Periyāzhvār

The Great Āzhvār

Periyāzhvār ('The Great Āzhvār') — also known as Viṣṇucittaṉ ('one whose mind is filled with Viṣṇu') — was born at Śrī Villiputtūr and is famed as the foster-father of Āṇḍāḷ. Tradition holds that he found the infant Āṇḍāḷ beneath a Tulasī plant in his garden and raised her as his daughter.

Tirumoli and Thiruppallāṇḍu

Periyāzhvār composed the Periyāzhvār Tirumoli — 473 verses celebrating Kṛṣṇa's childhood (bāla-lilā): His birth, crawling, butter-stealing, and playful boyhood. This work expresses the vātsalya (parental love) bhāva most purely in the Divya Prabandham.

He also composed Tiruppallāṇḍu ('Long Live!') — just 12 verses that serve as the opening of the entire Nālāyira Divya Prabandham. In it, Periyāzhvār wishes the Lord 'Long live!' (maṅgaḷāśāsanam) — an inversion of the conventional devotional posture that moves the commentarial tradition deeply.

Royal Recognition

Periyāzhvār is said to have defeated court pandits in a royal debate at Madurai by establishing Viṣṇu's supremacy, after which the king showered him with gold — which Periyāzhvār offered entirely to Bhagavān. Bhagavān is said to have appeared in the sky to witness this act of selfless devotion.