Page 170 - Hinduism

Upanishads. It was in the period from the 10th century up to the 17th that many Vaishnava works were produced. The Vaisnavas regard the Pancharatra literature as equal to the Vedas.
The Vaishnava Samhitas and other works insist on knowledge of and devotion to, the supreme Godhead rather than on Vedic studies or sacrifices. It is worthy of note that in the Bhagavata Purana (11th Skanda) the Alwars were prefigured or adverted to; several great devotees of Vishnu, the Purana states, would appear on the banks of the Tamraparni, Krtamala (Vaigai), Payasvin (Palar), Kaveri, and Mahanadi (Periyar).
The Alwars lived between the 5th and the 12th centuries. The first group included Saroyogi or Poygaiyalwar, Bhattayogi or Bhutattalwar, Mahadyogi or Peyalwar and Bhaktisara or Tirumalisai-Piran. Nammalwar or Satakopa, who came in the next group, was perhaps the greatest of the Alwars. Others in this group included Madhurakaviyalwar, Kulasekhara Perumal, Vishnuchitta (or Periyalwar) and Andal, his adopted daughter. In the last of the groups were Bhaktanghrirenu (Tondaradippodiy Alwar), Yogivahana (Tiruppanalwar) and Parakala (Tirumangaiyalwar). The Divya Prabhandha constitutes the collection of the Alwars' compositions in the Tamil language.
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