Yamunacharya or
Alavandar was a
vishistadvaita philosopher in
Srirangam,
Tamil Nadu, India.
Ramanuja, one of the leaders of the srivaishnava school sought to be his disciple. He was born in early 10th century CE and was the grandson of a Brahmin, Nathamuni.
Nathamuni was a famed
yogi who collected to the works of Tamil
alvars. He grew up learning
Vedic texts from Rama Misra also known as Manakkal Nambi and was skilled in
mimansa. Sirvaishnavite legend relates this history—As a teenager he challenged the royal priest Akkiyalvan of the
Pandya king (the name of the king is disputed). Akkiyalvan, when he saw the age of the youth, asked sarcastically "alavandara?" meaning "has he come to rule me?". He defeated Akkiyalvan by proving through the accepted rules of logic that Akkiyalvan's mother was barren, the king was not righteous and the queen unchaste. The king and queen, impressed that the boy has understood the shortcomings of logic, adopted him.The queen hailed the boy as "Alavandhaar"- the saviour. In other versions of the legend, he is given half the kingdom. There is no historical record to show his reign so it is possible that this happened in a smaller village rather than the kingdom of Pandya.
