Thread by @shrikanth_krish

I've admired @vajrayudha11 's tweets on temples etc

But the ignorance here is great. Sanskrit is not the only "divine" language in India

Tamil Vaishnavites for long have regarded the "nAlAyira Divyaprabandham" as equivalent to Shruti in stature

Hence the term "Ubhaya Vedanta"

https://twitter.com/vajrayudha11/status/1223068618944057344

@vajrayudha11 Now the Nalayira Divyaprabandham is not merely "regional" bhakti literature!

You cannot equate it with say Dasa Kritis of medieval Karnataka

Or even the great work of say Tulsidas in late medieval Avadh

It has the stature akin to that of the Sanskrit Veda

And this stature is accorded by the Shri-Vaishnava brahminical community in Tamil Nadu (better known as Iyengars)

Not some sub-altern group

Many who accord this status to the Divya Prabandham are often themselves Sanskrit scholars!

I am not sure if the Thevaram literature of the Nayanmars enjoys the same degree of regard (though @GhorAngirasa can confirm)

The point being made is- These texts are not simply viewed as vernacular outpourings of some bhakti poets. They are accorded the status of a divine canon

@GhorAngirasa Now you may find this bizarre.

You don't even have to acknowledge these traditions

But it is real. It exists

No other vernacular tradition has texts that enjoy the same theological status as Nalayiram does among Sri-Vaishnavites for instance

@GhorAngirasa The Divya Prabandham has an extensive commentarial tradition

With numerous medieval thinkers (invariably scholars of both Sanskrit and Tamil) expounding on specific sections of the 4000 verses

E.g. Manavala Mamunigal's writing on Nammalvar's Thiruvazhmozhi

@GhorAngirasa Such traditions don't come about if the source texts are merely viewed as "derivative" or secondary

No...they are foundational

Without the Alwar pasurams, I doubt if we would even have Sri-Vaishnava sect today. (Notwithstanding the brilliance of Ramanuja / Desika)

@GhorAngirasa One e.g of how Divya prabandham exert an influence on all Sri Vaishnavites regardless of language is to notice its following among the SVs of Karnataka

Many of whom speak pidgin tamil and prefer Kannada. Yet make it a point to chant nAlAyiram. Why? Because it is "sacred" lit

@GhorAngirasa Now many may want to make the whole debate politically correct by saying -

"Hey...what about Ramcharitmanas"
"What about Purandaradasa"
"What about GonaBuddhaReddy"

Sorry! Those are not foundational texts defining an entire sampradAya

@GhorAngirasa On that note a piece on how the Divyaprabandham recitation in Tamil Nad might be linked with an earlier tradition of chanting within the pAncharAtra tradition

manasataramgini.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/tri…

Recitation of Divya Prabandham (Thiruvaimozhi)