Periyazhvar is the foremost of the Alvars in Vaishnava tradition. Born in the Pandya country near Madurai, he is remembered above all for his love of the Lord. His birth name was Vishnucitta.
His Thiruppallandu is the first prabandham of the 4000, and the Periyazhvar Thirumozhi sings the child Krishna at play in four hundred and sixty-one verses. He is the first to have seen the Lord as a child and sung him so.
இறைவனை ஒருமுறை தரிசித்த பெரியாழ்வார், அந்த அழகுக்கு எந்தத் தீங்கும் வரக்கூடாதே என்று வாழ்த்தத் தொடங்கினார். இறைவனுக்கு எவரும் தீங்கு செய்ய முடியாது என்று தெரிந்தும், அவன் அழகில் மயங்கிய அன்பு அஞ்சியது.\n\nஅந்த அஞ்சல் பாடலாகி, இன்று வைணவக் கோயில்களில் இறைவனுக்கு முதல் வாழ்த்தாக ஓதப்படுகிறது.
Having once seen the Lord, Periyazhvar began to bless him, praying that no harm come to that beauty. He knew nothing could ever harm the Lord; it was love that made him afraid.\n\nThat fear became a song, and today it is chanted in Vaishnava temples as the first blessing offered to the Lord.
