by Nidhi Chandel

Shri Dakshinamoorti : A Synopsis - Article written By PP Swami Ishwaranand Giriji

External Manifestation ( अधिदैवम )

 Sanandana, Sanaka, Sanatana and Sanatkumara – the four kumaras, were the first creations of Brahma. From birth they were imbued with high spiritual qualities of discrimination and dispassion and had no mind for anything but the vision of the ultimate Truth. So renouncing their father and his creation they sought the guidance of Lord Siva Who, they were told, had imparted knowledge to their father also when he found himself overwhelmed by the stupendous task of creation. Lord Siva perceiving the intense spiritual mood and keen intellect of the kumaras decided that the ordinary modes of teaching would not do, the naked Truth must be revealed instantly and in its pure light. So He assumed a very youthful benign form and sat under a spreading banyan tree facing the south. When the Kumaras accompanied by a throng of rishis approached Him and offered due worship seeking His discipleship, the Lord without uttering a word showed them the Chinmudra, seeing which the disciples were enlightened at once.

 From that moment the path of renunciation and knowledge ( निवृत्तिमार्ग ) was thrown open to the world and a tradition was ushered in, which through apostolical spiritual succession (गुरुशिष्यपरंपरा ) has come down to this day. Sri Dakshinamurti ( or Sri Dakshinabhimukha ) so called because He faces the southern direction, is thus the first and foremost Guru, imparter of Supreme knowledge and the chosen – deity ( इष्टदेवता ) of all Sri Paramahamsa Sannyasins who belong to this tradition and renounce everything for the sake of this God – knowledge (ब्रह्नाज्ञान). 

 

Internal Revelation ( अध्यात्मम )

The concept of Guru has a very deep Philosophical significance and as the World – Teacher (लोक - गुरु) Sri Dakshinamurti also assumes a new and striking form. Speaking of it the Krishana Yajur Veda says:

शेमुषी दक्षिणा प्रोक्ता सा यस्याभीक्षणे मुखम। 

दक्षिणाभिमुखः प्रोक्तः शिवोसौ ब्रह्नावादिभिः।।

 “The mental state in samadhi is called dakshina, the skilful (because it accomplishes what nothing else can). That which is seen through the mukha (portal) of dakshina is the Dakshinabhimukha i.e. Dakshinamurti and that is Siva; so have the Preachers of Brahman declared.” That is to say, Dakshinamuri is that Supreme Truth which is directly perceived through the mind that has become one with the swarupa of Brahman while dwelling on it in samadhi (ब्रह्नाकारवृत्ति). The Vedas speak of that Brahman as the swayamjyoti, the self – effulgent light of consciousness which makes the sun and moon to shine. Who can reveal that Supreme light? It shines by itself giving light to all. In this respect Sri Dakshinamurti is not only the foremost but the only Guru. Wherever truth is perceived it is Sri Dakshinamurti alone that is revealing Himself through the human – medium. 

 

The Wordless Wisdom

 In this light Sri Dakshinamurti comes very close to us and assumes a precious role in life, with a message for all. This message is the essence of the upanishads and is being given to us through His gracious Chinmudra. The significance of the mudra should therefore be clearly grasped. 

 Chinmudra is formed by drawing the right forefinger away from its neighbouring three upright fingers and joining its tip with that of the thumb. The three fingers held upright represent the three states of being – waking, dream and deep -sleep (जाग्रत, स्वप्न, सुषुप्ति), each of them composed of the three principles of the enjoyed, enjoyer and enjoyment (भोग्य, भोक्ता, भोग). The forefinger symbolises the jiva or individual self. When it is one with the group of the above three, that is the world of experience, it is separated from the thumb which stands for the immovable, unchanging and untouched principle of Truth, Paramatman, Supreme – self. When through discrimination the jiva knows that he is totally different from the experiential world of the three states and identifies him self with the Paramatman through the awareness “I am the eternal withness of all that is”, then all ignorance and the sorrows of transmigration (संसार) that flows from it cease; the jiva attains liberation (मोक्ष). This awareness indicated by the Chinmudra is clearly described in the Kaivalya Upanishad of Krishna Yajur Veda thus:

त्रिषुधामसु यद्गभोग्यं भोक्ता भोगष्च यद् भवेत्। 

तेभ्यो विलक्षणः साक्षी चिन्मात्रोहं सदाशिवः।। 

 Because it given the knowledge of the “Chinmatra,” it is called “chinmudra”. This knowledge cannot be conveyed directly by words, since it is absolutely subjective, a pure awareness of the self without medium or relation to anything. To impart this awareness to the eager aspirants filled with devotion and dispassion, the Lord out of His unlimited grace has contrived this ingenius mystic device palpable to the visual perception as the Pranava ( ॐ ) is to the auditory.

