This document provides an overview of the Nalayiara Divya Prabandham, a collection of 4,000 devotional poems composed by the 12 Alvar saints. It summarizes the origins and development of the collection, including its revival in the 9th century by Nathamuni who consolidated the hymns. It also describes the main parts of the collection - Mudalayiram, Periyathirumozhi, Iyarpa, and Tiruvoymozhi - and explains that the hymns establish the supremacy of Vishnu/Narayana and the philosophy of Visistadvaita through exploring the essence of Vedic truths.

1. Tamil Culture
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2. Introduction: Nalyiara Divya Prabandham
• Genesis, Growth and Development of Nalayiara Divya Prabandham
• Arayirappadi Guruparampara Prabhavam is a work that extensively gives the life and works of Alwars and Acharyas upto
Nampillai of the 13th century. It is in the form of manipravala language, the admixture of Sanskrit and Tamil with 6000
Padi.
• Padi means a unit of word content of the length of 32 letters forming an anustup verse. The word content of Arayirappadi is
approximately in length of 6000 anustup verses. This is the first manipravala work pertaining to narrate the biography of
Alwars and Acharyas.
• This was written by Pinpazhagiya Perumal Jeeyar. He was born in the Tamil month Iyppasi, in Sadayam Star during the
13th Century. He was closely associated with his Acharya Nampillai. He learnt all the meanings of Sampradaya and
practised in his life from his Acharya and did not leave him even for a minute details.
• While describing the status of a disciple, Manavala mamunigal of the 15th century in his Prabandham Upadesarathnamala,
refers this Acharya, who never loved Paramapada, but loved to apt service to his Acharya Nampillai, without any
hesitation.
• It is said in the introduction of Appillai’s commentary on Mamunigal’s Yathiraja Vimsathi that Pinpazhagiya Perumal
Jeeyar considered Nampillai as his chief, refuge and Purushartha and practised it.

3. Introduction: Nalyiara Divya Prabandham
• Genesis, Growth and Development of Nalayiara Divya Prabandham
• Guruparampara Prabhavam begins with an introduction about the description of Sri Vaikunta. Following this, he explains
the Lord’s desire to uplift the people from their sufferings by manifesting by several Avataras and the reason for the
emergence of Alwars.
• Apart from the introduction, the author deals extensively with the life of 12 Alwars and their Prabandhams, called
Nalayiara Divya Prabandham.
• It also deals with Acharyas’ life, from Sriman Nathamunigal of the 9th Century and ending with Nampillai. The purpose of
the text is to bring out the life of Sri Ramanuja and his association with several Acharyas and later his influence on
Acharyas upto Nampillai of the 13th Century, who is the prime Acharyas of the author.
• There are exhaustive references from Vedas, Puranas, Ithihasas and Alwars hymns employed by Jeeyar in this work. In
India, philosophy is a means to attain the ultimate goal of life. Among the six systems of philosophy, Vedanta rooted in
Vedic tradition aims at this ultimate goal i.e., liberation.
• The philosophy behind this important work reveals the supremacy of Lord, Sriman Narayana. His nature, attributes, wealth
and so on are well established in the life and works of Alwars and the Acharya who unearthed those saying of Alwars.
• This book reflects the light of the necessity of worshipping one particular deity and attaining liberation through Alwars and
Acharyas and their life history.

4. Introduction: Nalyiara Divya Prabandham
• Genesis, Growth and Development of Nalayiara Divya Prabandham
• The 12 Alwars born in this world as a human beings, established the supremacy of Sriman Narayana in the day to day life.
The author reminds the Periyalwar’s establishment of supremacy of Sriman Narayana as a main deity, Tirumazhisai
Alwar’s devoutness over the Lord; Andal’s penchant on Krishna and so on – all these reveal the oneness of God,who is
Sriman Narayana.
• The essentials of life Visistadvaita depends on its five-fold knowledge i.e., the nature of God, the nature of Soul, the nature
of means, the natures of obstacles and the nature of goal. Jeeyar profusely explains in each Alwar’s life the true meaning of
these five fold knowledge that were hidden in the Alwars’ hymns and later on how it enlightened by Acharyas in their
works.

5. Introduction: Nalyiara Divya Prabandham
• Nalayiara Divya Prabandham
• Alwars, 12 in number, were the early torch bearers of Sri Vaishnavism. According to Divya suri charithram, Mudal Alwars
3 in number, Tirumazhisai Alwar and Madhurakavi Alwar were born in Dwapara yuga and other eight Alwars were born in
Kaliyuga.
• The 12 Alwars, who flourished in Tamilnadu, mostly in Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga, have sung soul stirring hymns which
comprise Nalayiara Divya Prabandham. Their outpouring thoughts on Sriman Narayana’s nature, attributes, wealth and so
on changed their abundant devotion into devout hymns.
• The theme of hymns is drawn from Vedas, Upanishads, Epics etc. The hymns were composed in lucid and beautiful Tamil
language. Although these hymns generated a change in the religious fervor, but for some centuries it has lost its identity due
to several other religious developments.
• It was possible only during the 9th Century AD to create way for the renaissance of these 4000 hymns, for which credit goes
to the first Acharya Sriman Nathamunigal whose eloquent voice, pious life, great devotion and gigantic task of
consolidating the hymns revived these Nalayiara Divya Prabandham for the furtherance of Sri Vaishnavism.
• The content of this magnum opus volume comprising 24 prabandhams unearthed, consolidated and codified in musical
meter by Sriman Nathamunigal into four parts – Mudalayiram, Periyathirumozhi, Iyarpa, and Tiruvoymozhi. During Sri
Ramanuja’s period, Ramanuja noorththandadi, in praise of Sri Ramanuja is added.

6. Introduction: Nalyiara Divya Prabandham
• Nalayiara Divya Prabandham
• The details of each part are given in the following pages.
• The philosophy behind this work is only to uplift the people of the world from the recycling of birth and death with the
approach of taking refuge at the feet of the supreme being by practising the policy adopted in the work.
• The central theme of the work of Alwars throw light on the elaboration of Vedic truths i.e., the tatva (nature of Brahman),
hita (nature of means) and purushartha (nature of goal). The esoteric meanings of Vedas are embedded in these hymns in
chaste Tamil.
• Further, the doctrine of visistadvaita is the realisation of three rahasyas i.e. tirumantra ,dwaya and charama sloka, that were
delivered by the supreme being to the people through different channels. The extensiveness of these secrets is the
outpourings of hymns in a bigger way.
•