Abstract

Among the twelve Alvars, Madhurakavi Alvar is unique in singing only of his teacher and not of God. His Kanninun Siruttambu, a work of eleven pasurams, is the first complete literary record of acharya bhakti, accepting Nammalvar with the words 'tevu marrariyen' ('I know no other god'). This article examines the text from three angles: (1) the theological structure of Madhurakavi's attachment to Nammalvar; (2) the way it grants authority to the aruliccheyal by establishing Nammalvar's word as 'grace' (arul) and as 'the meaning of the rare Veda'; and (3) learning, the transmission of knowledge and the continuity of tradition through the guru–disciple relationship. Combining close textual reading, comparative study of the commentarial tradition and a historical-critical approach, the article is set in dialogue with recent studies (Adluri, 2022; Young, 2024; Anandakichenin, 2020; Venkatesan, 2022). Its principal argument is that the Kanninun Siruttambu is not merely a personal devotional song; it is a 'tradition-forming document' that establishes the teacher as the source of knowledge, the word as the source of authority and the disciple as the medium that carries that word forward. The article also discusses how later works, namely the recovery narrative of Nathamuni, Manavala Mamunigal's Upadesa Ratnamalai and Pillai Lokacharya's Srivachana Bhushanam, made this text the cornerstone of the Vaishnava guruparampara.

Keywords

References

15 references
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How to Cite

P., V., K., C., & V. C., S. (2026). ஆசாரிய பக்தியும் அறிவுப் பரிமாற்றமும்: மதுரகவி ஆழ்வாரின் கண்ணிநுண் சிறுத்தாம்பில் வைணவக் குரு–சீட உறவு: Acharya Bhakti and the Transmission of Knowledge: The Vaishnava Guru–Disciple Relationship in Madhurakavi Alvar’s Kanninun Siruttambu. KALANJIYAM - International Journal of Tamil Studies, 10(06), 165-183. https://doi.org/10.63300/KIJTS10n06m112026.12
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