Svīkāram (from svi — one's own; kāra — the act of making) signifies acceptance or appropriation. In Śrī Vaiṣṇava theology, the term carries a precise and profound application: it refers to Bhagavān's act of receiving and claiming the soul that has performed prapatti as entirely His own. The surrendered soul is no longer an unclaimed wanderer in saṃsāra; it has been svīkṛta — accepted, taken up, owned — by the Lord Himself.
A celebrated theological debate surrounds the question of whose initiative constitutes the svīkāram. This is expressed through the contrast between svagata svīkāra and paragata svīkāra. In svagata svīkāra — "acceptance arising from the Lord's own side" — the emphasis is that Bhagavān's grace and initiative are primary: the Lord Himself reaches out and accepts the soul, just as a mother cat lifts her kitten (mārjāla-nyāya). In paragata svīkāra — "acceptance arising from the other side" — the soul's own act of surrender is seen as the initiating step, as with a baby monkey that grasps its mother (markaṭa-nyāya).
The Tenkalai school, following Śrī Pillai Lokācārya and Śrī Maṇavāḷa Māmunigaḷ, firmly upholds svagata svīkāra: Bhagavān's grace is so sovereign and unconditional that even the soul's act of surrender is itself made possible only by His prior prompting. This profound teaching safeguards the absolute priority of Bhagavān's will and compassion (kāruṇya) in the entire process of liberation, ensuring that no seed of self-congratulation can attach itself to the prapanna's own act.