{{Short description|Hindu theologian}} {{Infobox person | name = Nanjiyar | birth_name = Madhava | other_names = Nañcīyar, Nañjīyar, Nanjiar, Nanjeeyar | birth_date = 1182 | birth_place = Tirunarayanapuram | death_date = 1287 | death_place = Srirangam | occupation = Philosopher | known_for = Leader of the Sri Vaishnava sect | notable_works = Commentary on ''Tiruvaymoli'' }}
'''Nanjiyar''' (c. 1182-1287<ref>{{cite book |author=Francis Clooney |title=His Hiding Place Is Darkness: A Hindu-Catholic Theopoetics of Divine Absence |year=2013 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804788809 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSBVAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 }}</ref>) was a Sri Vaishnava philosopher from present-day Tamil Nadu, India. He wrote a commentary on the Tamil-language text ''Tiruvaymoli''.<ref name="NAN_1996" />
== Legendary biography ==
The Tenkalai tradition (''Guru-parampara'') narrates the biography of Nanjiyar as follows:<ref name="VR_1917">{{cite journal |author=V. Rangachari |title=The Successors of Ramanuja and the Growth of Sectarianism among the Sri-Vaiahnavas |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=XXIV |year=1917 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277244/page/n130/mode/1up?view=theater |pages=112–117 }}</ref>
Nanjiyar, originally known as Madhava, was born at Tirunarayanapuram in the Kaliyuga year 4214. (This corresponds to 1112 CE, and is chronologically absurd, as the legend describes him as a contemporary of Parashara Bhattarya, who had died 22 years earlier). Madhava was a prominent Advaita Vedanta scholar, and had two wives. A wealthy and charitable man, he was so proud that he sat on a throne.<ref name="VR_1917"/>
Meanwhile, in Srirangam, Ramanuja's cousin Embar succeeded him as the leader of Sri Vaishnavas, followed by Parashara Bhattarya. One day, Parashara learned about Madhava and his extravagant claims through a Brahmin pilgrim, and resolved to convert him to Vaishnavism. Parashara went to Gangorai (near Shringeri), where Madhava lived. Parashara disguised himself as a Brahmin among a crowd whom Madhava fed everyday, and asked him for alms in form of a philosophical debate. The ensuing debate continued for ten days, and on the eleventh day, Parashara defeated Madhava with the help of Tirumangai Alvar's ''Tirunetuntantakam'' and Yamunacharya's ''Mayavadakhandanam''. Madhava accepted his defeated, converted to Vaishnavism, and adopted Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita philosophy.<ref name="VR_1917"/>
Madhava accepted Parashara as his ''acharya'' (teacher), and expressed his desire to follow Parashara to Srirangam. However, Parashara told him to continue feeding Brahmins at his own place. Parashara obeyed him, and started providing hospitality to Sri Vaishnavas. One day, his wives treated two Sri Vaishnava travelers disrespectfully. When he learned about this incident, he was disappointed, and decided to renounce the world. He divided his wealth into three parts, one each for his wives, and the remaining for Parashara. He then became a sanyasin and went to Srirangam, the centre of Sri Vaishnava school. Parashara gave him the title Nanjiyar, that is "our saint"(''nam-jiyar'').<ref name="NAN_1996">{{cite book |author=Nancy Ann Nayar |chapter=The "other Āṇṭāḷ : portrait of a 12th century Srīvaiṣṇava woman |editor=Steven Rosen |title=Vaiṣṇavī: women and the worship of Krishna |year=1996 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120814370 |pages=231–232}}</ref><ref name="CPB_1997"/>
Nanjiyar wrote a commentary to the Tamil-language text ''Tiruvaymoli''. According to a legend, he asked Nambur Varadaraja to make a copy of this text.<ref name="VR_1917"/> On the way to his village, Varadaraja lost the original manuscript while crossing the Kaveri River.<ref name="AD_1987"/> Varadaraja then wrote the entire commentary from his memory. Nanjiyar found that Varadaraja's copy contained additional interpretations and was much better than the original manuscript. Nanjiyar called Varadaraja his own son (''nam pillai''), and appointed him as his successor.<ref name="VR_1917"/> Nampillai was also known as Nambilla, Namburi Varadarya, and Lokacharya.<ref name="SD_1975">{{cite book |author=Surendranath Dasgupta |title=A History of Indian Philosophy |volume=III |edition=First Indian |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=2000 |orig-year=1975 |isbn=9788120804142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jI2PUAa8B8oC }}</ref>
