Appayya Dikshita (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

'), 1520–1593 CE, was a performer of yajñas as well as an expositor and practitioner of the Advaita Vedanta school of

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...

but with a focus on

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

or Shiva Advaita.

Life

Appayya Dikshitar was born as Vinayaka Subramanian in Adayapalam, near Arani in the

Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city and the administrative headquarters of Tiruvannamalai District in the Indian state of ...

district, in the Krishna Paksha of the Kanya month of Pramateecha Varsha under the Uttara Proushthapada constellation of the

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, also called Panchangam, Panchanga (), is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes ...

. His father’s name was Rangarajadhwari. Appaya had the name Vinayaka Subramanya after the Namakarana or naming ceremony took place. Acharya Dikshitar or Acchan Dikshitar was the younger brother of Appayya. Appayya studied the

Hindu scriptures Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars ...

under his

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

, Rama Kavi. He completed the fourteen Vidyas at his young age. Dikshitar travelled widely, entering into philosophical disputations and controversies in many centers of learning. He had the rare good fortune of being revered and patronized in his own lifetime by kings of

Vellore Vellore ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...

Tanjore Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore,#Pletcher, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian c ...

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

, and
Venkatagiri Venkatagiri is a town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and mandals headquarters of Venkatagiri mandal. Venkatagiri's old name is "Kali Mili". It is notable for its Handloom Cotton Sarees. It was p ...
.

Works
He was well-read in every branch of
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
learning and wrote as many works, large and small. Only 60 of them are, however, extant now. These include works on
Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') traditions of Hindu philosophy and textual exegesis. The word ''Vedanta'' means 'conclusion of the Vedas', and encompa ...
, Shiva Advaita, Mimamsa, Vyakarana, Kavya vyakhyana, Alankara, and devotional poetry. He was a member of the Advaita school and a devotee of
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
. Though the followers of the Shiva Advaita school claim him as belonging to their school, it is not so easy to determine whether he was more inclined to Shiva Advaita or Advaita. Shiva Advaita is very much akin to
Vishishtadvaita Vishishtadvaita (IAST '; ) is a school of Hindu philosophy belonging to the Vedanta tradition. Vedanta refers to the profound interpretation of the Vedas based on Prasthanatrayi. Vishishta Advaita, meaning "non-duality with distinctions", is a ...
of Ramanuja, except for the role of
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
being taken by Shiva. Dikshitar wrote the ''Chatur-mata-sara'' to illustrate the philosophical thoughts of the four prominent schools of interpretation of ''Brahma sutras''. The ''Naya-manjari'' deals with Advaita, the ''Naya-mani-mala'' with ''Srikanta mata'', the ''Naya-mayukha-malika'' with
Ramanuja Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...
's philosophy, and the ''Naya-muktavali'' with
Madhva Madhvacharya (; ; 1199–1278 CE or 1238–1317 CE), also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the ''Dvaita'' (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy ...
's philosophy. He wrote a commentary on
Vedanta Desika Vedanta Desika (1268–1369), also rendered Vedanta Desikan, Swami Vedanta Desika, and Thoopul Nigamantha Desikan, was an Indian polymath who wrote philosophical as well as religious and poetical works in several languages, including Sanskrit ...
's
Yadavabhyudaya The ''Yadavabhyudaya'' () is a Sanskrit ''mahakavya'' (epic poem) by the Hindu philosopher Vedanta Desika. Written in the fourteenth century CE, the work consists of 24 cantos that describe the life of Krishna as well as the lineage of the Yadava ...
.

References

Sources
Special issue of ''
Journal of Indian Philosophy A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...
'' (March 2016, edited by
Christopher Minkowski Christopher Zand Minkowski (; born 13 May 1953) is an American academic, who was Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 2005 to 2023. Education and early career Minkowski was educated at Gilman School before studying English ...
): * * * * * * * Other (scholarly journal articles): * * Still other: *N. Ramesan, ''Sri Appayya Dikshita'' (1972; Srimad Appayya Dikshitendra Granthavaliu Prakashana Samithi, Hyderabad, India) * https://web.archive.org/web/20070111220640/http://www.shaivam.org/adappayya_works.htm

External links

Swami Sivananda on Appayya Dikshitar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dikshitar, Appayya 1520 births 1593 deaths 16th-century Hindu religious leaders Advaitin philosophers Indian Hindus People from Tiruvannamalai district 16th-century Indian philosophers Scholars from Tamil Nadu Scholars from the Vijayanagara Empire