 There are five different Vedic descriptions of Sri Dakshinamurti’s form varying in the symbols of the four hands. But chinmudra is common to all and is the chief characteristic of this particular manifestation of the Lord. The mudras or postures of the other hands too are symbolic of the qualities that enhance or pave the path to Supreme knowledge.

1. For instance one standard meditation-verse (ध्यानष्लोक) describes the Lord displaying the chinmudra in lower right hand and an axe in the upper, holding the hind legs of a leaping deer in the upper left hand and resting the other left palm on the knee of left leg folded in padmasana. The axe represents dispassion, for it cuts down the tree of worldliness as told in the Gita: असंग शस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा. The leaping deer is symbolic of the restless mind. This has to be held firm through the practice of restraint (शम) and other auxiliary disciplines like दम, उपरति, तितिक्षा etc. The resting palm suggests perfect poise and ease, the natural and free state of liberation (सहजावस्था) resulting from the chinmudra-knowledge. Sometimes a flower is mentioned as being held in the resting fingers, to denote the beauty and bliss that blossom in that state.
2. The Vina-Dakshinamurti displays apart from the chinmudra a vina (stringed musical instrument), rosary and the Vedas. Vina has very deep significance pertaining to yoga-practice, the awakening of kundalini as well as the Nada-upasana. Rosary conveys the power of meditating of reflecting on the mantra (मनन शक्ति).
3. In the Medha-Dakshinamurti the vina is replaced by a pot of nectar (अमृत) which stands for moksha, the supreme fulfillment and perfection of life untouched by death or decay. A varitation of the same has two pots along with chinmudra and Vedas. The second pot stands for the nectar in sahasrara, thus emphasising the Kundalini-yoga.
4. Another form depicts the lord as holding a flame, a snake and the Vedas. Flame obviously refers to Saguna Brahman and the serpent, like the vina, is a standard symbol of yogic power, the kundalini shakti.
5. The limpid cool stream of the Ganga gushing from the matted locks and the ambrosial rain of light from the cresent moon on the crest are ofcourse inevitable items of all images of Siva and they breathe an air of abundant bliss and purity putting out the conflageration of worldly afflictions. They also emphasise the message of pouring out peace and harmonious progress by one who has drunk deep within.

 All this has been enumerated here to show clearly that Sri Dakshinamurti is the giver of the highest knowledge and Bliss and is Himself the sweetest fulfilment of life.

Descent of Dakshinamurti

In the course of ages when dharma, the path to perfection, gets lost in the wild overgrowth of human passions, delusions and evil deeds, then the Lone Path-maker comes to clear the way and re-establish pilgrims in the right direction. For, that is His promise and the nature of His mercy. Drawn by that, Sri Dakshinamurti also had to incarnate in the age of Kali when the dharma of Vedas was nearly extinct. This time seeing the degradation of people’s intellectual and spiritual standards the Lord could no more sit under the tree in silence and enlighten disciples through signs and symbols. He now came as Sri Sankara Bhagavat Pada, the great Acharya, resplendent with wisdom and renunciation, roaming the country from end to end, spreading his message like flames in all directions and consuming every opponent to the Vedic tradition. To consolidate the work and leave a lasting legacy, the Lord laid down the ancient knowledge in the form of copiuos commentaries on the scriptures, small treatises and beautiful hymns blending deep pholosophical thought with high emotional quality. Also, with great insight into the times that were to come, the Acharya created Mathas and Pithas all over the country to serve as institutions devoted to study and preaching of this knowledge respectively.

Since study requires stability and application at one place in a particular environment, mathas were fixed and few while the Pithas were mobile bodies formed by a number of illustrious monks and scholars led by an acharya. Each Pitha in due course developed its own following, field and characteristic pattern of work. Some, especially in North India, were lost in the onslaught of foreign invasion and persecution, both physical and cultural. A few managed to survive and even to flourish.

 

Shri Dakshinamurti Pitha

One such blessed Pitha that has preserved to this day the tradition of the Acharya, is the Sri Dakshinamurti Pitha, a tradition that is at once vital and significant in its very name. True to it, this Pitha has jealously guarded the intellectual purity of its Philosophy as given to us in the works of Acharya and his successor Bhagawan Sureswara and Padmapada and has stuck to the worship of Shri Dakshinamurti as an almost solitary exception in the entire expanse of the North.

