ors, for in their use of
Tamil as the language of religion they do not follow the example of
Ramanuja. Lokacarya teaches that the grace of God is irresistible and
should be met not merely by active faith, but by self-surrender,[592]
and entire submission to the guidance of the spiritual teacher. He was
the author of eighteen works called Rahasyas or secrets[593] but
though he appears to have been the first to formulate the Tengalai
doctrines, Manavala Mahamuni (1370-1443 A.D.) is regarded by the sect
as its chief saint. His images and pictures are frequent in south
India and he wrote numerous commentaries and poems. Vedanta Desika,
the founder of the Vadagalai, was a native of Conjeevaram but spent
much of his life at Srirangam. He was a voluminous author and
composed _inter alia_ an allegorical play in ten acts, portraying the
liberation of the soul under the auspices of King Viveka
(discrimination) and Queen Sumati (Wisdom).

At the present day the two sects recognize as their respective heads
two Acaryas who are married, whereas all Smarta Acaryas are
celibates.[594] The Tengalai Acarya resides near Tinnevelly, the
Vadagalai in the district of Kurnool. They both make periodical
visitations in their districts and have considerable ecclesiastical
power. In the south Srirangam near Trichinopoly is their principal
shrine: in the north Melucote in the Seringapatam district is esteemed
very sacred.

5

It was only natural that Ramanuja's advocacy of qualified non-duality
should lead some more uncompromising spirit to affirm the doctrine of
Dvaita or duality. This step was taken by Madhva Acarya, a Kanarese
Brahman who was probably born in 1199 A.D.[595] In the previous year
the great temple of Jagannatha at Puri had been completed and the
Vishnuite movement was at its height. Madhva though educated as a
Saiva became a Vaishnava. He denied absolutely the identity of the
Supreme Being with the individual soul and held that the world is not
a modification of the Lord but that he is like a father who begets a
son. Yet in practice, rigid monotheism is not more prevalent among
Madhva's followers than in other sects. They are said to tolerate the
worship of Sivaite deities and of the lingam in their temples[596] and
their ascetics dress like Saivas.

Madhva travelled in both northern and southern India and had a
somewhat troubled life, for his doctrine, being the flat contradiction
of the Advaita, involved him in contin