Religion and Philosophy of Nalayiram with Special Reference to Nammalvar

Professor's PhD Thesis : Published by Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi, AP in 1977

[Considered to be Professor's  magnum opus  in  Vaishnavism]

CONTENTS

Sections

Chapters

 Page No.
  Foreword i
  Preface v
The Materials on which this study is based xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Methods of Citing Authorities xvii
Transliteration Table xix
Contents
 xxi
I
Introduction [Summary]
 1

Chapter I : Introduction

 3
II
Pre-Alvar Period [Summary]
 19
Chapter II  : Visnu in Vedic Literature 23
Chapter III : Conception of God in Itihasas and Puranas 39
Chapter IV : The Supreme Being in the Bhgavadgita 77
Chapter V : Godhead in the Agamas and in Ritual Worship 94
Chapter VI : The Concept of Bhakti in Ancient Lore 122
Chapter VII  : Visnu Cult in the Early Tamil Literature 139
Chapter VIII : Tenets of Vaisavism 152
III
A Prefactory Study of the Nalayiram [Summary]
 171
Chapter IX : The Age of the Alvars 173
Chapter X : The Numerology of Nalayiram 195
Chapter XI : The Compositions of Alvars [I] 215
Chapter XII : The Compositions of Alvars [II] 247
IV
Vaisnavite Religion and Philosophy in the Nalayiram [Summary]
 263
Chapter XIII : The General Approach of the Alvars 263
Chapter XIV : The Godhead 277
Chapter XV : The Attributes of the Divine 285
Chapter XVI : The Forms and Exploits of Narayana 307
Chapter XVII : Inter-relations of God, Self and World 345
Chapter XVIII : The Ecstasy of the Alvars' God-experience 371
Chapter XIX : Nature Mysticism 419
Chapter XX : Bridal Mysticism 442
Chapter XXI : The Worship of the Deity 484
Chapter XXII : The Cult of Bhagavatas 553
Chapter XXIII : The Ultimate Goal 579
Chapter XXIV : Contribution of Alvars other than Nammalvar 622
Chapter XXV : The Alvars and the World 673
Chapter XXVI : The Nalayiram as Dravida Veda 680
V
Post-Alvar Period [Summary]
 695
Chapter XXVII : Nathamuni to Ramanuja 699
Chapter XXVIII : Ramanuja and the Nalayiram 719
Chapter XXIX : The Alvars and teh Followers of Ramanuja 737
Chapter XXX : The Alvars ane the Ramanuja School of Vaisnavism 796
Chapter XXXI : The Commentaries on the Nalayiram 817
VI
Conclusion [Summary]
 849

Chapter XXXII : Conclusion

 851

Appendices

 I 

List of Brahma Vidyas 879
II List of Alvars mentioned in several Vaisnavite Literatures 883
III Incidents recorded by the Alvars, but not found in Itihasas and Puranas 887
IV Nammalvar's Verses on the Arca Form of God 891
V List of Shrines celebrated exclusively by Putattalvar, Tirumalicaiyalvar, Kulacekaralvar, Tirumankaiyalvar, Periyalvar and Nammalvar 893
VI List of Succession of Vaisnavite Acaryas of two Schools 897
VII Dates of the Alvars 899
VIII Bibliography 901
IX Index 917

Some Statistics

Number of Citations Bibliography
Chapter Number No. of Footnotes Nature of Source No. of  Books used
I 32 Tamil Works 79
II 132 Manipralava Works 13
III 308 Telugu Works 2
IV 146 Sanskrit Works 94
V 245 Hindi & Sanskrit 1
VI 116 English Works 82
VII 120 Tamil & French 1
VIII 107 Manuscripts 22
IX 127 Journals 7
X 28 Dictionary & Lexicons 6
XI 206 Total 307
XII 93
XIII 17
XIV 60
XV 213
XVI 283
XVII 156
XVIII 334
XIX 129
XX 218
XXI 461
XXII 139
XXIII 252
XXIV 435
XXV 30
XXVI 79
XXVII 80
XXVIII 85
XXIX 292
XXX 69
XXXI 159
XXXII 83
Total 5234