The Four Works of Nam Āzhwār

Nam Āzhwār gave the essence of the Vedas in Tamizh in the following works.

The Tiruviruttam holds the essence of the Rig Veda. "Tiru" means shrī, sacred. It is a poem of one hundred stanzas of four lines each. Viruttam is a form of poetry, and the word itself means an event; here the event is the soul falling in love with the Supreme Being, told in poetry as bridal mysticism of great sweetness.

The Tiruvāsiriyam holds the essence of the Yajur Veda. It is a poem of seven sections, seven poems of unequal length, seventy-one lines in all. Its unbroken flow, describing the radiant beauty of the Lord, carries the reader to ethereal heights.

The Periya Tiruvandādi holds the essence of the Atharvaṇa Veda. It is a poem of eighty-seven lyrical stanzas, simple and direct, moving and inspiring, and it leads the reader to see the Lord face to face.

The Tiruvāymoḻi holds the essence of the Sāma Veda. Its name means "divine words," and it is the magnum opus of Nam Āzhwār and the great treasure of Sri Vaishṇavam. It consists of 1,102 Pāsurams of four lines each, arranged in groups of eleven; one group, an exception, has thirteen. Each group is itself called a Tiruvāymoḻi, and ten such groups form a pattu, "ten" in Tamizh. The Tiruvāymoḻi therefore has ten pattus, one hundred Tiruvāymoḻis, and 1,102 Pāsurams.

When these Pāsurams are sung together by devotees, their melody is a feast to the ears.