Pallāṇḍu

The king seated Vishṇuchittar upon the royal elephant and led a grand procession through the streets of the kingdom. People thronged everywhere to see the blessed soul, crying "Bhaṭṭarpirān vāzhga!" Vishṇuchittar wept tears of joy throughout, his palms joined, his mind wholly fixed on the Lord and His mercy.

The Lord Himself could not remain reclining on the Ocean of Milk while such a scene unfolded. He too wished to see His devotee honoured and praised. He appeared in the sky upon Garuḍa with Mahālakshmī, and the whole gathering, the king, the ministers, the people, and even the jealous scholars, beheld Him and His consort upon Garuḍa.

Seeing the Lord, Vishṇuchittar was ecstatic. Using the bells that hung from the elephant to keep the rhythm, he sang:

"Pallāṇḍu, pallāṇḍu, pallāyiraththāṇḍu, pala kōḍi nūrāyiram."

"Many years, many years, many thousands of years, many crores of hundreds of thousands of years."

He was blessing the Lord Himself, wishing that He might live on forever. That is why he is called Periyāzhwār, the elder Āzhwār: for he sought to protect and bless the Lord Himself.

Having received the title Bhaṭṭarpirān, Periyāzhwār continued his service of garlands, and sang Pāsurams on Kaṇṇan. He sang as though he had become the Lord's own mother, Yashodā: bathing Him, feeding Him, dressing Him and playing with Him, imagining and delighting in every sweet trouble that Yashodā had known. The Child's beauty, His mischief and His līlās are all sung by Periyāzhwār, and his Pāsurams are to be read, read again, and cherished.