Vishnu and who had a considerable knowledge of ancient Tamil literature and its variants of traditional stories concerning Vishnu and his associates, as well as the philosophical differences between Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Madhurakavi Alvar was his first disciple. Swami Madhurakavi Alvar composed 11 pasurams in praise of his Acharya, Swami Nammalvar known as Kanninun Siruthambu, which are included among the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Work He contributed four pieces of works to Divya Prabhandham. These works consisted of 1,296 poems, making him the most prolific contributor to the 4,000 hymns written by the Alvar poet-saints. These works are: Tiruvaymoli (1102 verses) Tiruviruttam (100 verses) Tiruvasiriyam (7 verses) Periya Tiruvantati (87 verses) Tiruvaymoli describes Ranganatha as a metaphor for discussing the philosophical details in The nature of the paramatma (divine soul) The nature of the jeevatma (living soul) The means for the jeevatma (living soul) to attain the goal of Paramatma (divine soul) The blocks and hurdles on the way and The goal moksha (divinity). In the Sri Vaishnava canon, these four represent (in Tamil language) the four Sanskrit vedas, respectively, the Sama Veda, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. According to tradition "He poured the cream of these vedas" into his songs and poetry that were the result of deep mystic experience. Though Nammalvar did not visit any of the 108 divyadesam temples talked about in the Vaishnava religion, it appears from his works he must have had the vision of all the archa forms in the temples he glorified in his hymns. Style of composition The distinction of Nammalvar with his contemporaries is above the devotional aspects in writing, the visualization and dramatic movement. He mentions Vishnu in various aspects frequently in all his verses. The poems of Tiruvirrutam are depicted fully between the lone context of the hero and heroine. Most of these are utterances of the hero, heroine, her friends to the heroine or her mother to the heroine. The heroine always perceives his hero, Vishnu everywhere around her. As per Varadachari, Tiruviruttam is "an account of the pilgrimage of the soul to its transcendence over its ignorance, sleep and sloth in which it is caught up in the body". While medieval poetry is considered self-pity and repentance, his works always have a message of hope. Culture Nammalvar is regarded as the one of the top three Hindu mystics in India, with the other two being