Dakshina Moorthy Sthothram Part 3

सदाशिव समारम्भाम् िन्करचार्यमद्ममाम्
अस्मद् अचर्य पर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्परम 

The dhyana slokas can be seen to absorb the state of wonder and excitement of pure vedantic teaching. As we move away from these mundane world of existence, we come in contact with the pristine world of bliss, wonder and state of contentment. Words are inadequate to describe it , as it is not anything that can be described .
Continuing the dhyana slokas, we see the next one . It describes the wonder of the class again.

चित्रं वटतरोर्मूले वृद्धाः शिष्या गुरुर्युवा ।
गुरोस्तु मौनं व्याख्यानं शिष्यास्तुच्छिन्नसंशयाः ॥३॥

Its a simple verse much in the same vein of the second one. चित्रं  means wonder . We see a wonder at the root of the banyan tree( वटतरोर्मूले ). The disciples are old while the guru is young( वृद्धाः शिष्या गुरुर्युवा). What is so surprising about this?. Usually in the world we see old teachers in that years of experience and knowledge would be required before they become good teachers, while the process of studying only exists in the young . Therefore we see young students and older teachers. Here we see the reverse. This is significant on many levels . Young students are always anxious to succeed in life and therefore they seek knowledge which would be essential to succeed in life. This type of vidya is called Apara vidya. Only after years of living  in this samsaric world and in old age do they understand the importance of para vidya. Even then they do not know what to do , what to learn, how to learn and to approach whom. Old age could also indicate maturity and dispassion towards all worldly affairs.
So here it is mentioned that the disciples are all old and therefore are seeking the para vidya from the Dakshina moorthy . The fact that guru here is young is significant. It means many things. One youth is taken as optimism, one of youthful energy and exuberance. Second it could also mean eternal truth which never changes its nature . We have also seen it is smiling and so intrinsically happy. So the para vidya is being taught is a state of wonder and excitement. 

The wonder is not over yet. It is also mentioned that even though there is silence from the guru(गुरोस्तु मौनं ) , there are no doubts for the disciples(शिष्यास्तु   च्छिन्नसंशयाः). Why is this a wonder? . Usually we see classes in which the teacher talks loudly and yet disciples would have doubts. Here the guru is silent and yet all doubts are cleared.

As we have remarked earlier in the first dhyana sloka , here silence should not be taken literally. In vedanta we want to learn about the Brahman . However we can see it only in  a few verses described or discussed. So all vedantic teaching uses the concept of indirect implication. One method uses a very poignant method called lakshanartha. Meaning by characteristics. In Kena upanishad it can be seen.
 anyadeva tat viditāt atho avidhāt athiḥ;

It is that which exists and still is not an object of experience. What is that which exists and is still not an object. It should be the subject of experience or the experiencer. Now this cannot be the body or mind as they are objects known to us. So it must be the subject who is becoming aware of them.
Now if you ask anybody of to whom the experience is happening, he would say "to me". Now the questioning stops there. Who is this "me"?. He would point to his body immediately or may point out to the mind . Now isn't it surprising that the "me" is also known to something. There is an awareness of the mind as we see in meditation . There is an awareness of body all the time. So the awareness is seeing the so called "me". So this "me" is obviously not experiencer . Because the awareness is knowing the "me" as an object. Instead of directly defining it , we use its characteristics to imply what it is.
A second approach taken is one of negation.( Neti Neti). In this also we don't directly define Brahman, we use the method of negating what it is not. What remains after negating everything is the negator . The negator cannot be negated because that would require another negator. So who is the negator?. In order to see that , just consider for a moment that the world doesn't exist. Now how do we know that it doesn't exist?. There has to be something other than the world itself to know this. Otherwise nonexistence cannot be known. This is the negator. Since the world is not required for the negator's existence, it can be seen that it is not an object. It is pure knowing without any attributes.
The world may be there or not there , the subject is always there knowing the existence as well as the non existence.
In both methods you can see that the Brahman is not directly defined or discussed. This is the meaning of the word Maunam. Teaching by direct experience but indirect verbalization. So the third wonder is that the teaching itself is a unique one as it is so unconventional.
Moving on to the next dhyana slokas , we see the wonder turn into a prayer .


