The Āḻvār concept of God and Tamil Vaiṣṇavism:If we examine, there is but one God!

Being an amalgamative product of various literary, cultural, and religious strands, such as classical Tamil poetry, Sanskritic sacred literature with its legends, beliefs, and characters, as well as the Pāñcarātra world view, the Ālvār poetry presents a unique (although manifold) concept of God, which will go on to influence major thinkers, such as Rāmānuja (c. 12th century). Probably living in the 6th to 9th centuries, the Ālvārs were devoted to Nārāyaṇa and his various forms. And it was perhaps their multifold backgrounds, personal choices, as well as the changing trends (inter alia) that determined how they conceived their God: a remote one, a local one, king-like, child-like, a lover, and so forth. Thus, Nārāyaṇa’s avatāra (‘descent’) as Kṛṣṇa is as popular as Raṅganātha, the main deity in Śrīraṅgam, with the two often being identified as one and the same. This chapter will examine the varied concepts of God from the perspective of the different Ālvārs, by analysing the different forms of God that they mention and the qualities and deeds that they associate with each of them. And this chapter advances the argument that these saint-poets were fiercely monotheistic but with a difference.