Sri Dakshinamurthy

Stotra

translated by T.M.P.Mahadevan

Dakshinamurti

click to see a large image

॥ शांतिपाठः ॥
ॐ यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति पूर्वम्
यो वै वेदांश्च प्रहिणोति तस्मै ।
तं ह देवमात्मबुद्धिप्रकाशं
मुमुक्षुर्वै शरणमहं प्रपद्ये ॥
ॐ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः

|| śāṃtipāṭhaḥ ||
oṃ yo brahmāṇaṃ vidadhāti pūrvam
yo vai vedāṃśca prahiṇoti tasmai |
taṃ ha devamātmabuddhiprakāśaṃ
mumukṣurvai śaraṇamahaṃ prapadye ||
   oṃ śāṃtiḥ śāṃtiḥ śāṃtiḥ

I praise Dakśinamurti, the handsome youth who has expounded the truth of non-duality by eloquent silence, who is surrounded by a group of disciples consisting of aged sages who are absorbed in the contemplation of the supreme Self, who is the prince among preceptors, who by his hand (i.e., by the union of his thumb and the fore-finger) shows the sign indicating the identity of the individual soul and the supreme Self, who is the embodiment of bliss, who delights in the Self, and who has a charming face.

विश्वं दर्पणदृश्यमाननगरीतुल्यं निजान्तर्गतं
पश्यन्नात्मनि मायया बहिरिवोद्भूतं यथा निद्रया ।
यः साक्षात्कुरुते प्रबोधसमये स्वात्मानमेवाद्वयं
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ १॥ 

viśvaṃ darpaṇadṛśyamānanagarītulyaṃ nijāntargataṃ
paśyannātmani māyayā bahirivodbhūtaṃ yathā nidrayā |
yaḥ sākṣātkurute prabodhasamaye svātmānamevādvayaṃ
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 1 ||

 1.   To Him who by maya as by dream, sees within Himself the universe which is inside Him, like unto a city that is seen in a mirror, (but) which is manifested as if without: to Him who apprehends, at the time of awakening, His own non-dual Self: to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti may this obeisance be!

बीजस्यान्तरिवाङ्कुरो जगदिदं प्राङ्निर्विकल्पं पुनः
मायाकल्पितदेशकालकलनावैचित्र्यचित्रीकृतम् ।
मायावीव विजृम्भयत्यपि महायोगीव यः स्वेच्छया
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ २॥

bījasyāntarivāṅkuro jagadidaṃ prāṅnirvikalpaṃ punaḥ
māyākalpitadeśakālakalanāvaicitryacitrīkṛtam |
māyāvīva vijṛmbhayatyapi mahāyogīva yaḥ svecchayā
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 2 ||

 2.  To Him who, like a magician or a great Yogin, displays, by His own will, this universe which at the beginning is undifferentiated like the sprout in the seed, but which is made again differentiated under the varied conditions of space and time posited by maya: to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti may this obeisance be!

यस्यैव स्फुरणं सदात्मकमसत्कल्पार्थकं भासते
साक्षात्तत्त्वमसीति वेदवचसा यो बोधयत्याश्रितान् ।
यत्साक्षात्करणाद्भवेन्न पुनरावृत्तिर्भवाम्भोनिधौ
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ३॥

yasyaiva sphuraṇaṃ sadātmakamasatkalpārthakaṃ bhāsate
sākṣāttattvamasīti vedavacasā yo bodhayatyāśritān |
yatsākṣātkaraṇādbhavenna punarāvṛttirbhavāmbhonidhau
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 3 ||

 3.  To Him whose luminosity alone, which is of the nature of Existence, shines forth entering the objective world which is like unto the non-existent: to Him who instructs those who resort to him through the Vedic text “That thou art’: to Him by realizing whom there will be no more return to the ocean of transmigration: to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti, may this obeisance be!

नानाच्छिद्रघटोदरस्थितमहादीपप्रभाभास्वरं
ज्ञानं यस्य तु चक्षुरादिकरणद्वारा बहिः स्पन्दते ।
जानामीति तमेव भान्तमनुभात्येतत्समस्तं जगत्
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ४॥

nānācchidraghaṭodarasthitamahādīpaprabhābhāsvaraṃ
jñānaṃ yasya tu cakṣurādikaraṇadvārā bahiḥ spandate |
jānāmīti tameva bhāntamanubhātyetatsamastaṃ jagat
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 4 ||

 4.  To Him who is luminous like the light of a great lamp set in the belly of a pot with many holes: to Him whose knowledge moves outward through the eye and other organs: to Him, who shining as ‘I know’, all the entire universe shines after: to Him of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti, may this obeisance be!

देहं प्राणमपीन्द्रियाण्यपि चलां बुद्धिं च शून्यं विदुः
स्त्रीबालान्धजडोपमास्त्वहमिति भ्रान्ता भृशं वादिनः ।
मायाशक्तिविलासकल्पितमहा व्यामोहसंहारिणे
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ५॥

dehaṃ prāṇamapīndriyāṇyapi calāṃ buddhiṃ ca śūnyaṃ viduḥ
strībālāndhajaḍopamāstvahamiti bhrāntā bhṛśaṃ vādinaḥ |
māyāśaktivilāsakalpitamahā vyāmohasaṃhāriṇe
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 5 ||

 5.  They who know the ‘I’ as body, breath, senses, the changing intellect, or the void, are deluded like women and children, and the blind and the stupid and talk much. To Him who destroys the great delusion posited by the sport of maya’s power: to Him of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti may this obeisance be!

