________________
66 The Artārs
[CH. of Vişnu at Kāñcī, refers to Vairamegha Pallava, who probably flourished in the ninth century. It may therefore be supposed that Tiru-mangaiy lived about that time. According to Mr S. K. Aiyangar the last of the Arvārs flourished in the earlier half of the eighth century A.D.1 Sir R. G. Bhandarkar holds that Kulaśēkhara Peru-māl flourished about the middle of the twelfth century. He was a king of Travancore and in his Mukunda-mālā he quotes a verse from the Bhāgavata-purāņa (XI. 2. 36). On the basis of the inscriptional evidence that Permādi of the Senda dynasty, who flourished between 1138-1150, conquered Kulasekharānka, and identifying Kula-śēkhara Peru-māl with Kulasekharānka, Bhandarkar comes to the conclusion that Kula-śēkhara Peru-māļ lived in the middle of the twelfth century A.D., though, as we have already seen, Mr Rāu attempts to place him in the first half of the ninth century. He, however, does not take any notice of the views of Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, who further thinks that the earliest Arvārs flourished about the fifth or the sixth century A.D. and that the order of the priority of the Arvārs as found in the Guruparamparā lists is not reliable. One of the main points of criticism used by Aiyangar against Bhandarkar is the latter's identification of Kula-śēkhara Peru-māl with Kula-sekharānka. The works of the Arvārs were written in Tamil, and those that survive were collected in their present form in Rāmānuja's time or in the time of Nāthamuni; this collection, containing 4000 hymns, is called Nāl-āyiradivya-prabandham. But at least one part of it was composed by Kuruttalvan or Kuruttama, who was a prominent disciple of Rāmānuja, and in a passage thereof a reference is made to Rāmānuja also?. The order of the Arvārs given in this work is somewhat different from that given in the Guru-paramparā referred to above, and it does not contain the name of Nāmm'-ārvār, who is treated separately. Again, Pillān, the disciple and apostolic successor of Rāmānuja, who commented on the Tiru-vāy-mori of Nāmm’ārvār, gives in a verse all the names of the Arvārs, omitting only
Indian Antiquary', Vol. xxxv, pp. 228, etc. 2 This part is called Rāmānuja-nurrundādi. The order of the Arvārs given here is as follows: Poygaiy-ārvār, Bhūtatt'-ārvār, Pey-ārvār, Tiru-pan-ärvār, Tirumarisai Piran, Tondar-adi-podiy-ārvār, kula-sekhara, Periy-ārvār, Andā!, Tiru-mangaiy-ārvār. Venkatanātha, however, in his Prabandha-sāram records the Arvārs in the following order: Poygaiy-ārvăr, Bhūtatt'-ārvār, Pey-ārvār, Tiru-marişai Pirān, Nāmm'-ārvār, Madhura-kaviy-ārvār, Kula-śēkhara, Periyārvăr, Andal, Tondar-adi-podiy-ārvār, Tiru-pān-ārvār, Tiru-mangaiy-ārvār.
