Self-Surrender (prapatti) to God in Shrivaishnavism

<p>Filling the most glaring gap in Shrivaishnava scholarship, this book deals with the history of interpretation of a theological concept of self-surrender-prapatti in late twelfth and thirteenth century religious texts of the Shrivaishnava community of South India. This original study shows that medieval sectarian formation in its theological dimension is a fluid and ambivalent enterprise, where conflict and differentiation are presaged on "sharing", whether of a common canon, saint or rituals or two languages (Tamil and Sanskrit), or of a "meta-social" arena such as the temple.</p><p>Srilata Mueller, a member of the Shrivaishnava community, argues that the core ideas of prapatti in these religious texts reveal the description of a heterogeneous theological concept. Demonstrating that this concept is theologically moulded by the emergence of new literary genres, Mueller puts forward the idea that this original understanding of prapatti is a major contributory cause to the emergence of sectarian divisions among the Shrivaishnavas, which lead to the formation of two sub-sects, the Tenkalai and the Vatakalia, who stand respectively, for the "cat" and "monkey" theological positions.</p><p>Making an important contribution to contemporary Indian and Hindu thinking on religion, this text provides a new intellectual history of medieval Indian religion. It will be of particular interest to scholars of Shrivaishnava and also Hindu and Indian religious studies. </p> <p>1. Introduction 2. The Conceptual Parameters: Ramanuja and <em>Prapatti </em> 3. An Introduction to the Commentaries 4. Surrendering to Purification: <em>Prapatti</em> in the <em>Arayirappati </em>Commentary 5. Epic Surrender: The <em>Onpatinayirappati</em> Commentary of Nanciyar 6. Still Surrender: The <em>Irupattunalayirappati</em> and the <em>Itu Muppattarayirappati</em> 7. Surrender Structured: The <em>Pannirayirappati </em>Commentary 8. Conclusion </p>