Contents

You will find on this page a short, commented bibliography on hagiographic literature, including guruparamparā, as well as sthalapurāṇa texts, and so forth. Download links (of PDFs stored externally) are provided when available.

• Guruparamparā literature
• Works on individual Ācāryas
• Sthalapurāṇa

Guruparamparā literature (in approximate chronological order)

• Piṉpaḻakiya Perumāḷ Jīyar’s Āṟāyirappaṭi Guruparamparamparāprabhāvam (ca. 14th c.): Ayyaṅkār, Kiruṣṇasvāmi. Piṉpaḷakiya Perumāḷ Jīyar aruḷiya Āṟāyirappaṭi Kuruparamparāprapāvam (Nāyaṉārāccāṉpiḷḷai aruḷiya caramōpāya nirṇayamum, Kōyil Kantāṭaināyaṉ aruḷiya Periyatirumuṭiyaṭaivum, kuruparamparāvivaraṇamum, pramāṇatiraṭṭu mutalāṉāvaiyum aṭaṅkiyatu). (Tirucci: Śrīnivāsam Accakam, 1975 [1968] + here’s a 1918 edition): This work (retrospectively considered a Teṉkalai one) is perhaps the most important hagiographic work after the Divyasūricaritam, and served as a source for other such works in the following centuries. This edition includes other works such as Nāyaṉārāccāṉpiḷḷai’s Caramōpāyanirṇayam and Kōyil Kantāṭaināyaṉ’s Periyatirumuṭiyaṭaivu, another important (later) hagiographic work. The story goes up to Nampiḷḷai.
• The Vārttāmālai, which is a collection of words/statements spoken by the Ācāryas, is attributed to Piṉpaḻakiya Perumāḷ Jīyar. It can be downloaded here or here.
• Tṛtīya Brahmatantrasvatantrar’s Mūvāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāvam: Srīmat trutīya prahmatantra svatantra svāmi aruḷicceyta Mūvāyirappaṭi kuruparamparā prapāvam (vaṭakalai sampratāyam) [āḻvārkaḷ, ācāryarkaḷ, tivyatēcattu emperumāṉkaḷ tiruvuruvappaṭaṅkaḷ, aṭikkuṟippukaḷ, anupantaṅkaḷ ākiyavaikaḷuṭaṉ kūṭiya oru ciṟanta paktip patippu). (Ed. by Kīḻāttūr Śrīnivāsāccāriyar. Ceṉṉai: Ti liṭṭil  pḷavar kampeṉi, 1968): This is considered as the Vaṭakalai version of the above work. It includes the story of Vedānta Deśika (Here’s an 1911 edition in the Telugu script).
• Kōyil kantāṭai Aṇṇā Appaṅkār’s Paḻanaṭai viḷakkam: Paḻanaṭai Viḷakkam. 1891. Tantracatuṣṭaya nipuṇarāṉa Śrī U. Vē. Tirumaḻicai Kōyil Kantāṭai Aṇṇā Appaṅkārsvāmi ceytaruḷiya paḻanaṭai viḷakkam (Ceṉṉai: Kōmāṇḍūr Śrīnivāsācāryar): This is a work written from the “Teṉkalai” point of view, and is also known as the Mūvāyirappaṭi.

Works on individual Ācāryas

• Piḷḷai Lokam Jīyar’s Rāmānujāryadivyacaritai. This work tells Rāmānuja’s story, as its name suggests.
• Piḷḷai Lokam Jīyar’s Yatīndrapravaṇaprabhāvam : Here’s an edition (Śrī piḷḷailokārya jīyar aruḷicceyta yatīndrapravaṇa prapāvam (śrīmaṇavāḷamāmuṉikaḷ vaipavam). Ed. by V.V. Rāmānujan. Tiruvallikkēṇi: Śrīraṅkapriyā patippakam, 2017 [1992]). Here’s an older (1907 version): this work focuses on the life of Maṇavāḷa Māmuni.

Sthalapurāṇa

• Kōyiloḻuku. Kōyil Oḻuku. Śrīraṅka kṣētrattiṉ naṭavaṭikkaikaḷai kuṟittatu (Ceṉṉai: Āṉanta muttirākṣa cālai, 1909): these are the chronicles of the Śrīraṅgam temple (14th-16th centuries?). The language is less Sanskritized than other Manipravalam texts, although the work belongs here. You’ll find here a translation by T. S. Parthasarathy, and N. Hari Rao’s here.
• Tirumalai Oḻuku. These are the chronicles of the Tirumalā Veṅkaṭeśvara temple.

Modern compliations

A few modern-day scholars have compiled together passages from medieval texts according to a certain set of topics, which are very useful in the sense that the medieval corpus is vast, and it is very difficult to find in ir what we want.

• You can download vol. 1, vol. 2, and vol. 3 of the Ācāryavaibhavamañjarī, which lists the main Śrīvaiṣṇava Ācāryas, along with giving all the passages from the medieval corpus that mentions or deals with them. A treasure-trove!