Dakshinamurthy Stotram

About this stotra

The Dakshinamurthy Stotram is Adi Shankaracharya's hymn to Shiva as the silent Guru of all knowledge — the young teacher seated under the banyan tree, teaching through silence to sages older than himself. It is one of the most profound texts of Advaita Vedanta, explaining the nature of reality and the Self through ten verses of rare philosophical depth.
The Dakshinamurti Stotra is a Sanskrit religious hymn to Shiva by Sri Adi Shankaracharya. It explains the metaphysics of the universe in the frame of the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. In the Hindu mythology, Dakshinamurti is an incarnation of Shiva, the supreme god of knowledge. Repeated chanting and/or meditating on the meaning of these verses is expected to help a spiritual practitioner of Advaita vedanta get thoroughly established in an Advaitic experience.
Here is a link to the PDF of a book on Dakshinmurthy Stotram and the commentary (Vārtikam) upon these ten stanzas by Sankara's great disciple Śrī Sureśvarācārya. This commentary is entitled as "Mānasollāsa" (That which exhilirates the mind). To view this PDF click here.
For a detailed explanation of each verse and commentary please read Swami Paramarthananda's detailed lectures here.
Meaning of Dakshinamurti
Amürtih is the one who is formless and who is the truth of everything. With maya-sakti Isvara is daksinah, the one who has the capacity to be the creator and sustainer, and also the one who can take back the whole creation into himself. Therefore, Isvara who is daksina as well as amürti is Dakshiṇāmūrti .
Daksina also means the southern direction. He is the Lord who is facing the south, daksinn-dik-abhi-mukha murtih. What is the significance of the southern direction? The north attracts, and it stands for moksha. The south stands for samsara; it is Lord Yama's place. The Lord is everywhere, but the one who wants release from samsara faces the Lord in the north. The Lord has to face you to teach. As the source of all-knowledge, he faces the south. Salutations unto Lord Dakshiṇāmūrti who is the source of all-knowledge and the source of all blessing.
INTRODUCTION TO SRI DAKSHINAMURTHY STOTRA
By Swami Chinmayananda
Of all the hymns of Śrī Śankara, Śrī Dakşiņāmūrty Stotra is the shortest but, at the same time, in its philosophic import, subtlety of expression and confident assertion, it is one of the most inspired works of the advaita philosopher. On a small canvas, Śankara has with unerring dexterity crammed all the arguments of the non-dualist against the preachers of dualism. Naturally, the stanzas are loaded with suggestions, and to dive into their rich depths, special training is necessary for the students.
In short, these stanzas are not lessons addressed to new initiates, but they are discussions with students who have already fully studied the śāstras and are now ready to enter into their meditation seats. A strict pattern of thought development is observed in these ten stanzas which are linked together into one monumental garland of philosophical thoughts, based on the declarations of the rșis of the upanişads.
The opening Stanza, while indicating the pluralistic world of perceptions, shows how they are all the play of the one infinite Reality and it insists that to realise this Truth, through the help of a proper teacher, is to gain the ultimate goal of human existence.
The following two Stanzas describe how the perception of the false—a world of delusive forms and names superimposed upon the infinite ever-present reality-has come about.
Stanzas 3 and 4 explain the methods by which this misapprehension of the Reality can be ended and also describes how the light of the infinite expresses itself from within each one of us through the vehicles of perception.
Stanza 5 indicates how this delusory power of māyā confuses some great students of the upanişads and even greater thinkers and philosophers.
Stanza 6 focuses our attention upon our own experiences in life. It indicates the methods by which, through a scientific analysis of our own vivid experiences in the three planes of consciousness—waking, dream and deep sleep-we can easily come to realise that the reality behind our individual personalities is the reality behind the entire universe.
Stanza 7 points out what is the fathomless substratum upon which alone, is reflected, the play of change that dances to the tune of finitude and sorrow.
Stanza 8 answers the material scientists and the secular observers of the world, who consider the world as real because it is constantly yielding to them definite sets of experiences.
In Stanza 9, the usual technique of upāsanā is prescribed for those diligent students who, even after a deep and careful study of the previous stanzas, are not able to fully appreciate the import of them all. Lack of integration within will make students unfit for such subtle flights to the lofty heights of vedānta, when it discusses the ultimate theme. To help them gain the necessary integration, this stanza prescribes an upāsanā .
The concluding Stanza states that these are not ideas to be merely heard or understood, but that each student should reflect upon them and make them his own. It also explains how, as a result of this education, each one of us can achieve an unfoldment of his or her own personality to a diviner dimension and to the eventual attainment of "liberation".
These stanzas have unsuspected depths, though superficially they have a simple and direct meaning. Every phrase that is used in them has a definite purpose and it is lined up against an army of opponents who believe and argue against the conclusions of the vedāntik philosophy. Thus the samkhyanas, the vaiseșikās, the naiyyayikās, the cārvakās, the Buddhists.....not to mention different minor groups....all come under the annihilating intellectual fire of Ācārya Sankara in these discussions. Here we meet not only Śankara, the devotee, but we discover Sankara, the disputant and Sankara, the champion of the advaita philosophy, armed to the teeth, fighting against all misconceptions, illogical arguments and hasty conclusions...... alien to the spirit and letter of the upanișadik declarations.
These ten Stanzas are a summary of the arguments in the upanişads, of the declarations in the Brahma sūtras and of the Gitā.
The upanișadik declaration, "Brahman alone is the reality; the world-of-change is a delusion" (ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः। Brahma Satyam Jagan-mithyā Jivo Brahmaiva Nāparaḥ) is the theme that is taken up here in these ten stanzas by Ācārya Sankara and he elucidates its subtle imports with a philosophical scholarship, tempered by kindness towards those who cannot directly understand the deeper suggestion of the upanișadik thought.
As it stands today, we have a commentary (Vārtikam) upon these ten stanzas by Sankara's great disciple Śrī Sureśvarācārya. This is entitled as "Mānasollāsa". (To read this further, please purchase the book using the link below.)
The meaning of Dakshinamurthy
Lord Siva, in order to instruct the rishis and the seers assumed the form of a Guru, and sitting on the peak of Kailasa, He turned southward to serve all seekers. In the Upanishad we read the explanation of the term Dakshinamurthy. The term dakshina means "that divine power of subtle perception which is generated in a fully integrated pure intellect." This dakshina power when flowing towards (kshane mukham), the vasana-conditioned hearts of the disciples (yasyam) is called "turned-southward" and this is Siva, say the champions of reality (Brahma-vaadibhih). So, the Teacher is none other than the Supreme, who has manifested himself in the divine form of Sri Dakshinamurthy to bless the struggling aspirant. He is invoked here for our devoted worship.
To purchase the book 'Hymn to Sri Dakshinamurthy – Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda' please click here