निधये सर्वविद्यानां भिषजे भवरोगिणाम् ।
गुरवे सर्वलोकानां दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥४॥

( I bow before the supreme guru of all worlds who is a treasure of all knowledge ( para and apara) and is also the remover of all samsaric worries)

ॐ नमः प्रणवार्थाय शुद्धज्ञानैकमूर्तये ।
निर्मलाय प्रशान्ताय दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥५॥

( I bow before the supreme guru who is the embodiment of knowledge and is untainted and serene)

The key phrase of prayer is शुद्धज्ञानैकमूर्तये  ( pure consciousness) . As we can see the consciousness has to be independent of all forms and all limitations and also the treasure(निधये ) of all vidya(सर्वविद्यानां), as it is the medium or background in which everything happens , everything is supported , everything is revealed. The problems of samsara is giving undue importance to the objects of our experience, wealth , security , ego and so on. So this knowledge acts as a medicine to remove all samsaric pursuits ( भिषजे भवरोगिणाम्). Bhava roga means the roga of samsara. भिषजे means doctor .

When we study the upanishads we would be going through the meaning of pranava (ॐ). Here it is mentioned that the pure consciousness encodes the meaning of the pranavam ( प्रणवार्थाय ) and hence is untainted (निर्मलाय ) and serenely calm( प्रशान्ताय ).
Even when you are angry , depressed or frustrated , the pure consciousness remains unaffected. Only thing is you never have looked at it.  The focus is always on the objects that cause problems, not on the awareness that lights it . 

For the purpose of summary let us see all the dhyana slokas 

मौनव्याख्या प्रकटित परब्रह्मतत्त्वं युवानं
वर्षिष्ठांते वसद् ऋषिगणैः आवृतं ब्रह्मनिष्ठैः ।
आचार्येन्द्रं करकलित चिन्मुद्रमानंदमूर्तिं
स्वात्मारामं मुदितवदनं दक्षिणामूर्तिमीडे ॥१॥


वटविटपिसमीपेभूमिभागे निषण्णं
सकलमुनिजनानां ज्ञानदातारमारात् ।
त्रिभुवनगुरुमीशं दक्षिणामूर्तिदेवं
जननमरणदुःखच्छेद दक्षं नमामि ॥२॥


चित्रं वटतरोर्मूले वृद्धाः शिष्या गुरुर्युवा ।
गुरोस्तु मौनं व्याख्यानं शिष्यास्तुच्छिन्नसंशयाः ॥३॥


निधये सर्वविद्यानां भिषजे भवरोगिणाम् ।
गुरवे सर्वलोकानां दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥४॥


ॐ नमः प्रणवार्थाय शुद्धज्ञानैकमूर्तये ।
निर्मलाय प्रशान्ताय दक्षिणामूर्तये नमः ॥५॥

Dakshina Moorthy Sthothram Part 2

सदाशिव समारम्भाम् िन्करचार्यमद्ममाम्
अस्मद् अचर्य पर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्परम ्

 In the first dhyana sloka we saw how the adi guru is guiding us always towards the eternal truth, while we are immersed in samsara. Unless we remain constantly guided by it , we will always go back to the objects of perception and remain tantalized by them. This is why we need to be anthevasad with the guru.

How many incidents have come and gone?. How many people , relations , emotions, thoughts have come and gone. Have anything remained ?. And yet we remain excited by them , we consider life to be the dream world of objects. The past haunting us , the future frightening us . The guru is telling you , please move away from them all  and remain established in your eternal abode of consciousness. You are not any of those objects , you are that which sees them all. All you need to do is to understand who you are. You and the brahman are one and the same. Your only problem is not understanding this.

