Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra

Sri Shankaracharya

Verse 7 बाल्यादि ष्वपि जाग्रदादिषु तथा सर्वास्वव स्थास्वपि व्याव ृत्तास्वनुवर्त मानमहमित्यन्तस्स्फुरन्तं सदा । स्वात्मानं प्रकटीकरोति भजतां यो मुद्रया भद्रया तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ७ ॥

7.ObeisancetoŚrīDakṣiṇāmūrti,whoisthe Guru,whobytheauspiciousmudrā 1 isrevealingto his votaries 2 his own Self 3 , which is persistently presentas the ‘I’ always shininginside, in all the various and mutually exclusive states like childhood etc.asalsowakingetc. 4

Notes: 1.Mudrāsarecertainmysticposesoffingers andhands.Sometimesamudrāisdefinedasthatwhichgivespleasure(mudaṁ rāti) to the godsandmaketheirheartsmeltoutofcompassion(= drāvayati).Sculpturedimagesofgods invariably exhibit the mudrās. Dakṣiṇāmūrti is usually shown with the cinmudrā or jñānamudrā,theposeindicatingtransmissionofwisdom. 2.Unlessonetakesrefugeintheguru,hewillnotteachspiritualwisdom.The Gītā (4.34) says: तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्ने सेवया । उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिन तत्त्वदर्शिनः ।। ‘Know that (Truth) by making obeisance to the knowers ofTruth and by asking inquisitivequestions.(Those)wisemen,theseersofTruth,willteachyou(that)knowledge.’ 3.TheSelfofĪśvara,theSupremeLord,andtheParama-guru,theSupremeTeacher,is thesameastheSelfofallbeings.Thishasalreadybeendealtwithintheprevioussections. 4.Whateverbethestate,thesenseof‘I’insidedoesnotchange.‘I,whowasachild,am nowanoldman’;‘I,whohadslept,amwakingupnow’;‘I,whowasseeing,amnowhearing’— Thisishowthe‘I’-consciousnesspersiststhroughallthestates.

Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotra with Mānasollāsa. TranslatedandAnnotatedbySwamiHarshananda