuktakalapa and the Tatparyacandrika, and he is revered as the most important guru of the Vadakalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism.