A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c20.21

c20.21

The Śaiva canon, in which these hymns also found a place, was arranged in the first instance in the reign of Rājarāja I by Nambi Āṇḍār Nambi and continuously added to till about the middle of the twelfth century. The Vaishnava canon, on the other hand, received its definitive shape at the hands of Nāthamuni. In his works he expressed the clear need he felt for the support and guidance of a living God, and pointed the way to a philosophical justification of the path of love. His grandson Āḷavandār, also called Yāmunācārya in memory of his visits to the sacred spots of Krishna's youth, was the next great name in the succession of Vaishnava ācāryas of the period. In his early years he was a man of the world, but a follower of Nāthamuni called him to the higher life. He then turned ascetic and led the life of a religious teacher, gathering disciples round him and preaching, writing and conducting debates. In his writings, often cited by Rāmānuja, he sought to establish the real existence of the supreme soul, and the eternal independence of the individual soul’.