The Tirunetuntantakam () is a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
work of literature authored by
Tirumangai Alvar
Thirumangai Alvar (IAST: ), also referred to as Thirumangai Mannan is the last of the 12 Alvar saints of south India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He is considered one of the most learned Alvars ...
, one of the twelve
poet-saints of
Sri Vaishnavism
Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...
. The work is a part of a compendium of hymns called the
Naalayira Divya Prabandham
The Naalayira Divya Prabandham ( ta, நாலாயிரத் திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம், lit=Four Thousand Divine Hymns, translit=Nālāyira Divya Prabandham) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by ...
. The Tirunetuntantakam consists of 30 hymns. It is written in a
Tamil poetic meter known as the tāṇṭakam, in which each line of a stanza consists of more than 26 syllables, composed of quatrains of equal length.
Hymns
Tirumangai Alvar takes the role of a ''nayaki'' (a female consort) who pines for the ''nayaka'' (God) in the hymns of this work.
In hymns 13 and 14, the poet-saint teaches a parrot to hail the epithets of Vishnu, and honours the bird by offering her
folded palms in veneration.
The third hymn of the Tirunetuntantakam describes the
Kurma
Kurma ( sa, कूर्म; , 'Turtle', 'Tortoise'), is the second avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. Originating in Vedic literature such as the Yajurveda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kashyapa, Kurma is most comm ...
incarnation of Vishnu during the
Samudra Manthana:
The fourth hymn proclaims Vishnu's supremacy over other deities, celestial objects, and the
five elements:
Philosophy
The hymns of the Tirunetuntantakam have been interpreted to describe the three key principles of the
Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita (IAST '; sa, विशिष्टाद्वैत) is one of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta literally means the in depth meaning ''of the Vedas.'' ''Vishisht Advaita'' (literall ...
philosophy: ''
tattva'' (knowledge of the entities of
jiva
''Jiva'' ( sa, जीव, IAST: ) is a living being or any entity imbued with a life force in Hinduism and Jīva (Jainism), Jainism. The word itself originates from the Sanskrit verb-root ''jīv'', which translates as 'to breathe' or 'to live'. ...
,
ajiva
''Ajiva'' (Sanskrit) is anything that has no soul or life, the polar opposite of " jīva" (soul). Because ''ajiva'' has no life, it does not accumulate ''karma'' and cannot die. Examples of ajiva include chairs, computers, paper, plastic, etc.
...
, and
ishvara), ''hita'' (achieving realisation through
bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
and
prapatti
Sharanagati (Sanskrit: शरणागति; IAST: ''Śaraṇāgati'' ) or Prapatti (Sanskrit: प्रपत्ति; IAST: ''Prapatti''), is the process of total surrender to God (Narayana-Krishna) in the tradition of Vaishnavism. The process ...
), and
purushartha (the goal of
moksha
''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...
). It also references the five
Agamic
Religion
*Āgama (Buddhism), a collection of Early Buddhist texts
*Āgama (Hinduism), scriptures of several Hindu sects
*Jain literature (Jain Āgamas), various canonical scriptures in Jainism
Other uses
* ''Agama'' (lizard), a genus of lizards ...
forms of Vishnu that are featured in the
Pancharatra Agama: Para, the form of Vishnu in
Vaikuntha
Vaikuntha ( sa, वैकुण्ठ, lit=without anxiety, translit=Vaikuṇṭha), also called Vishnuloka (), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism,Gavin Flood, An ...
, the four
Vyuhas and the Upavyuhas,
Vibhava, Antaryami, the form of the deity who pervades all of existence, and Archa, the form of the deity venerated as
murtis
In the Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' ( sa, मूर्ति, mūrti, ) is a devotional image such as a statue, or "idol" (a common and non-pejorative term in Indian English), of a deity or saint. In Hindu temples, it is a symbolic icon. Thu ...
.
See also
{{Tamil literature
*
Tiruvelukkutrirukkai
*
Tirukkuruntantakam
The Tirukkuruntantakam () is a Tamil Hindu work of literature penned by Tirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve poet-saints of Sri Vaishnavism. The work is a part of a compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The Tirukkuruntantakam ...
*
Periya Tirumoli
The Periya Tirumoli () is a Tamil work of Vaishnava literature, consisting of 1,084 hymns. It was written by one of the poet-saints offered the designation of Alvar, Tirumangai. It is a piece of literature that is a part of the compilation of the ...
References
Naalayira Divya Prabandham
External links Tirunetuntantakam (Tamil)
Vaishnava texts
Sri Vaishnavism
Tamil Hindu literature