Peyar
Peyar, meaning "one who is mad or intoxicated with god," is regarded as one of the early Tamil āḻvārs, or saints, who devoted his life to the worship of the Hindu god Vishnu. According to tradition, he was born from a red lotus in a temple pond in Mylapore, now part of modern Chennai. Peyar, alongside contemporaries Poykai and Pūtān, composed poetic songs that celebrated their devotion to Vishnu, which played a crucial role in the development of bhakti, or devotional mysticism, in South India. His ecstatic poetry emphasizes a direct, blissful experience of the divine and explores the duality of God, portraying Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi in a harmonious relationship. Peyar's work laid essential groundwork for Śrī Vaishnavism, a theological framework that focuses on divine grace and love as fundamental aspects of creation. His influence was pivotal in the Bhakti Movement, which elevated Vishnu's stature as a significant deity in the region and continues to resonate in contemporary religious practices. Overall, Peyar’s contributions encapsulate a deep spiritual understanding that celebrates both the male and female aspects of divinity.
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Subject Terms
Peyar
Related civilization: South India
Major role/position: Saint
Life
Peyar (PAY-yahr), whose name means “one who is mad or intoxicated with god,” was one of the early Tamil āḻvārs (literally, “one immersed in the experience of god”), or saints, devoted to the cult of the Hindu god Vishnu (Viṣṇu). Tradition asserts that Peyar was born from a red lotus in a temple tank or pond in Mylapore (modern Chennai). He and his contemporaries, Poykai and Pūtān, traveled from place to place, composing beautifully expressed poetic songs devoted to Vishnu. The three laid the foundation for the practice of religious mysticism or bhakti (devotion) in south India.
Peyar’s ecstatic songs encouraged seeking a direct experience with god that is characterized by pure bliss and realization of a state of oneness with the divine. Peyar’s songs record the ways of realizing the manifold personality of god, particularly the eternal bi-unity of the divine as both male and female. Thus, he exalted Nārāyaṇa, or Vishnu, and his consort Śrī, or Lakṣmī. Peyar’s realizations included a profound regard for the divine mother, the source of all. His poetic expressions became central to the entire theology of Śrī Vaishnavism, wherein Śrī is the principle of redemptive grace that operates on and through every function of the god Vishnu. Peyar also asserts that, at the heart of creation, there is a transcendent, transcending love that is supreme power.
Influence
Peyar was instrumental in establishing the Bhakti Movement and fostering the renaissance of Vishnu as an important deity in south India. In particular, he laid the theological foundations for the cult of Śrī Vaishnavism, which remains a powerful religious force in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Prentiss, Karen Pechilis. The Embodyment of Bhakti. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Varadachari, K. C. Alwars of South India. Bombay, India: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1976.