राहुग्रस्तदिवाकरेन्दुसदृशो मायासमाच्छादनात्
सन्मात्रः करणोपसंहरणतो योऽभूत्सुषुप्तः पुमान् ।
प्रागस्वाप्समिति प्रबोधसमये यः प्रत्यभिज्ञायते
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ६॥

rāhugrastadivākarendusadṛśo māyāsamācchādanāt
sanmātraḥ karaṇopasaṃharaṇato yo'bhūtsuṣuptaḥ pumān |
prāgasvāpsamiti prabodhasamaye yaḥ pratyabhijñāyate
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 6 ||

 6.  To the Self, who in sleep becomes pure Existence, on the withdrawal of the veiling by maya, like unto the sun or the moon, in eclipse, and on waking recognizes, ‘I have slept till now’: to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti, may this obeisance be!

बाल्यादिष्वपि जाग्रदादिषु तथा सर्वास्ववस्थास्वपि
व्यावृत्तास्वनुवर्तमानमहमित्यन्तः स्फुरन्तं सदा ।
स्वात्मानं प्रकटीकरोति भजतां यो मुद्रया भद्रया
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ७॥

bālyādiṣvapi jāgradādiṣu tathā sarvāsvavasthāsvapi
vyāvṛttāsvanuvartamānamahamityantaḥ sphurantaṃ sadā |
svātmānaṃ prakaṭīkaroti bhajatāṃ yo mudrayā bhadrayā
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 7 ||

 7.  To Him who, by means of the blessed hand-pose, manifests to His devotees His own Self that, for ever, shines within as ‘I’, constantly, in all the inconstant states such as infancy, etc., and waking, etc., to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti, may this obeisance be!

विश्वं पश्यति कार्यकारणतया स्वस्वामिसंबन्धतः
शिष्याचार्यतया तथैव पितृपुत्राद्यात्मना भेदतः ।
स्वप्ने जाग्रति वा य एष पुरुषो मायापरिभ्रामितः
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ८॥

viśvaṃ paśyati kāryakāraṇatayā svasvāmisaṃbandhataḥ
śiṣyācāryatayā tathaiva pitṛputrādyātmanā bhedataḥ |
svapne jāgrati vā ya eṣa puruṣo māyāparibhrāmitaḥ
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 8 ||

 8.  To the Self who, deluded by maya sees, in dreaming and waking, the universe in its distinctions, such as cause and effect, property and proprietor, disciple and teacher, and father and son, likewise – to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti may this obeisance be!

भूरम्भांस्यनलोऽनिलोऽम्बरमहर्नाथो हिमांशुः पुमान्
इत्याभाति चराचरात्मकमिदं यस्यैव मूर्त्यष्टकम् ।
नान्यत्किञ्चन विद्यते विमृशतां यस्मात्परस्माद्विभोः
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ९॥

bhūrambhāṃsyanalo'nilo'mbaramaharnātho himāṃśuḥ pumān
ityābhāti carācarātmakamidaṃ yasyaiva mūrtyaṣṭakam |
nānyatkiñcana vidyate vimṛśatāṃ yasmātparasmādvibhoḥ
tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye || 9 ||

 9.  To Him whose eightfold form is all this moving and unmoving universe, appearing as earth, water, fire, air, ether, the sun, the moon and soul: beyond whom, supreme and all-pervading, there exists nought else for those who enquire – to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Dakśinamurti may this obeisance be!

सर्वात्मत्वमिति स्फुटीकृतमिदं यस्मादमुष्मिन् स्तवे
तेनास्य श्रवणात्तदर्थमननाद्ध्यानाच्च सङ्कीर्तनात् ।
सर्वात्मत्वमहाविभूतिसहितं स्यादीश्वरत्वं स्वतः  var  ततः
सिद्ध्येत्तत्पुनरष्टधा परिणतं चैश्वर्यमव्याहतम् ॥ १०॥

sarvātmatvamiti sphuṭīkṛtamidaṃ yasmādamuṣmin stave
tenāsya śravaṇāttadarthamananāddhyānācca saṅkīrtanāt |
sarvātmatvamahāvibhūtisahitaṃ syādīśvaratvaṃ svataḥ  var  tataḥ
siddhyettatpunaraṣṭadhā pariṇataṃ caiśvaryamavyāhatam || 10 ||

10.  Since, in this hymn, the All-Self-hood has thus been explained, by hearing this, by reflecting on its meaning, by meditating on it, and by reciting, there will naturally come about lordship (Isvaratva) together with the supreme splendour consisting in All-Self-hood; and the unimpeded supernormal power presenting itself in eight forms will be achieved again.

The pictures above illustrate this Sanskrit verse of Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni

दक्षिनामूर्ति सारम्भाम्
शंकराचर्य मध्यमाम्।
रमणाचर्य पर्यन्ताम्
वन्दे गुरुपरम्पराम्॥

dakṣināmūrti sārambhām
śaṁkarācarya madhyamām।
ramaṇācarya paryantām
vande guruparamparām॥

Obeisance to the line of Preceptors
With Dakshinamurti in the beginning,
Sankara in the middle
and Ramana in the end!

Citations

other pages where Sri Dakshinamurthy is mentioned: