A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.31

c19.s2.31

At the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century came Svarūpānanda Dēśikar and his pupil Tattuvarāyar, authors of two celebrated anthologies bearing on the philosophy of Advaita. The Śivaprakāśap-perundiraṭṭu comprising 2,824 verses is the work of the teacher; that of the pupil, called Kurundiraṭṭu, (short anthology), includes almost exactly half as many verses as the bigger work. The two anthologies together conserve much of the religious and philosophical literature of the silver age of Śaivism in the Tamil country that would otherwise have been lost. Tattuvarāyar was an ascetic, like his guru, and author of many devotional poems and songs, some of which were remarkable for the simplicity of their diction and their wide appeal to the common man; the songs in particular were of the nature of ditties and created many new models that were extensively followed by subsequent composers. Among the poems may be named Pāḍutuṟai, Ñānavinōdan Kalambakam, Mōhavadaip-paraṇi and Aññavadaip-paraṇi. Even wider in its appeal was the Tiruppugaḷ of Aruṇagiri-nātha, over 1,360 songs in various metres handled with the utmost skill and characterized by a unique lilt. The diction is highly Sanskritized and the imagery vivid; the author's wide knowledge of the sacred lore of Hinduism is evident in every song. His mention of Praudhadeva Rāya places him in the fifteenth century. His life has become the subject of many legends, but the references in the songs show that for a time he led the life of a libertine which he afterwards regretted. He accepted Muruga or Kārttikeya as the supreme deity, and in philosophy he followed the Śaiva-siddhānta system. He seems to have visited all the shrines of Muruga and been particularly attached to Paḷani which figures largely in the Tiruppugaḷ. A number of shorter devotional poems, all in praise of Muruga also are attributed to him. A certain Śivaprakāśar of Madura (1489) wrote valuable commentaries on Irupāv-irupahdu of Aruṇandi and Śivaprakāśam of Umāpati. Haridāsa was a Vaishnava poet who adorned the court of the celebrated Krishnadeva Rāya of Vijayanagar, and wrote the Irusamaya-viḷakkam, an exposition of the two systems, viz. Śaivism and Vaishnavism, with a bias towards the latter. The Śivadaru-mōttaram (1553) of Maṟaiñānasambandar, who lived in a maṭha in Chidambaram, contains over 1,200 verses in twelve sections based on the Āgamas and dealing with cosmology, with the temple and its constitution, and with theology. The same author wrote also the Śaiva-samaya-neṟi (‘the path of the Śaiva creed’), 727 small stanzas (kuṟaḷ veṇbās) on the daily religious observances of Śaivas. About the same time (1564) Śivāgrayogi alias Śivak-koḷundu Dēśikar composed an authoritative commentary on the whole of the Sittiyār, besides other works on ritualism, asceticism and other religious subjects. Another famous writer who flourished at the same time was Kamalai Ñānaprakāśar, the author of many manuals of Śaiva worship, besides the Purāṇa on Tirumaḷuvāḍi, and a kōvai on Tiruvaṇṇāmalai. Māśilāmaṇi Sambandar’s Purāṇa on Uttarakōśamangai is very important for the life-story of Māṇikka-vāśagar. Niramba Aḷagiya Dēśikar wrote Sētu-purāṇam which is popular among scholars as it uses all the rare words listed in the lexicons and is considered helpful in enriching the vocabulary of aspiring writers. He wrote also Purāṇas on Tiruppaṟangiri and Tiruvaiyāṟu, and a commentary on the Sittiyār, differing in some ways from his elder contemporary Śivāgrayogi. He had many pupils who composed several minor Purāṇas and religious works including the well-known Tiruvālūr-purāṇam (1592). Turaśai Ambalavāṇa-Dēśikar (c. 1605) was the author of many religious works like the Sittānta-śikāmaṇi, Niṭṭai-viḷakkam and Sanmārga-śittiyār, besides the Pūppiḷḷai-aṭṭavaṇai, an easy prose exposition of Śaiva philosophy said to have been composed for the edification of a loyal attendant.