Mathurakavi

(10th c.) The last of the Alvars, a group of
twelve poet-saints who lived in southern
India between the seventh and tenth
centuries. All the Alvars were devotees
(bhakta) of the god Vishnu, and their
emphasis on passionate devotion
(bhakti) to a personal god, conveyed
through hymns sung in the Tamil language, transformed and revitalized
Hindu religious life. According to tradition, Mathurakavi was the disciple of
Nammalvar, to whom he was led from
northern India by a great light in the
southern sky. By asking a question about
the supreme spirit, Mathurakavi was
able to rouse Nammalvar from a yogic
trance in which the latter had spent
much of his life. From that point
Mathurakavi served Nammalvar as his
guru. Whereas the other Alvars were
quite prolific, Mathurakavi wrote only
ten songs, all in praise of his master. For
further information see Kamil Zvelebil,
Tamil Literature, 1975; John Stirling
Morley Hooper, Hymns of the Alvars,
1929; and A. K. Ramanujan (trans.),
Hymns for the Drowning, 1981.