Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 35
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 250
________________ 228 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [AUGUST, 1906. TIRUMANGAI ALVAR AND HIS DATE. BY S. KRISHNASWAMI AIYANGAR, M.A., M.R.A.S.; BANGALORE, PARADOXICAL as it may seem, it is neverčbeless the fact that, although a great deal has been written concerning the Vaishnava Saints and devotees, their history has yet to be written. There has, unfortunately, been too great a tendency in the writers, great and small, to refer them to periods, more as it suited their preconceived notions as to the recent origin of Vaishnavism in general, than on any dispassionate examination of such evidence, imperfect in its nature of course, as is available. It would not be going over quite a beaten track to bring together here such historical information as has been brought to light, setting aside the extreme Saiva arguments of Tirumalaikkoļuodu Pillai and his school on the one side and the ardent Vaishnava view of A. Govinda Charlu and bis school on the other. This is not because I do not appreciate their learning, but because the one school would deem nothing impossible of belief, while the other would see nothing that could not be made to lend itself to giving the most ancient of these saints a date somewhere about the end of the first millennium after Christ. Gopinatha Rao belongs to a different school, and in his recent ambitious attempt in the Madras Review for 1905) at a history of Vaighnavism in Soutb India, he has come to certain conclusions, which would certainly have commanded assent but for a too transparent tendency to establish certain conclusions. Without pretending to say the last word on the subject, I shall merely put forward certain facts and arguments I have been able to gather in my studies and the notes that I have made from the writings of some of my friends, who have been pursuing similar research, and leave it to my readers to draw their own conclusions, while not depriving myself of the pleasure of making such inferences as appear to me warranted. I may at the outset acknowledge my obligations to my friend, Pandit Raghavaiyangar, Assistant Editor of the Sen Tamil, who has with remarkable courtesy placed some of his notes at my disposal, and has been of great help to me in looking up references, &c., to literature. The Vaishnavas, like their confrères of other sects, trace their hierarchy of gurus (preceptors in religion) from God bimself. Patting the translunary part on one side and coming down to terra firma, their list consists of names divided into two broad Classes, entitled, in Vaishnava parlance, the Alvars and Acharyas. There are twelve among the former and a large number among the latter, which is being added to by each separate sector unit at the decease of the existing guru for the time being. Without going into the details of the hagiology of these saints and proceptors, we are enabled to collect the Ålvars, from the traditional accounts alone, into three groups - the ancient, the middle, and the last. The list of the Twelve Ålvårs, with their traditional dates of birth, is as follows:(Poygai Alvar ... B. C. 4203 Ancient Bhútattar Pey Alvår Tirumaliśai Alvar Namm Alvar ... Madharakavi ... 3102 Middle. Kulasekhara ... , 3075 Periy Alvar ... (Anda! ... 3005 (Tonderadippoời B. C. 2814 Last ... Tiruppan Alvar Tirumangai Aļvár . : 2706 *** ... ".. » 4203 , 4203 » 4203 B. C. 3102 ... 3056 **. » 2760

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434