The Gracious Word
Aruḷicceyal (Tamil: aruḷ = grace, icceyal = utterance/doing) means literally "the gracious utterances" — the Divya Prabandham verses not as human compositions but as the overflow of divine grace through the Āzhvārs. The term reflects the Sri Vaishnava understanding that the Āzhvārs did not compose these verses by effort but received them as divya-prabandham (divine revelation) from Bhagavān himself.
Divya Prabandham and Veda
The Sri Vaishnava tradition places the Aruḷicceyal (Divya Prabandham) alongside the Sanskrit Veda as a pramāṇa (valid source of knowledge about the Lord). This "dual Vedic" (ubhaya-vedānta) stance — Tamil and Sanskrit together — is foundational to the Sri Vaishnava sampradāya.
Nāthamuni organized the 4,000 verses into the four Vedas of Tamil:
- Mudalāyiram (First Thousand) — Rig Veda equivalent
- Periya Tirumozhi (the big middle section)
- Mūppattāṟāyiram (Third-Thirty-Six hundred)
- Tiruvāymozhi (1,102 verses) — Sāma Veda, the crown
Recitation in Temples
The Aruḷicceyal is recited daily in all Sri Vaishnava Divya Desam temples during the tiruvarādhanam. The annual Adhyayanotsavam at Śrīraṅgam and other temples is a 20-day festival of continuous recitation of the entire Divya Prabandham.