Sri Vedanta Desikan

  • Vice President released a postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan.
  • Shri Vedanta Desikan is one of the most prominent preceptors in the Sri Vaishnava tradition and one of the most effulgent luminaries of South India.
  • He followed the philosophy of Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita.
    • VishishtAdvaita literally means Advaita with uniqueness; qualifications, it is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy.
    • It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity. It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism.
    • It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which belief in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity.
  • He was celebrated as ‘sarva-tantra-svatantra’ master of all arts and crafts; awarded the title ‘kavi tarkika-kesari’ the lion amongst poets and logicians; and glorified as ‘ramanuja-daya-patram’ the recipient of Ramanuja’s blessings.
  • He had authored brilliant poems, prose, drama, epics, commentaries, scientific texts and philosophical treatises in Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit and Manipravalam.
  • Much more than a spiritual teacher, he was a multi-faceted personality-- a scientist, a logician, a mathematician, a literary genius, a linguist, a military strategist and much more.
  • His philosophy was based on inclusion, where anyone irrespective of caste and creed could join the Sri Vaishnava fold.
  • He mastered the Vedas, the Vedangas, the 4000 Divya Prabhanda(collection of 4,000 Tamil verses) and all the existing schools of Indian philosophy such as Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, Yoga and Sankhya by the age of twenty.
  • He also expressed his genius in the field of arts and sciences through other works such as:
    • Aahaara Niyamam that detailed how different food items help in maintaining a healthy mind and a disease-free life.
    • Subhashita Neevi contains a fund of moral and ethical advice which is relevant and practical.
    • Silpartha-saram-a treatise on sculpture.
    • Bhugola-nirnayam-a research text on geography.