Hymn to Dakshinamurti

Select Works of Sri Sankaracharya, tr. by S. Venkataramanan, [1921], at sacred-texts.com

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Hymn to Dakshinamurti.

Who, by virtue of the illusion residing in the self, sees, as in a dream, the universe as existing outside Himself although (more truly) it exists within Himself like the reflection of a city in a mirror, but Who, at the time of the awakening, sees naught but His own secondless self,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (1)

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Who, like a magician or like a yogi, manifests, by His own will, this universe which at the beginning was undifferentiated like the sprout latent in the seed but which subsequently became differentiated under the various conditions of space and time induced by illusion,—to that Teacher incarnate, ^* the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (2)

Whose light alone that is the reality shines in things that resemble non-entities ^*; Who directly awakens His devotees by means of the Vedic sentence "That thou art"; and Who being realised, there is no more coming hack in this ocean of Samsâra,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (3)

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Whose consciousness flows out through the eye and other senses like the light of a big lamp placed inside a jar with many holes, and (thus) this whole universe shines solely because He shines, namely, by the consciousness "I know,"—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (4)

Deluded persons who talk much, but who are as ignorant as women and children, the blind and the stupid, understand, as the "I," the body, or the breath, or the senses, or the ever-newly-springing knowledge ^*, or non-entity.

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[paragraph continues] To Him who dispels this great ignorance induced by the expansive power of illusion ^*,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (5)

Who is the inner self which, under the veil of illusion, like the sun or the moon eclipsed, merely exists ^† in deep sleep owing to the withdrawal of the senses, but which when He wakes, is recognised by Him as "I have slept",—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (6)

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Who reveals to His devotees, by means of the blessed symbol, ^* His own self which, for ever, shines within as the "I" unchanging through all the changing states of childhood, youth and old age, waking, dream and sleep, etc.,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (7)

Who is the supreme self that, dreaming or waking, under the sway of illusion, sees the universe under various distinctions such as that of cause and effect, owner and owned, pupil and teacher, father and son,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (8)

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Whose eightfold form alone, namely, earth, water, fire, air; ether, sun, moon and soul, manifests itself as this sentient and non-sentient universe; than Whom, supreme and infinite, naught else is perceived by the seekers of reality,—to that Teacher incarnate, the Lord facing the south, be this bow. (9)

Since, in this hymn, the identity of the self with the universe has been made clear, by listening to it, by understanding its meaning, by meditating on it, and by teaching it to others, one will acquire the supreme faculty of identity with the universe, together with

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the overlordship of nature and the eightfold divine faculty. ^* (10)

Thus ends the hymn to Dakshinamurti.

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Footnotes

33:* Because they have no reality of their own. The self is the only reality and all else is illusory.

34:* The reference is to a certain school of Buddhists.

35:* Maya.

35:† Since knowledge is latent in sleep.

36:* The jnána-mudrá, in which the thumb and the fore-finger are formed into a ring.

38:*
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