Shivavākyar

As he grew, the young Tirumazhisai resolved to learn about every other faith. He studied the Buddhist, Jain and other traditions, and for a time became a staunch devotee of Shiva, taking the name Shivavākyar. One day he came upon an old man planting a sapling upside down and trying to water it with a broken pot, lowered on a frayed rope into a dry well. Shivavākyar asked him why he was doing something so foolish.

The old man was none other than Pey Āzhwār, and he replied that what he was doing was far less foolish than Shivavākyar's allegiance to Shaivam, when the Vedas and Smritis plainly proclaim Sriman Nārāyaṇa as the Supreme.

After much discussion with Pey Āzhwār, he was at last initiated into Sri Vaishṇavam by him. Having worshipped at many temples, he came to Tiruvekhā, the birthplace of Poigai Āzhwār. Tirumazhisai Āzhwār himself describes this journey:

"Sākkiyam kaṭrōm, samaṇam kaṭrōm,

Shankaranār ākkiya āgama nūl ārāindhōm;

bhāgyaththāl sengaṭ kariyānaich sērndhōm."

"We learned Sākkiyam (Buddhism) and Samaṇam (Jainism), and we examined in depth the āgamas composed by Shankara. All of it led us astray. By good fortune alone, we came to the dark Lord with eyes like red lotuses, as Sri Vaishṇavas."