Guṇam — The Auspicious Divine Qualities of Bhagavān
Guṇam (Sanskrit plural guṇāḥ; Tamil guṇam or kuṇam) in Śrī Vaiṣṇava theology refers specifically and primarily to the kalyāṇa guṇas — the supremely auspicious, infinite attributes of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. These must be sharply distinguished from the three guṇas of Prakṛti (sattva, rajas, tamas), which condition and bind the material world. Bhagavān's guṇas are transcendent, eternal, infinite in depth and variety, and constitute the very ground of devotion, upāsanā, and the Āzhvārs' poetry.
The six primary guṇas: The Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Āchārya texts identify six guṇas as the core of Bhagavān's supreme identity — the ṣaḍ-guṇas: (1) Jñāna — omniscience, perfect and all-encompassing; (2) Śakti — infinite power, the capacity to sustain and direct all that exists; (3) Bala — inexhaustible strength; (4) Aiśvarya — sovereign lordship and absolute independence; (5) Vīrya — tireless heroic energy; and (6) Tejas — self-luminous effulgence. Around these six, the Āchāryas elaborate dozens of further kalyāṇa guṇas: vātsalya (parental tenderness), sauśīlya (gracious condescension to the lowly), saulabhya (easy accessibility), kāruṇya (compassion), mādhurya (sweetness), audārya (magnanimity).
Guṇānubhava — the Āzhvārs' gift: The Āzhvārs composed their 4,000 Divya Prabandham pāsurams as acts of guṇānubhava — the savoured, ever-deepening personal experience of Bhagavān's kalyāṇa guṇas. Nammāzhvār's Tiruvāymozhi opens with the declaration that Bhagavān is the guṇas themselves, the universe itself, and the inner teacher of all beings. Thirumangai Āzhvār's Periya Thirumozhi is above all a prolonged, ecstatic guṇānubhava of the Lord as encountered in one Divya Dēśa after another. The Āchāryas teach that guṇānubhava is both sādhanā (the means) and a component of the sādhya (the very goal): in Paramapadam, the muktas continue deepening their wonder at Bhagavān's inexhaustible guṇas for eternity.
Guṇas in Vedic revelation: The Veda in its entirety — including the Upaniṣads, the Viṣṇu Sūkta, and the Puruṣa Sūkta — reveals Bhagavān's svarūpam (essential nature), rūpam (form), guṇams (auspicious qualities), vibhūti (sovereign wealth), and ceṣṭitams (wondrous deeds). Guṇams form the heart of this revelation, for they are the most immediately accessible dimension of Bhagavān's reality — they are what the soul encounters and is drawn by, what fuels bhakti, and what expands without limit in the experience of mokṣa.