[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955) › c19.s2.11 # A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.11 A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.11 - **Language:** English ### [c19.s2.11.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.11.1) Side by side with the Śaiva nāyaṉārs, the Vaishnava āḻvārs also laboured along the same lines for the revival of Hinduism, and their devotional songs constitute in their final redaction the ‘Four Thousand Sacred Hymns’—\*Nālāyira Divyaprabandham\*. The three earliest āḻvārs were Poygai, Pūdam, and Pēy, and later literary tradition avers that Pūdam was the contemporary of Karaikkāl Ammai. These saints are each represented by one \*andādi\* of one hundred \*veṇbās\*, remarkable for their non-sectarian outlook and for the purity and gentleness of their devotion. Then came Tirumaliśai, a contemporary of Mahendravarman I, in whose works, the \*Nānmugantiruvandādi\* and \*Tiruccandaviruttam\*, a somewhat more controversial tone can be traced than in the writings of the first three āḻvārs. He is reputed to have tried both Jainism and Buddhism before turning Vaishnava yogi, and this explains the state of religion in his day and the tone of his poems. Tirumangai (eighth century) was a much more voluminous writer and a keen controversialist. His poems constitute about a third of the entire collection in volume, and ensure him a high place both as poet and devotee. In its literary quality and in sentiment his work has many resemblances with that of Sambandar. He has many flings at Jains and Buddhists, and some even against Śaivas. Periyāḻvār and his daughter Āṇḍāḷ contribute nearly 650 verses to the collection between them. ### [c19.s2.11.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.11.2) The daughter claimed that the Lord of Śrīrangam was her lover, and her poems are suffused by her passionate longing for companionship with the Lord; she is reputed to have been accepted as his bride, and her poems, with her father's are placed first in the canon. The cycle of Krishna stories is most effectively used to rouse the devotion of the hearer, and to a Hindu the repeated allusions to the tales in different settings constitute not the least attractive feature of her work. The hymn of Āṇḍāḷ which starts with the words vāraṇam-āyiram (' one thousand elephants '), telling of her dream-marriage with Vishnu, is sung at all Vaishnava Brahmin marriages to this day. Tiruppāṇ and Toṇḍar-aḍip-poḍi may be placed next; the former has only one hymn while the latter has two, Tirumālai and Tiruppaḷḷiyeḻucci, to his credit. The last-named presupposes the existence of the order of worship in temples as the offering of royal honour, rājopacāra, to the deity; it is a song meant to rouse the god from his sleep at break of day. Tirumangai, Toṇḍar-aḍip-poḍi and Kulaśekhara are said to have been contemporaries, but we may well doubt this. Kulaśekhara calls himself king of Kongar, Kūḍal and Kōḷi in his poems. He was the author of a notable devotional poem in Sanskrit, Mukundamālā, besides the 105 Tamil verses forming the Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi in the Tamil canon of the Vaishnavas. The Veḷḷāla saint Nammāḻvār, also called Śaṭhakōpa, and his Brahmin pupil Madhurakavi were the latest of the āḻvārs. ### [c19.s2.11.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.11.3) Nammāḻvār's work is held in the highest respect as it is believed to embody the deepest philosophical truths taught by the Upanishads. The 1,101 stanzas comprising the Tiruvāymoḻi hold the place of honour and have been most elaborately commented on by later expositors of the Viśishtādvaita system of philosophy. The Tiruvāśiriyam, Tiruviruttam and Tiruvandādi are other works comprising together less than 200 stanzas. They relate to the deities of some thirty shrines, of which all but six are found in the Pāndya and Chera countries. Nammāḻvār was a yogi, and his Tiruvāymoḻi is replete with a convincing narration of his mystical experiences. Like the other \*ālvārs\*, he delights in the contemplation of the \*avatārs\* of Vishnu and their achievements, and his handling of themes from the lives of Rāma and Krishna has found expression in some very charming child poetry. Not only as philosopher and mystic, but even as a pure literary artist, Nammālvār takes a very high rank. Nāthamuni, the first of the \*ācāryas\* of the next epoch, is said to have been his pupil and received from him the entire canon of 4,000 hymns. The other pupil, Madhurakavi, himself an \*ālvār\*, wrote only one hymn in praise of his guru. It is quite probable that the last two \*ālvārs\* lived for many years after 850, the limit of our second period. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.11) · Pramāṇa