Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 1

SRI DAKSHINAMURTHY STOTRAM

Sri Dakshinamurti Stotram is written by Adi Shankaracharya. It is most profound Advaita Vedanta and extra ordinarily beautiful poetry. 

Verses in this stotra are rich in Vedantic teachings. At the same time, they are presented in very elegant poetic manner. It is a wonderful prayer. It is the prayer to the Lord Shiva. It is filled with pious Vedantic teachings.

This stotram is addressed to a form of Lord Shiva known as “Dakshinamurti”. It is important to understand the meaning of Dakshinamurti.

The word “Dakshinamurti” is a samasa (composition). It has two ways to break the composition:

 

1.      Yasya murti Dakshina abhimukha

One whose murti (form) is facing South. Here, Dakshina means south.

 

2.     Dakshin Amurti

Dakshinascha asau amurtischa iti saha

One who is Dakshin and also Amurti (both adjectives). One who is skillful and formless.

Here Dakshina means Skillful. Skillful in removing the ignorance.

Traditionally, south direction is considered inauspicious direction as it is associated with death, ignorance and all the things that are undesirable in life. That is why; in some tradition people are cautious of directions while sleeping. 

They keep head towards south. It symbolically represents that ignorance needs to be removed through knowledge.

In Hindusim, the south is regarded as the direction of death, which subtly implies the demise of the old making way, for the new. Hence, the south is regarded as Shiva’s domain since he is responsible for the destruction of the old. 

Lord Dakshinamurthy is a powerful Avatar of the Hindu God Shiva, who appears as a Guru (teacher) to guide one on the right path. This divine form of Lord Shiva is the personification of all types of knowledge and symbolizes awareness, understanding and wisdom. 

He is also revered as a teacher of the arts like yoga, music, meditation and various other artistic abilities. Shiva is considered as the master of the Shastras and his expositions of these texts are unparalleled. In Hindu philosophy, having a Guru is all important and those who do not have one are advised to consider Lord Dakshinamurthy as their teacher.

 

Depiction of Lord Dakshinamurthy

 

The Avatar of Lord Shiva as Jnana Dakshinamurthy is generally depicted with four arms and seated under a banyan tree facing the south. He is shown seated upon a deer-skin with several sages listening in rapt attention to his teachings. His right foot is placed on the mythical demon of ignorance ‘Apasmara’ and his left foot is folded on his lap. 

One of his upper arms wields a snake or rosary and the other holds a flame. His lower right hand is shown in the Vyakhyanamudra posture and the lower left is shown grasping a bundle of kusha grass which represents the Holy Scriptures. His fingers symbolize the ‘Gnana/chin Mudra’ pertaining to knowledge and wisdom. Lord Dakshinamurthy is always immersed in a deep yogic state of meditation and represents the potent force of ever flowing bliss indicative of supreme joy. Several seers portray him as the absolute hidden power inherent in all enlightened ‘Gurus’ or teachers.

Dakshinamurthy’s chin mudra conveyed much more than words could ever convey. In the cin mudra, the thumb and the index finger are brought together, and this indicates the jivatma-Paramatma connection. 

The thumb indicates the Paramatma and the forefinger is the jivatma. These two are brought together in the cin mudra. The other three fingers represent the three malams (impurities) that stand in the way of our attainment of liberation. The three malams are anava (ego), kanma (effects of our actions) and maayai (illusion). 

When these three impurities are conquered, the jivatma reaches Him. These three malams keep our connection to the material world alive. In their absence, the jivatma automatically comes close to the Paramatma. This is what Lord Siva, as Dakshinamurthy, points out through His cin mudra.

Significance of Lord Dakshinamurthy

In keeping with the Indian tradition of holding the teacher in the highest esteem, Lord Dakshinamurthy embodies all the aspects of emulation and reverence. He is the ultimate Guru or teacher in Hindu culture, as the propagator of knowledge and dispeller of ignorance. His limbs and body denote various aspects of the enlightened man and signify his willingness to impart knowledge to whoever seeks him out.

Once a devotee came to visit Bhagawan Baba and said that the great Sages of the past had travelled extensively preaching the Truth and thus had served the world at large. Similarly, if Bhagavan were to travel thus it would be beneficial to many. Smilingly, Bhagawan replied, that His being settled in one place is also beneficial and narrated the following story.

“Brahma, the Lord of Creation, once lost interest in the work of creation and thought of taking to a life of tapas (penance). So, out of his mind he created Sanaka, Sanatkumaru, Sanandana and Sanatsujata, with the intention to hand over to them his job in the course of time. They grew up and mastered all of the branches of study. Brahma then decided to hand over to them his job and to retire. Sage Narada came to know of his father’s intention. 

Since Narada knew that his brothers were full of dispassion and fit to be initiated into the path of Self-knowledge, he decided to warn them beforehand of Brahma’s intention. On hearing this, the four brothers, who had no intention to follow the path of action, left home in search of a Guru without informing their father. 

They all proceeded to Vaikunta, the abode of Vishnu.

There they saw Lakshmi sitting on Vishnu’s couch massaging His feet. On seeing this, they thought, “How can this family man bound by the intimate glance of his consort render us any help in learning adhyatma-vidya (Knowledge of the Self). Look at the splendour of this palace and this city! This is enough. Let us seek the help of Lord Siva”.

Lord Siva, who was in Kailas with His family, knew beforehand about their coming and understood their plight. He was sure that they would be disappointed on seeing him with a family, so taking pity on them, He decided to impart spiritual knowledge to them. 

The kind-hearted Lord, left Mount Kailas and taking the youthful form of Dakshinamurti, seated Himself with Chinmudra (lotus position), under a Banyan tree on the Northern side of Lake Manasarovar, just on the way by which these disappointed devotees were returning to their respective homes.

When they came and sat before Him, He went into samadhi (Absorption in the Self). He was in Perfect Repose. Silence prevailed. They saw Him. The effect was immediate. They fell into samadhi and their doubts were cleared.

Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced. Others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore they require words to explain the Truth. But Truth is beyond words. It does not admit or explain. It merely indicates the truth through self-discovery.”

 

Love.

PS : As we begin the sacred journey of contemplation of this stotram, seekers can / may listen to this stotram as per this link, daily once, in the Brahma Muhurtham.