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Germs of the philosophy of devotion (bhakti) are to be amply encountered in the Veda mantrasamhitas, but the thread seems to have been lost somewhere during the compilation of the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the Upanisads. The Aranyakas and Upanisads dwell in great detail on the nature of the Supreme Being and do show flashes of devotion to a Personal Deity. However, the nine-fold philosophy of devotion, so well expounded in later Hindu texts (as also in the Mantras), is not seen in abundant measure in the canonical Upanisads or in the Aranyakas.
Nevertheless, the agamic tradition, which is of great antiquity, seems to have preserved the devotional aspect of the teaching of the Vedas. The Agamas are themselves classified as the Vaisnava, Saiva, Ganapatya, Sakta and Saura. Each of these has several subdivisions. These Agamas, especially the Vaisnava Agamas (called the Pancaratra and the Vaikhanasa texts) are marked by great emphasis on acts of devotion towards a personal deity (Who is Sri Visnu-Narayana in case of the Vaisnava Agamas).
A saying of Saint Kabir of Uttar Pradesh goes: "Devotion is the product of the Dravida country."
This statement reflects the historical fact of the grand revival of schools of devotion in the Tamil country followed by the transmission of this doctrine to North India by Saint Ramananda and by the text Srimad Bhagavata Purana. The Purana delineates Bhakti in its nine fold form (serving, chanting the glories of, remembering, etc., Lord Visnu).
In Tamil Nadu, several centuries before the advent of Visistadvaita Vedanta, were compiled the devotional songs of Tamil Vaisnava saints called the Alvars. These songs number about 4000 and were said to have been recovered and set to hymn by Sri Nathamuni. The songs expound devotion to the Lord, with an emphasis on the Vatsalya (affection towards Lord as if He were a loving child) and Pranaya ( devotion to God as if He were one's lover).
The hymns are primarily of a parochical/territorial nature in that they are addressed to various deities installed in the temples of Tamil Nadu. However, these deities are equated with one of the incarnations of Bhagavan Visnu (especially Sri Krisna, followed by Sri Rama) and said to be the Supreme Lord. The contents are marked by an intense emotion, and a deep longing for union with the Lord. They allude to several incidents narrated by traditional accounts of the Avataras of Visnu. The exact connection of these hymns with the Bhagavata-Pancaratra-Itihasa-Purana texts is not clear, but the poetry is saturated with themes that recur in these texts. Thus, they demonstrate the fact that the religion of these Sanskrit texts had permeated all sections of Tamil society at least 15 centuries back.
Sri Andal Alvar, one of the saints of Sri Vaisnavism
The Alvar literature forms the 2nd stream of the religious literature of the Sri Vaisnavas - who regard it as revealed like the Vedas, and also complementary to the latter. In actual practice, it is this aspect of the Ubhaya Vedanta that has enthralled the minds of Sri Vaisnavas down the ages. It was, in fact, only as a result of the devastating Muslim invasions of India (which lead to the wholesale destruction of libraries and temples), together with the increasing emphasis on the doctrine of 'Prapatti', that lead to works like the 'Nyaya Tattva' of Sri Nathamuni being cast into oblivion.
Copyright (1999) Vishal Agarwal
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