Nammalvar is revered as a great mystic saint and his works have been accorded the authority of scriptures.The task of interpreting him began a thousand years ago and has resulted in commentaries some of which have now almost as much validity as the Alvar’s words .
The Srivaishnava tradition places Svami Nammalvar as the fifth among the Alvars in order of birth but gives him the foremost place in sanctity and hails him as Kulapati.Voluminous commentaries in Manipravala (a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil) have been written on Nammalvar’s works and elaborate and learned attempts have been made to deduce the theology of Sri Ramanuja from all that he has been written.It is said that Svami Nammalvar is the avatar of Vishvaksena. All the works of Nammalvar portray the progress of the soul to the ultimate.
