(10th c.) Between the
seventh and tenth centuries, he was the last of the Alvars, a group of twelve
poet-saints who lived in southern India.
The Alvars were all worshippers of Vishnu, and their focus
on ardent devotion (bhakti) to a personal deity, expressed via hymns sung in
Tamil, revolutionized and reinvigorated Hindu religious life.
Mathurakavi was the student of Nammalvar, who was drawn to
him from northern India by a brilliant light in the southern sky, according to
legend.
Mathurakavi was able to awaken Nammalvar from a yogic
slumber in which he had spent most of his life by asking a question concerning
the ultimate spirit.
From that point forward, Mathurakavi acted as Nammalvar's
mentor.
Unlike the other Alvars, Mathurakavi only penned 10 songs,
all of which were in honor of his teacher.
For further details, read Kamil Zvelebil's Tamil Literature
(1975); John Stirling Morley Hooper's Alvar Hymns (1929); and A. K. Ramanujan's
Hymns for the Drowning (1981).
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