In the next dhyana sloka , we get a beautiful picture of a class that is going on.

वटविटपिसमीपे भूमिभागे निषण्णं

सकलमुनिजनानां ज्ञानदातारमारात्‌।

त्रिभुवनगुरुमीशं दक्षिणामूर्तिदेवं

जननमरणदुःखच्छेददक्षं नमामि॥२॥

vaTaviTapisamIpe bhUmibhAge niShaNNaM

sakalamunijanAnAM dnyAnadAtAramArAt .

tribhuvanagurumIshaM dakShiNAmUrtidevaM

jananamaraNaduHkhacchhedadakShaM namAmi ..

(I bow down to that supreme Dakshinamurti, the teacher of the three worlds, the destroyer of the miseries of births and deaths, who, seated on the ground under the banyan tree, grants direct and immediate jyanam to all the muni-s who have assembled near him.)

निषण्णं means seated. Where is the guru seated?. He is seated near(समीपे ). a banyan tree वटविटपि . What is he doing there?. He is transferring the knowledge directly to all मुनिजनानां. Who is a muni?मननात् मुनि one who is capable of doing mananam is a muni. So we can immediately see who is the adi guru . Adi guru is nothing but pure consciousness itself. For any body who does mananam , it is available . The knowledge is immediate and direct. This is the meaning of the word ज्ञानदातारमारात्‌. For many seekers , spiritual life is an achievement like in samsara. I have to go through stages, i have to go through sadana, meditation, yaga, japa , ceremonies and so on. But here the author says , for any body who does contemplation, the knowledge is immediate and direct and it comes from the brahman itself, because you are that. Guru is not a form that you prostrate. Guru is consciousness itself and it is always available. You are not the mind or the intellect, you are that awareness which lights them all .
The communication method is one which disallows objectification of brahman. One of the unique things about the teaching is that the guru should make sure that whatever is taught should not result in the disciple misunderstanding it as an object as all understandings are . So he goes on using indirect methods of saying what you think is not that , what you perceive is not that . But whatever i am speaking about is about YOU the consciousness which is enlivening all. This is why the teaching is direct and immediate. In order to obtain YOU, there is zero distance and zero effort and is the most direct thing.
What is the world as i see it ?. It is nothing but a manifestation of consciousness. This is what is meant by the statement त्रिभुवनगुरुमीशं दक्षिणामूर्तिदेवं. For the uninitiated it is a story of creation. Creation happens when something is born. But a manifestation is not a creation. It is just a modification of something taking a particular form temporarily and then finally dissolving. The world is not created , it just appears in consciousness like in a dream story.

 Since all objects including the body-mind complex are just temporary modification of consciousness, the dhukam associated with them is also only a misunderstanding. So the adiguru through his light would remove them all.It is therefore mentioned that this knowledge removes the sadness associated with birth and death(.जननमरणदुःख ). The word दक्षं means skillful. So this knowledge is skillful to remove the dukham associated with birth and death. It is important to understand that the fear and sadness comes with identification with the body mind system. If you are identified with it , you are born and you die. But when the right knowledge comes of who you are , this identification drops. When identification drops , the birth and death are just events that you see unaffected. . Looking closely birth is the birth of identification and death is removal of identification. What is born is this identification and what is dead is this identification.You have never been born , nor will you die.