Conclusion

In this age when, more than ever, the tide of materialism is gaining ground and gathering momentum, threatening to sweep away humanity off its spiritual moorings, there still is hope that atleast the few sincerely thoughtful will see and understand the outlines of truth if presented in the proper light. Truth is eternally one and the same. But though in itself unchanging, its presentation can be varied according to the capacities of people. This is the era of intellectualism and the world needs must know the Truth, approach God, by first satisfying the reasoning power. In such a state we can confidently say that the Dakshinamurti tradition holds the key in its hand; no other presentation of Philosophy can rival its intellectual purity, penetration and completeness. It does not, however, deny emotion but provides for it a fully developed and unique system of upasana (worship) and takes the yearning soul past all sentiment and speculation to the direct experience of Truth beyond both. It fulfils exactly the upanishadic command “शरवत तन्मयो भवेत् - Like the arrow, be one with it” - for, the Dakshinamurti-Discipline is verily a clean and straight flight of the unerring arrow that cleaves the target and remains there. Such directness and oneness alone can give real and lasting peace and freedom which everyone hankers after.

 The Vedas never tire of exhorting us to seek the Supreme Knowledge here and now. The religion or path that promises something in an after-life is meant for infants. “If you do not attain it here, great is the loss” says the Sama Veda. For this then we have to go to the source of knowledge, the very form of it ( ज्ञान विग्रह ), the Divinity displaying the chinmudra; and, sitting at its feet we have to pray in the words of the Rishi of Yajur Veda: "अजात इत्येवं कशचिद भीरु: प्रतिपद्यते रूद्र यत्ते दक्षिण मुखं तेन मां पाहि नित्यम।" “ O, Lord, destroyer of darkness, knowing thee alone to be the unborn, those filled with the fear of death do take shelter in thee. Do thou protect me with the benign grace of thine Dakshinamukha!”- and the tradition is nothing but the Path to this alter; the great Acharyas have mercifully pointed out that path to us and are still keeping it clear for us to discover it and move in it onward step by step, developing and perfecting ourselves till the goal is reached. “ स्वस्ति वः पाराय तमसः परस्तात। "

 

Outline of The Dakshinamurti – Discipline

A Spiritual Pentagon

1. जीवनयज्ञ – Performance of life’s activities as offering to the Divine, in order to purify body – mind (शरीरशुध्दि ).

By observance of truthfulness ( सत्य ), non – violence (अहिंसा) and other such virtues, impurities like lust, anger, agreed etc. are burnt away, making the soul ( जीव ) strong and suited for spiritual conquest. 

 

2. जपस्वाध्याय – Application to the Sacred Name and the scriptures for the development of Divine – passion and dispassion ( परानुरक्ति, प्रपत्र्चविरक्ति )

Japa is the taking of the Sacred Name or mantra daily with reverence and awareness of its import. This creates longing for the close and ceaseless vision of the Lord. Divine passion implies the double – strand of devotion to Lord and compassion for all being realising that the Lord is manifest in them. 

Swadhyaya means the recital and study of the upanishads and works that expound them. Through this one learns to discriminate between the natures of truth and untruth; mind developes a natural and strong attraction for the former and disinclination towards latter.

Rudraksha and Bhasma ( Vibhuti – sacred ashes ) are symbols respectively of Divine-passion and dispassion; hence wearing them on the body constitutes an efficacious part of this discipline.

 

3. चराचरात्मक ध्यान – Contacting the Divine through conciousness of its all pervasive form ( अष्टमूर्ति ).

The Divine is revealing itself every where and every moment to us in its eightfold universal form comprising of the principles of earth, water, fire, wind, space, atman (consciousness ) and the twin energies of the world-cycle represented by the sun and moon. The entire creation is included in this and hence Ashtamurti is the completest and most readily tangible form of God for use in the maintenance of a continual under – current of divine – dwelling within the mind. This is a preparation to the arising of the knowledge of the absolute oneness (अद्वैत ).

 

4. गुरुप्रसाद – Obtaining the grace of the Spiritual Master who imparts the secret science (योग ).

Knowledge and practice of Yoga is impossible without the intervention and guidance of the Guru. So constant contact with him and closely following his instructions constitute this step that precedes the reading of the goal.

 

5. शिवप्रसाद – Striving for the grace of the Lord which is the only door to Enlightenment (तत्त्वज्ञान ).

To please the Lord is the aim of all exercises including Yoga – and on His being pleased, He reveals Himself. The striving in this last step means surrendering oneself utterly at all levels and in all ways to the Divine by effacement of ego through the conviction of its false – existence and the direct experience of the Infinite, Absolute Existence – Knowledge – Bliss.