Nanjiyar was also known as Periya-jiyar,<ref>{{cite book |author=S. M. Srinivasa Chari |title=Vaisnavism: Its Philosophy, Theology and Religious Discipline |year=2018 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120841352 |page=160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SkwEAAAQBAJ }}</ref> Vedanti Mādhava-dāsa,<ref name="SD_1975"/> Mādhva-sūri, Vedānti-muni, Ranganatha-muni, and Nārāyaṇa-muni.<ref name="CPB_1997">{{cite book |editor=C. Panduranga Bhatta |title=Contribution of Karaṇāṭaka to Sanskrit |year=1997 |publisher=Institute of Asian Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dfl0AAAAIAAJ |page=329 }}</ref>
== Works ==
Nanjiyar wrote a commentary on ''Tiruvaymoli'', called ''Onpatinayirappadi'' ("9000 ''padis''"), so-called after its 9000 ''padis'' or ''granthas'' (a unit comprising 32 letters).<ref name="AD_1987">{{cite book |editor=Amaresh Datta |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature |volume=5: Sasay to Zorgot |year=1987 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=8126012218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc5jAAAAMAAJ }}</ref>
In his commentary, Nanjiyar discusses objections to the sacred status of ''Tiruvaymoli'', such as that it was composed by a low-caste man in a language not suitable for sacred purposes; its songs were recited by low-caste men and even women; these songs were not known outside the Tamil-speaking region where even those outside the Vedic faith honored them; the songs downgraded traditional ideals of Sanskrit-language tradition, such as ''kaivalya''; and discussed topics such as sexual desire that were traditionally disapproved of.<ref name="FXC_TKS_2000">{{cite book |author1=Francis X. Clooney |author1-link=Francis Xavier Clooney |author2=Tony K. Stewart |editor1=Sushil Mittal |editor2=Gene Thursby |title=The Hindu World |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-60875-1 |pages=170–171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CXU0MJmJboC }}</ref>
Nanjiyar refuted these objections by stating that these alleged flaws were actually virtues: the Shudra author of ''Tiruvaymoli'' had accumulated so much merit in his past lives that Vishnu provided him divine inspiration and grace; the author's rendition of the meaning of the Vedas in Tamil allowed even those who were not entitled to read the Vedas (such as Shudras and women) to find salvation; the hymns are so excellent that even those following non-Vedic lifestyle accept them; even non-Tamils wished they knew Tamil just to be able to understand these songs; and the songs did not exclude traditional values but organized them in a proper hierarchy.<ref name="FXC_TKS_2000"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Katherine K. Young |chapter=Om, the Vedas, and the Status of Women with Special Reference to Śrīvaiṣṇavism |editor=Laurie Patton |title=Jewels of Authority: Women and Textual Tradition in Hindu India |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195350647 |pages=106–107 }}</ref>
Nanjiyar and other Sri Vaishnava teachers promoted the view that revelation is fully expressed equally in Tamil and Sanskrit languages: the Sanskrit texts teach what the god has in mind, while the Tamil text ''Tiruvaymoli'' expresses the nature of god most clearly and perfectly to inspire and increase devotion.<ref name="FXC_TKS_2000"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Sri Vaishnava religious leaders Category:12th-century Indian writers Category:13th-century Indian non-fiction writers Category:12th-century Indian philosophers Category:13th-century Indian philosophers Category:1182 births Category:1287 deaths