Ananyopēyatva — Bhagavān Alone as the Goal
Ananyopēyatva (from ananya = not-other, upēya = goal or what is to be attained, -tva = the quality of) describes the soul's complete orientation of desire toward Bhagavān alone as its ultimate goal. It is the counterpart to ananyopāyatva: where that disposition governs the means, ananyopēyatva governs the ends. Together they capture the prapanna's total surrender — not merely in method but in motivation.
The Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition identifies several possible misidentifications of the soul's true goal. Material pleasures (bhoga) in this life or the next represent the most obvious misdirection. Beyond these, the Upaniṣadic concept of kaivalya — the state in which the jīva rests in isolated self-enjoyment, withdrawn from all external relationships — is also identified as an insufficient and even regrettable goal. From the Śrī Vaiṣṇava standpoint, kaivalya, though it may seem like liberation, is actually a subtle form of self-enclosure: the soul remains focused on itself rather than on Bhagavān. Nammāḷvār's anguish in the Tiruvāymoḷi arises partly from the intolerable notion that the soul might dwell in isolation from Bhagavān.
The true upēya, in Śrī Vaiṣṇava theology, is nityakiṅkarya — eternal service at the feet of Bhagavān in Paramapadha. This is not passive absorption into the Absolute but an active, blissful, unending engagement with Bhagavān — seeing His form, hearing His name, serving His will, participating in the joy of His eternal court. Ananyopēyatva is the name for the disposition that refuses any substitute for this and holds the soul open in constant longing for it.
The Āzhvārs are the supreme exemplars of ananyopēyatva. Periyāḷvār asks only for the joy of seeing Bhagavān's divine form. Āṇḍāḷ in the Nācchiyār Tirumoḷi refuses even heavenly pleasures — she desires only to serve Bhagavān as His inseparable companion. When paired with ananyopāyatva, ananyopēyatva completes the architecture of prapatti: a soul that wants nothing but Bhagavān, approached by no means but Bhagavān, resting in Bhagavān alone.