Grantham

tiruvoimozhi

திருவாய்மொழி

Also known as: 4000 divya prabandham, Nammaāzhvār Prabandham, Tamil Veda, Thiruvāimozhi, Tiruvaymozhi, Tiruvāymozhi, nammāzhvār prabandham, thiruvaimozhi, tiruvaimozhi, tiruvay mozhi, tiruvaymozhi, tiruvoimozhi

Meaning

Nammāzhvār's 1000-verse Tamil masterwork — the crown of the Divya Prabandham and the Tamil Veda of Śrī Vaiṣṇavism; accorded the status of the Sāma Veda in the sampradāya's liturgical tradition.

Detailed Explanation

Tiruvāymozhi — The Tamil Veda

Tiruvāymozhi (tiru = sacred + vāy = mouth/speech + mozhi = utterance or language) is Nammāzhvār's celebrated composition of 1,102 pāsurams, conventionally praised as the 'thousand'. It is arranged in ten centums (pattu) and one hundred decads; most decads contain eleven pāsurams, while the full traditional count is 1,102. It is the crown-jewel of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham.

Tamil Sāma Veda: Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition honours Tiruvāymozhi as the Drāviḍa Veda and especially associates it with the Sāma Veda because it is experienced and sung as divine revelation. Nāthamuni is traditionally credited with recovering, arranging, teaching, and establishing the liturgical transmission of the Divya Prabandham. The devotional Sāma-Veda designation should be retained, but it need not be turned into a rigid historical claim that Nāthamuni assigned every Prabandham section to one of the four Sanskrit Vedas or that 1,000 pāsurams numerically equal 1,000 Sāma mantras.

Commentary Tradition: Tiruvāymozhi generated a uniquely rich Maṇipravāḷa exegetical lineage: Tirukkurugai Pirān Piḷḷān's Ārāyirappaṭi (6,000), Nanjīyar's Onbadināyirappaṭi (9,000), Vādikēsari Aḻagiya Maṇavāḷa Jīyar's 12,000-paṭi exposition, Periyavāccān Piḷḷai's 24,000-paṭi, and the Īḍu 36,000-paṭi, which records Nampiḷḷai's exposition as documented by Vaṭakkut Tiruvīdip Piḷḷai. Maṇavāḷa Māmunigaḷ later taught and transmitted the Īḍu tradition with exceptional authority.

Liturgical Life: Tiruvāymozhi is central to Divya Prabandha recitation, especially during the Rāppattu portion of the Adhyayana Utsavam, which concludes with Tiruvāymozhi sāṟṟumuṟai and Nammāzhvār's tiruvaḍi-tozhal in major temple traditions. Iyaṟpā recitation may follow as a separate concluding observance according to the temple calendar. Daily and household recitation patterns vary among temples, lineages, and homes.

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