Once, Bhattar was explaining the 30th pasuram of Thiruppavai. When he came to words "mAdhavanai kEsavanai" in the pasuram, he did the following. He showed his mouth when explaining the word "mAdhavanai" and acted as if he was going to spit when he was explaining the word "kEsavanai".

Bhattar explained the Lord's thirunamas thus. As the Lord churned the milky ocean, a number of things came out and He distributed to them to different people. When the poison came out, He gave it to Shiva. When the nectar came out, He distributed that to the Devas. When Sri Mahalakshmi came out, He kept Her for Himself. When Bhattar explained this, he said "The true nectar that came out was Thayar. The Lord kept Her for Himself and gave the remainder (amrut), which is what is left after the essence has been taken out, to the Devas ('kaNNudhal nanjchuNNak kaNdavanE, viNNavar amudhuNa amudhil varum peNNamudhuNda emperumAnE' - Periya Thirumozhi 6-1-2)".

The name "mAdhava" shows that He is the consort of Thayar. The name "kEshava" shows that He is the Lord of the Devas. Therefore, Bhattar showed his mouth when explaining the name 'mAdhavanai' ('aNNikum amudhURum'), and acted as if to spit when explaining the name "kEsavanai" ('like we would do with the remainder after the essence is extracted').