Alvar (Hinduism)

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Shrine for the Alvars in a Hindu temple

The Alvars ( Tamil : ஆழ்வார் Āḻvār [ ˈaːɻʋaːr ] "those [in God] sunk") are a group of Hindu hymn poets who probably lived in Tamil Nadu , in the south of India , between the 7th and 9th centuries . Her religious poems to Vishnu are considered to be the first evidence of the Hindu piety movements, Bhakti . The poems of the Alvars represent an important basis of the Sri Vaishnavas and have been learned, interpreted and recited daily in many Sri Vaishnava temples by them for centuries.

Chronological order

In academic literature, the Alvars are classified in the 7th to 9th centuries. The first classification in this period can be found in Hooper (1929). In the specialist literature there are no references to papers that contain an explicit derivation of the period. It may be that the references to Shiva worshipers in the verses of the Alvars are interpreted as references to the Nayanmars , which would make the Alvars their contemporaries. In addition, many Vishnu temples were built in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries (e.g. the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam ), which can be interpreted as a consequence of a wave of Vishu worship to which the Alvars plausibly belonged.

Within the Sri Vaishnava tradition, the Alvars are mostly located in the beginning of the early Kali Yuga and arguments of the academic literature are questioned.

The twelve Alvars

  • Poigai Alvar (7th century) was found as a foundling by a pond near a Vishnu temple.
  • Bhudattalvar (7th century), little is known about him.
  • Pey Alvar (7th century), according to legend, he was also found in a pond. Poigai, Bhudat and Pey are collectively known as Mudhal (= early) Alvars.
  • According to legend, Tirumalishai Alvar (early 8th century) lived a very long time and studied in depth all the spiritual traditions of the Indian subcontinent.
  • Nammalvar (around 800) is considered the largest Alvar. He lived only 32 years, many of them lost in meditation in a tree.
  • Madhurakavi was a student of Nammalvar.
  • Kulashekara was a king of Travancore in Kerala who renounced the throne in order to seek God.
  • Periyalvar (also Vishnucitta) was a brahmin and was able to convert the king of Pandya with his songs.
  • Andal was the Alvar's only wife and Periyalvar's adopted daughter.
  • Tondaradippodi was a sinner who obtained salvation through the grace of Vishnu.
  • Tiruppan Alvar was untouchable. At Vishnu's command, the highest priest carried him into the temple.
  • Tirumangai Alvar was a robber who found religion through his wife and built a temple out of the looted property .

Work of the Alvar

The Alvars lived in a time of religious upheaval. During the time of classical Hinduism, the idea developed that man's karma did not depend on sacrifice alone, but could rather be influenced by meditative equanimity and the fulfillment of duty. In the extreme case, the gods were thereby repressed or meaningless, since they themselves exhibited karma and were subject to the wheel of rebirth.

In the 8th century first demonstrable ideas supplement this with the concept that one can not only be redeemed through one's own effort, but also through devotion and the grace of the divine in the form of Vishnu or Shiva . The way of devotion is seen as superior to the other ways, especially meditation (i.e. yoga according to Patanjali) and knowledge , since it has no prerequisites on the part of the aspirant. As part of the refinement of philosophy through the Sri Vaishnava tradition, Bhakti and Prapatti were also delimited. Here it is said that bhakti, the loving devotion to Vishnu or one of his avatars , is in fact a way to liberation. It is objected, however, that this path u. Can last several lives. Prapatti, on the other hand, is directly and immediately effective, the poems of the Alvars basically all speak about Prapatti, not Bhakti.

In Orthodox Hinduism, prayers and texts were written in Sanskrit and were therefore only understandable to a few outside the top castes . The Alvars, on the other hand, used their local language, Tamil , so their poems were understandable for everyone at the time and can still be understood relatively well by Tamil speakers today.

In total, the Alvars wrote about 4000 verses. There are no reliable sources for the reception of the verses at the time of the Alvars. Legend has it of some Alvars that they lived in seclusion like sadhus , while others probably recited their compositions in public. Legend has it that her poems were largely forgotten in the middle / end of the 9th century and were recovered by the sage Nathamuni. Due to the teaching activities of Nathamuni, his successors and students, the poems of the Alvars quickly became very popular again and formed the basis of the Sri Vaishnava tradition, which is still spread in southern India today.

The form of the Alvars' poems available today is called Divya Prabandham (Divine Poetry) and was essentially edited by Nathamuni. He divides the Divya Prabhandam into four blocks of around 1000 verses each. Nathamuni also set the poems to music so that they are often sung.

literature

  • SM Chari: Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Ālvars. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1997
  • Norman Cutler: Poet, God, and Audience in the Poetry of the Tamil Saints. In: Journal of South Asian Literature , Vol. 19, No. 2, (The Lyric in India) Summer – Fall 1984, pp. 63–78
  • Raju Kalidos: Dance of Viṣṇu: The Spectacle of Tamil Āḻvārs. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 9, No. 2, Cambridge University Press, July 1999, pp. 223-250

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vasudha Narayanan: The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual . University of South Carolina Press, 1994.
  2. ↑ HYDERABAD SCL, HYDERABAD PAR INFORMATICS: HYMNS OF THE ALVARS . ASSOCIATION PRESS, 1929 ( archive.org [accessed June 24, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Our tradition . In: Kōyil Germany . May 24, 2018 ( koyil.de [accessed June 24, 2018]).
  4. ↑ mudhalAzhwArgaL . In: SrIvaishNava guruparamparai . October 22, 2012 ( wordpress.com [accessed June 24, 2018]).
  5. ↑ thirumazhisai AzhwAr . In: SrIvaishNava guruparamparai . January 16, 2013 ( wordpress.com [accessed June 24, 2018]).
  6. ↑ nammAzhwAr . In: SrIvaishNava guruparamparai . August 18, 2012 ( wordpress.com [accessed June 24, 2018]).
  7. ↑ SM Srinivasa Chari: Vaiṣṇavism: Its Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Discipline . 1st edition. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Deli 2005.
  8. ^ R. Raghunathan: Acharyas and Alwars: Nathamunigal. In: Acharyas and Alwars. February 2, 2007, accessed June 24, 2018 .