(nivr.tti). “Activity” signifies yogic practices and procures yogic powers, but does
not procure release from further births. “Disengagement” characterizes those
yoginsfor whom the only reality is the Supreme Self and who, having abandoned
householder life, realize the “union [yoga] of the individual self with the
Supreme Self.” The Vaikha ̄nasasma ̄rtasu ̄tra distinguishes three classes of these
yogins, Sa ̄ran.ga, Eka ̄rs.ya, and Visaraga (or Visaraka), the first two classes com-
prising respectively four (anirodhaka,nirodhaka,ma ̄rgaga,vima ̄rgaga) and five
(du ̄raga,adu ̄raga,bhru ̄madhyaga,asam.bhakta,sam.bhakta) categories. The anirod-
hakasonly practice meditation on Vis.n.u, while the rest of the Sa ̄ran.gas employ
methods known from the classical Yogas ́a ̄stra. Among the Eka ̄rs.yas, the du ̄ragas
meditate on the occult body with its subtle veins (na ̄d.ika ̄), whereas the adu ̄ragas
meditate on the Supreme Self (parama ̄tman). The asam.bhaktaconceives the deity
as the unique object of his sensorial perceptions: he contemplates the deity in its
form, enjoys its perfume, and salutes it, a devotional attitude reminiscent of the
A ̄l
̄
va ̄rs, the Tamil Vais.n.ava saints.
Several groups ofyoginsare disapproved or even rejected. The vima ̄rgagasare
“those who go the wrong way,” probably because they distort the (right) object
of the meditation (which is the Supreme Self, paramapurus.a, according to a late
commentary), although they practice “eight-limbed” (as.t.a ̄n.ga)yoga, consisting
ofyama,niyama,a ̄sana, etc. which the Yogasu ̄tras describe. The bhru ̄madhyagas
are said to be “without authority” (nis.prama ̄n.a). The visaragaclass of yogins
which groups adherents of various currents and doctrines, is condemned.
Qualified as “beasts” (pas ́u) and said to follow the “wrong path” (kupatha), they
reject the possibility of release in their current lifetime. This suggests that the
author of the Vaikha ̄nasasma ̄rtasu ̄tra believes in what is generally known as
release while living. This viewpoint as well as the primacy of Brahman without
quality (nirgun.a) over Brahman with quality (sagun.a) differs from the position of
the later Vais.n.ava Veda ̄ntic school of Vis ́is.t.a ̄dvaita (Colas 1996: 17–44).
Ritualistic and Devotional Traditions
(Sixth to Thirteenth Centuries)
From the sixth century onwards, several Vais.n.ava currents gradually built up a
textual corpus which helped them to fix and define their own tradition.
A ̄l
̄
va ̄rsThe 12 A ̄l
̄
va ̄rs, Tamil poet-saints, composed devotional poems (collected under
the title Na ̄la ̄yira-divyaprabandham in the tenth century) from about the sixth
or the early seventh to about the ninth century. Although they did not form a
homogenous tradition, their influence on other Vais.n.ava currents gives them an
important place in the history of South Indian Vais.n.avism. We know nothing of
their affiliation to any specific Vais.n.ava tradition, if they had any. Periya-a ̄l
̄
va ̄rhistory of vais.n.ava traditions 237