Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 6

 

Dhyana shloka - 2

 

              

(Under the banyan tree, seated near him on the ground, is an assembly of all the Munis, who come to listen to the knowledge he imparts.

To that Teacher of the three worlds, the Lord Sri Dakshinamurti who destroys the misery of births and deaths, to Him do I bow down).

 

Vata-Vitapi-Samipe: The Lord’s classes are held “under the banyan tree”. This is one of the most auspicious venues to conduct spiritual learning classes.

The banyan tree itself signifies knowledge in all its numerous branches. Like the wide-spreading banyan tree, knowledge, too, has no end. New branches go on forming.

In addition, the peculiarity of these branches is that each branch takes root directly in the ground. This has great significance of its own. It tells us something about the transmission of knowledge. The students who come to learn are like the branches. 

Even today “Shantiniketan” – the school founded by Rabindranath Tagore, follows this tradition.

After having learnt, they become teachers themselves like the main trunk of the tree. They in turn teach other students. And so, the knowledge is perpetuated from generation to generation.

Nishannam: Has the same root as Upanishad, strongly suggesting the link between the venue and its choice to study the Upanishads. It suggests that the knowledge being taught is the wisdom of the Upanishads.

As mentioned in the same Pada of the first verse, it is repeated that the students who are assembled to listen to the Dakshinamurti stotram are highly qualified teachers in their own right. Thus, the teaching to be given is of a very advanced nature.

The Teacher is Lord Shiva Himself. He teaches beings that dwell in heavenly worlds, on earth, and those who dwell in the intermediate region in between.

Shri Dakshinamurti is the source of all spiritual knowledge. He is the Lord as teacher of all the three worlds

The three worlds are a common mythological expression for the whole universe. It includes the earth, the heavens and the space in between typically refers to the entire universe. He is the God in the form of Dakshinamurti.

 

Janana marana Duhkha: This is the benefit one derives from the knowledge studied under the Guru. It hauls one out of Samsara, attended as it is with endless births and deaths, each life filled with the sorrow of separation from the Divine. Knowledge burns ignorance as a forest fire rages through a forest burning down everything in its path.

Shri Dakshinamurti is also described as skillful. He is capable of destroying or removing sorrows / sufferings due to birth and death.

I worship that Dakshinamurti.

Swami writes,

“The task of the farmer who cultivates the crop is a good example of this; if you pay attention to this, the truth will be known, and doubts will vanish. Before sowing the seed on a plot of land, the farmer removes all the wild growth, the bush, the scrub, and the other small growths. 

But that is not enough to bring the harvest home. The plot must be watered, and made ready for the sowing; then the sprouts have to be fostered and guarded into maturity until the crop ripens. Then it can be collected and garnered in the granary.

“Similarly, the thorny bushes of affection, hate, envy, pride, etc. have to be uprooted from the region of the heart, and the field has to be ploughed by means of ‘good deeds’. 

Then the saplings of bliss (ananda) have to be planted therein; the growing crop has to be fostered attentively by discipline and faith; at last, as a result of all this effort, the harvest of bliss will fill one’s granary. 

The mere removal of hate from the heart will not ensure bliss. Love too should be cultivated. That is to say, uproot hate and plant love. The devotee must first be full of love and free from hate. Besides, the love must express itself as service to the distressed and the grieving, declared Gopala.”

(Gita Vahini)

Does a Guru really remove the sorrows of his disciple?

Does the shloka says so?

The verse says, “He removes the misery of birth and death (Janana Marana Dukha)”

All other miseries or pleasant experiences which the disciple has to go through, the Guru does not interfere in that, as those are all part of the Karma which the disciple has to clear.

But the Guru removes the greatest or the worst misery from his (sincere) disciple’s heart.

And that is the misery of transmigration, birth, death and rebirth, which the disciple has been going on for so many births before the Guru walked into his life at the chosen moment when the acute prarabdha of the disciple got cleared and he was in a prepared state to accept his Guru whole heartedly and to offer himself, his entire ego, at the feet of his guru.

The removal of misery of birth and death is worked by the Guru in 2 stages,

1)   The Guru, putting his sincere mumukshu disciple into all the sacred and profound teachings of Upanishads, removes the fear of death from his disciple’s mind.

As Swami says, “heart is a single chair, not a sofa cum   bed”, the disciple has now plunged into the Sravana, Manana, Nidhidhysana of his master’s teachings. 

(single-chair) and he has no mind or will to think about even death!!

2) Ultimately, all the sadhana which the disciple undertakes under the reverential feet of his master, the disciple attains realization at the chosen time, with the grace of his guru and God. With this, the disciple not only goes beyond the fear of death, but he actually goes beyond this cycle of birth and death and does once, never to be born again.

Disciple: What is guru’s grace? How does it lead to Self-realization?

Sri Ramana: "Guru is the Self…. Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied with it, and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires, through prayer to God etc. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain His grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God’s grace begins to manifest. 

God takes the form of a guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee’s mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. That calm expanse is the Self.

The Guru is both ‘external’ and ‘internal’. 

From the ‘exterior’ he gives a push to the mind to turn inward;

(This is described as the 1st process- removing the fear of death, in the post)

From the ‘interior’ He pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is guru’s grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self."

(This is the 2nd step described in today's post where the Guru guides his disciple to go beyond death and attain amrtatvam (Liberation).

Love.