According to tradition, Periyalwar was born at Srivilliputhur to Mukunda Bhattar and Padmavalli and named Vishnuchittar, "the one whose mind rests on Vishnu". He kept a flower garden and wove garlands every day for Vatapatrasayi, the Lord of Srivilliputhur, asking nothing else of life.
The Pandya king Vallabhadeva of Madurai wanted to know who the supreme God is, and hung up a bag of gold for whoever could prove it. Perumal sent Vishnuchittar, a simple garland-maker, to the king's court, and there he showed from the Vedas that Sriman Narayana is the supreme. The bag bent down to him of itself. The king took him through the city on an elephant, and Perumal came in the sky on Garuda, with Thayar, to see His devotee honoured.
Seeing the Lord out in the open before every eye, the Alwar forgot his own honour and feared only that some harm might come to Him. He sang Tiruppallandu (12 verses), wishing the Lord long life and protection. These verses open the Nalayira Divya Prabandham and are the first sung in temples and homes. His Periyalwar Tirumozhi (461 verses) sings as Yashoda of the child Krishna: lullabies, bathing and dressing Him, calling the moon to come and play with Him, His mischief in Gokulam. It also praises many divya desams.
He is called Periya Alwar, the great Alwar, because of this loving care for the Lord's welfare, which the sampradaya counts among the highest of qualities. He is also called Bhattarpiran. In his own garden he found Andal, and he raised her as his daughter.
A pasuram to begin with
Tiruppallandu 1 · verse 1 of the four thousand
When the Lord came out on Garuda in all His beauty, Periyalwar was afraid that some harm might touch Him, and burst into blessing Him. This is mangalasasanam: wishing the Lord well out of love.
Meaning
May You live for many years, many years, many thousands of years, for countless crores of hundreds of thousands of years! O Lord with strong shoulders that overcame the wrestlers, O Lord whose colour is the sapphire's, may protection rest on the beauty of Your red, holy feet.
Word by word
- pallāṇṭu
- many years: a blessing of long life
- mallāṇṭa tiṇ tōḷ
- strong shoulders that overcame the wrestlers, as Krishna did in Mathura
- maṇivaṇṇā
- O Lord whose colour is like a sapphire
- cevvaṭi
- red, beautiful feet
- cevvi
- their beauty
- tirukkāppu
- holy protection
The verse is from the e-text of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Project Madurai. The meaning is a simple rendering in the light of the acharyas' commentaries, and is awaiting a scholar's review.
Ask Sri Paduka about this pasuram →All the pasurams
Periyalwar sang 473 pasurams. Each one is here in English letters, with a simple meaning and the meanings of its key words.