The Tengalai is one
of the two primary subsects of the Shrivaishnava religious group.
The Shri vaishnavas are worshippers of the deity Vishnu
(bhakta), and their origins may be traced back to the Alvars, a group of twelve
poet-saints who lived in southern India during the seventh and tenth centuries
and wrote devotional poems.
The Alvars' religious outpouring was structured and
systematized by the philosopher Ramanuja (11th century), who is regarded as the
Shrivaishnava founder, two centuries later.
Ramanuja believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a
personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most
significant kind of religious activity was devotion (bhakti).
His philosophical position, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta,
emphasized both of these convictions, and thus stood in opposition to the
Advaita Vedanta school, which was founded by the philosopher Shankaracharya and
believed that the Supreme Being was impersonal and that realization (jnana) was
the best spiritual path.
The Tengalais and Vadagalais parted many centuries later due
to opposing perspectives on what a person must accomplish to achieve ultimate
soul release (moksha).
The Vadagalais emphasize not just God's redemptive power,
but also that the person must react to that grace and take an active part in
his or her own salvation.
The Tengalais, on the other hand, stress the requirement for
total submission (prapatti) to God's favor, by which devotees are rescued
without having to do anything.
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