Singing the body of God : the hymns of Vedāntadeśika in their South Indian tradition

This is the first full-length study of the devotional poetry and poetics of the fourteenth-century poet-philosopher Vedantadesika, one of the most outstanding and influential figures in the Hindu tradition of Sri-Vaishnavism (the cult of Lord Vishnu). Despite their intrinsic beauty and theological importance, the poetry and philosophy of Vedantadesika have received very little scholarly attention. But for the millions who belong to the Vaishnava tradition, those poems are not just classical literature; they are committed to memory, recited, sung, and enacted in ritual both in India and throughout the Hindu diaspora. Steven Hopkins here offers a comparative study of the Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tamil poems composed by Vedantadesika in praise of important Vaishnava shrines and their icons--poems that are considered to be the apogee of South Indian devotional literature. Contents 14 A Note on Orthography and the Pronunciation of Words 18 Introduction: Singing in Tongues 24 Introduction 24 Summary of Themes 27 Methodological Framework 31 A Note on Sources and Translation 33 Outline of Chapters 42 PART I: THE BELL OF TIRUPATI 46 Chapter 1 Philosopher, Preacher, Poet 48 Introductory Reflections 48 The Philosopher's Roar: Traditional and Contemporary Assessments 49 "Jewels and Coral": Vedāntadesika and His Srivaisnava Tradition 51 Two Cities 54 Of Poets and Ācāryas 58 Chapter 2 Between Two Dynasties: Desika in the Art of Srīvaisnava Narrative 69 From Self-Portraits to Sacred Biography 69 History and the Art of Srīvaisnava Narrative 76 Sources for Desika's Life and Times 79 The Tales Told: Desika in the Sacred Biographies 81 The Writing on the Wall: The Srīrangam and Kāncī Inscriptions 92 Concluding Reflections 95 PART II: TAMIL AND BEYOND 98 Chapter 3 The Tears of Brahmā: Desika's Tamil Poetry and the Praise of Kings 100 Introductory Reflections 100 Kings, Saints, and Temples: Vernacular Bhakti and the Rise of the Pallavas 101 The Ālvārs' First Ācāryas and Desika's Cosmopolitan Age 103 "The Graceful Tamil Tongue": Desika's Vernacular 103 The Tears of Brahmā: A Tamil Māhātmyam for the City of True Vows 105 In Praise of the God-King: Devotion in the Puram Mode 134 Chapter 4 "The Fruits of Mukunda's Mercy": Desika's Tamil Poetry in the Akam Mode 136 Vishnu the Tamil Lover: Desika's Lyrics to Devanāyaka 136 A Garland of Nine Jewels for the Lovely Body of God 150 Concluding Reflections 154 Chapter 5 A God From Toe to Crown: In Love with the Body of Vishnu 156 Introduction: From Praise to Parody to the Language of Visionary Joy 156 "His Lovely Dark Body Fills My Heart!" A Poet's Ecstasy Before the Icon 160 "Those Who Paint Their Eyes with Your Dark Body": Vedāntadesika's Enjoyment of Srirarikam's Lord 178 Icons of Icons: Concluding Reflections 185 PART III: THE OLD NORTHERN TONGUE AND ITS COSMOPOLITAN COUSIN: SINGING THE SOUTHERN TRADITION IN SANSKRIT AND PRĀKRIT 188 Chapter 6 The Dark Blue Flame of the Sacrifice: Praises of Kāncī in the Northern Tongue 190 Introduction: Singing the Southern Tradition in Sanskrit 190 Dark Blue Fire of the Sacrifice: A Reading of Varadarājapancāsat 193 Concluding Remarks 218 Chapter 7 An Ornament for Jewels: Seeing the Body of Devanāyaka in Sanskrit and Prãkrit 220 A Reading of Devanāyakapancāsat 221 Sanasvatī's "Mother Tongue": Desika's Prākrit for the Lord of Gods 236 Conclusion: His Own Words: The Hymns of Vedāntadesika in Their South Indian Tradition 253 Lion Among Poets and Master of All Tantras 254 The "Holv Bell" Ālvar: Desika in South Indian Bhakti 257 "The Best Readings of Art . . .": Desika in the Order of Indian Literatures 263 Notes 266 Bibliography 334 Index 348 A 348 B 349 C 350 D 351 E 352 F 353 G 353 H 353 I 354 J 354 K 355 L 355 M 356 N 356 O 357 P 357 Q 358 R 359 S 359 T 362 U 363 V 363 W 365 Y 365 This is the first full‐length study of the devotional poetry and poetics of the fourteenth‐century poet-philosopher Vedåntadeóika, one of the most outstanding and influential figures in the Hindu tradition of àrâ‐Vaióïavism (the cult of Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakómâ or àrâ), a tradition that affirms both vernacular Tamil poems of ninth‐ and tenth‐century saint‐poets (the Çôvårs) and the Sanskrit Vedas as an Ubhaya or “dual” Vedånta. Long after his death, Vedåntadeóika was claimed as the founding Çcårya (sectarian preceptor) of the Vaìakalai or “Northern School” of àrâvaióïavism, associated with the holy city of Kåñcâpuram. Singing the Body of God is a comparative study of the Sanskrit, Prakãit, and Tamil poems composed by Vedåntadeóika in praise of important Vaióïava shrines and their icons - poems that are considered to be the apogee of South Indian devotional literature. This book examines the varied ways in which Vedåntadeóika, the philosopher and logician, works his thought through the distinctive - at times antithetical - medium of the poem. It also gives particular attention to the poems’ emotional and visionary center of gravity: the different temple images of Lord Vishnu, referred to by the poet simply as the various “lovely bodies” of God. Singing the Body of God brings to light a unique example of the creative synthesis of the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions in Medieval Tamil Nadu, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of intellectual and religious vernacularism and “cosmopolitanism” in pre‐modern South Asia "Steven Paul Hopkins here offers a comparative study of the Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tamil poems composed by Vedantadesika in praise of important Vaisnava shrines and their icons - poems that are considered to be the apogee of South Indian devotional literature. He examines the varied ways in which Vedantadesika the philosopher and logician works his thought through the distinctive - at times antithetical - medium of the poem. He also gives particular attention to the poems' emotional and visionary center of gravity: the different temple icons of Lord Vishnu, referred to by the poet simply as the various "lovely bodies" of God. In Singing the Body of God Hopkins brings to light a unique example of the creative synthesis of the Sanskrit and Tamil tradition in Medieval Tamil Nadu, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of intellectual and religious "cosmopolitanism" in South Asia."--Jacket 'Singing the Body of God' is a study of the devotional poetry of the 14th-century poet-philosopher Vedāntadeśika, one of the most influential figures in the Hindu tradition of Sri-Vaishnavism