Pillai Lokacharya
Pillai Lokacharya founded the Tengalai
sect of Vaishnavism which holds that the grace of God is spontaneous and,
therefore, the main path to salvation is Prapatti or Saranagati,
which mean total surrender, a prayerful approach to the Lord, believing
in Him as the ultimate refuge and also further believing that there is no
other means to salvation. It holds that the Mantra "Om Namo Narayanaya"
can be taught to people of all castes.