As the gita proclaims very loudly

na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire

Dakshina Moorthy Sthothram Part 1

सदाशिव समारम्भाम् िन्करचार्यमद्ममाम्
अस्मद् अचर्य पर्यन्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्परम ्

Studying vedanta is a  big task. The ultimate is to imbibe the upanishadic teachings. However the un-initiated student would find it difficult to assimilate it. Hence there are many introductory texts which prepare the student for this life long journey. Tatva Bodha ,and Atma Bodha by Shakaracharya are such preliminary texts. VivekaChudamani is slightly more advanced and requires some more dedication. Panchadasi also is a comprehensive treatise on vedanta. The introductory texts which prepare us for the vedantic  journey are often called the prakarana granthas. If you are more interested, you can go further and try to understand the Brahma Sutras by ved vyasa. Gita often works as a substitute for all these studies, but often is vulnerable to misapprehension because of its rich imagery. All other texts don't carry any mythological overtones. For a keen student , it is important to differentiate the truth from a visualization, the story from its essence , the anatma from the atma . So i am of the opinion that Gita study should come last when the student has acquired the vivekam to understand the essence . In studying it last, you get the milk(gita) from the cows(upanishads ) .

Even though Dakshina Moorthy sthothram is not known as a prakarana grantha , Shankaracharya has done a wonderful task of summarizing the essence of vedanta in 10 terse verses. It is surprisingly a sthrothram which means glorification. Glorification of what?. Glorification of Dakshina Moorthy. Usually a glorification is to please a deity . But here the glorification is not for that purpose at all. The meaning i would like to take from Dakshina Moorthy is Dakshin  ( skillful) Amoorthy (  formless) which means a skillful adiguru who teaches non dual truth through his formless presence.  The traditional meaning is Dakshina ( South facing ) Moorthy ( idol or symbol)  which is shiva the god of laya or resolution . Even this meaning should be seen deeply. What does shiva destroy or dissolve?. He destroys ignorance of duality. Your ego is the embodiment of dualistic existence. By destroying the identity associated with it only you can merge in the sublime. Death alone will not destroy your ignorance, just as sleep alone doesn't destruct our ego as here we remain ignorantly blissful. By imparting light of knowledge , your ignorance is what is resolved or dissolved by the Adi guru.So here the meaning of glorification is to glorify that knowledge which dissolves our ignorance.

In many great books , people write commentaries to make the meaning more clear and easier. One of the direct disciples of shankaracharya called sureshvacharya has written a commentary on Dakshina moorthy sthothram. It is often called Manasollasa. Some verses from these are taken as the Dhyana slokas  of Dakshina moorthy sthothram A dhyana sloka is often a prelude to the teaching in a text.
So let us take a look at the first of the six dhyana sloka  which is very famous.

मोनव्याख्याप्रकटितपरब्रह्मतत्त्वं युवानं

वर्षिष्ठान्तेवसदृषिगणैरावृतं ब्रह्मनिष्ठैः।

आचार्येन्द्रं करकलितचिन्मुद्रमानन्दरूपं

स्वात्मारामं मुदितवदनं दक्षिणामूर्तिमीडे॥१॥

mounavyAkhyAprakaTitaparabrahmatattvaM yuvAnaM

varShiShThAntevasadRRiShigaNairAvRRitaM brahmaniShThaiH .

AcAryendraM karakalitacinmudramAnandarUpaM

svAtmArAmaM muditavadanaM dakShiNAmUrtimIDe

(I absorb the formless eternal presence(the ever young guru), who teaches the Knowledge of brahman through silence, who is surrounded by disciples who are themselves RRishi-s and scholars in the veda-s, who is the teacher of teachers(thus consciousness itself), whose hand is held the sign-of-Knowledge(chin-mudra), whose nature is bliss, who ever revels in his own Self, and the one who is with ever smiling face.)

The dhyana sloka is full of compound words . मोनव्याख्याप्रकटितपरब्रह्मतत्त्वं (mouna-vyAkhyA-prakaTita-parabrahma-tattvam) means one who reveals the supreme truth through a discourse of silence.  The vyAkhya means teaching or explanation and prakaTita means revelation or throwing  light on. It is mentioned that it is revealed by a guru who is  युवानं(yuvanam or  youthful). To whom does he reveal ?. To  वर्षिष्ठान्तेवसदृषिगणैरावृतं ( varShiShTh- Antevasad- RRiShigaNai) which means  a bunch of old students who are resident and who themselves are Rishis . In the olden days disciples were resident with the guru's house ( Antevasad). It is also mentioned that they themselves were brahmaniShThaiH ( established in brahma tatvam).So the young guru is surrounded(AvRRitaM) by a old set of disciples. 

