Appayya Dikshita

Appayya Dikshita (IAST Appayya Dīkṣita, often "Dikshitar"), 1520–1593 CE, was a performer of yajñas as well as an expositor and practitioner of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy but however, with a focus on Shiva or Siva Advaita.

Appayya Dikshitar was born as Vinayaga Subramanian in Adayapalam, near Arani in the Tiruvannamalai district, in the Krishna Paksha of the Kanya month of Pramateecha Varsha under the Uttara Proushthapada constellation of the Hindu calendar. His father’s name was Rangarajudhwari. 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 under his Guru, Rama Kavi. He completed the fourteen Vidyas while he was quite young.

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 life-time by kings of Vellore, Tanjore, Vijayanagara and Venkatagiri.

Dikshitar threw himself heart and soul into this mission for several years and often had to face grave personal danger, which he did with courage and faith. He preached, organised and wrote incessantly, enlisting the cooperation of several enlightened monarchs. He undertook frequent travels and challenged his adversaries to open disputation, as was the custom of those days. He brought to bear on his widespread activities, his resourceful personality and created an atmosphere of tolerance and goodwill, in the place of the prevailing antipathies and narrow-mindedness. He remained victorious throughout all the debates and established Shaivism as the prime vedic system followed by Vishnu himself. Vishnu's role acts as Shiva's foremost devotee, or Shiva's right hand man. He proved it with irrefutable acts and logic as per vedas. He made many kings stern shaivites. Once when he entered Tirupati Balaji, the idol of Tirupati changed his form and became Shiva. Vaisnavas prayed to him, to let Tirupati be as he is and thus welcomed him to have darshan of Tirupati balaji.

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