The Tamil Veda
Divya Prabandham (Tamil/Sanskrit: divya = divine + prabandham = composition/composition; 'the divine composition') is the collective name for the 4,000 Tamil devotional verses (pāsurams) composed by the twelve Āzhvārs. It is also called Nālāyira Divya Prabandham (nālāyiram = 4000) and Aruḷicceyal ('what was graciously spoken').
Structure
The received Nālāyira arrangement comprises twenty-four prabandhams. Traditional counting conventions — especially for the two maḍals and the inclusion of Rāmānuja Nūṟṟandādi — bring the collection to the conventional total of four thousand. The guru-paramparā reveres Nāthamunigaḷ for recovering, arranging, teaching, and establishing their temple recitation.
Status and Authority
In the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition, the Divya Prabandham is Drāviḍa Veda — the Tamil Veda — holding the same authority as the Sanskrit Vedas. This is the doctrine of Ubhaya Vedānta. It is recited in temples alongside Vedic chanting, and its pāsurams are treated as mantras of equivalent sanctity. The tradition's entire doctrinal and devotional life flows from these 4,000 verses.