 The story behind this is well known. The disciples were the four manasa putras of Brahma who sought the truth through the study of vedas and finally reached the adi guru who is Shiva to learn about the para vidya ( non dual teaching). It is reminiscent of our samsaric life. All through our life we seek many material things and finally when we get old, we seek the truth. Similarly the vedas consists of two parts .The Veda purva is full of rites and ceremonies which we have to perform for our artha kama , dharma pursuits. But all this leaves us unfulfilled , finally when we have exhausted our life we seek truth or vedanta or end of vedas. So that is why the disciples are old. The guru who is eternal is always youthful. He is always near us. 

 
The students are great, the teacher is great and the discourse is unique. It is revealed in supreme silence through a mudra, which we discussed earlier . This mudra is called the ChinMudra and it poetically conveys the message that in order to know truth, you have to become dispassionate about all the appearances. The appearances are the body, the mind , the states of wakefullness, dream and sleep, the objects of experience , the panchakosas and so on. Unless the forefinger moves away from them all(the other three fingers) , it never gets closer to truth which is the thumb. So the Acharya is sitting quietly in this mudra (आचार्येन्द्रं करकलितचिन्मुद्रमानन्दरूपं) . He is not an ordinary guru. He is the guru of all(आचार्येन्द्रं --AcAryendraM). He is not a form. He is the truth itself. Therefore truth is revealed by truth itself. When truth is revealing itself words just distort it. Any word is a limitation. If i say some word, it always conveys a limited meaning. A meaning which is intended by me as something , assimilated by you as something else both of which are further from truth. As the truth is revealed it also becomes the source of bliss( आनन्दरूपं), thereby telling that bliss is not in the outside world which is full of imagery but in the poignant nature of truth.

  But here comes many doubts. How can silence convey anything?. If i am ignorant also i may be silent. How can silence teach me anything.? How do i know if the meaning i got is correct.?.  This is where we should understand the indirect method in vedanta. When we learn the kena upanishad , we would be discussing this further. You cannot learn about brahman directly. You can only learn the other part. You can know what it is not first. Therefore all vedantic teaching is indirect. It tries to point out what brahman is not. Thereby this silent teaching to those who are old seasoned seekers by pointing out the Para brahma tatvam is really not any of the appearances , but the underlying essence of all which is consciousness itself which is formless(amoorthy)  and eternal( Yuvanam) . Any sabda vritti pramanam is only about forms and appearances which is not the truth. So through the power of implication, truth is revealed.

Brahman is existent and is not any of the objects of perception. What do i convey through this ?. It is not an object and yet it is existent. What can be that ?. When we have eliminated all the objects what remains is the subject. The subject which is formless and eternal and never limited in time , space or words. When you negate everything what remains is the negator himself. The negator cannot be non existent as he is negating. He cannot be an object also as he negates all objects. So ergo he must be the subject or experiencer or the formless presence itself. Since all objects come and go , identifying subject with any object is the cause of all misery. When you have abandoned it , you reveal in the ananda that remains of unlimited presence. 

The last line conveys the source of everything. It says स्वात्मारामं meaning that happiness is derived from I or atma himself and not from anything else. Have you noticed the moments when you are happy. You feel that you don't need anything or anybody. Your happiness is deriving from yourself not from the outside . When i say happiness i don't mean the pleasures of our body or sensory happiness , but the spiritual bliss we very rarely experience in moments of contentment. You say internally "I really don't need anything any longer. I accept what is with complete contentment". A wry smile spreads ( मुदितवदनं). It is this glory of knowledge that i prostrate.