[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.s2.33 # A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.33 A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.33 - **Language:** English ### [c19.s2.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.33) The philosophical and religious literature of Vaishnavism during this period as in the last comprises mostly Sanskrit works. There was very little writing in Tamil other than commentaries and sub-commentaries on the canonical hymns and a class of esoteric theological works called Rahasyas (secrets), of which it is not easy to gather an authentic account. The commentaries adopted the maṇipravāla style. Piḷḷai Lōkācārya, author of eighteen Rahasya works, and his pupil and younger brother Aḷagiya Maṇavāḷaperumāḷ Nāyanār, author of more Rahasyas and commentaries on parts of the canon, came very early in the period and belonged to the first decades of the thirteenth century. Vedānta Dēśika, an eminent divine and prolific writer in Sanskrit, was also the author of a number of Tamil works like Mummaṇik-kōvai, Navaratna-mālai, Arthapañcakam, and Aḍaikkalappattu. His son and pupil Nayinār Ācāriyār wrote a poem in praise of his father and guru in twenty verses known as Piḷḷaiyandādi, and other works of theology and polemics; both father and son were keen controversialists and travelled incessantly to hold religious disputations. Tiruvāymoḷi Piḷḷai (1307) wrote commentaries on the hymns of Periyāḷvār and on Śri-vacanabhūshaṇa, one of Piḷḷai Lōkācārya’s eighteen Rahasyas; Maṇavāḷa Mahāmuni (1370), pupil of Tiruvāymoḷi Piḷḷai, wrote commentaries on many canonical works and on the Rāmānuja-nūṟṟandādi; he is held in the highest esteem by one section of the Vaishnavas, the Tengalais (southern branch). - [Previous: c19.s2.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.32) - [Next: c19.s2.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.34) - [Up: c19.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2) ## Linked texts (2) - [தேசிக பிரபந்தம்](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sampradaya.vaisnava.srivaisnava.desika_prabandham) — Vedāntadeśika, Tamil - [Śrīvācanabhūṣaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darsana.visistadvaita.tenkalai.srivacanabhusana) — Piḷḷai Lokācārya, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1955.c19.s2.33) · Pramāṇa