Ebook: Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Visnu

The poems in this book are some of the earliest about Visnu, one of the Hindu Trinity, also known as Tirumal, the Dark One. Tradition recognizes twelve alvars, saint-poets devoted to Visnu, who lived between the sixth and ninth century in the Tamil-speaking region of south India. These devotees of Visnu and their counterparts, the devotees of Siva (nayanmar), changed and revitalized Hinduism and their devotional hymns addressed to Visnu are among the earliest bhakti (devotional) texts in any Indian language. In this selection from Nammalvar's works, the translations like the originals reflect the alternations of philosophic hymns and love poems, through recurring voices, roles and places. They also enact a progression"from wonder at the Lord's works, to the experience of loving him and watching others love him, to moods of questioning and despair and finally to the experience of being devoured and possessed by him.


About the Author
Nammalvar was a Hindu saint, one of the twelve azhwars of Tamil Nadu. The azhwars are known for their association with the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.
According to the order of their listing in the Iramanucanurrantati, Nammalvar is the eleventh azwar, and he is also considered the foremost of them for writing 1352 stanzas of the 4000 stanzas in the holy Nalayira Divya Prabandham.

About the Translator:
Attipat Krishnaswami A. K. Ramanujan was a poet and scholar of Indian literature, known for his works in English and Kannada. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 posthumously for his collected poems.
He is other translations include: Speaking of Siva and When God Is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others.