Hymn to the Lord
Dakshinamurti
A Commentary by
Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao
Author’s Preface
Entering the Circle
The advent of Sri Shankaracharya is a great boon to humankind. As a world teacher, Shankara declared unequivocally, without any compromise, that the Knowledge of the Self is the main goal of human life. He taught and wrote exhaustively towards establishing this truth. People of his times had the good fortune of hearing his teaching directly from him. Centuries later, we have the good fortune of reading his elaborate commentaries and teachings. So lucid are his teachings and so profound are our insights when we study his writings that, even to this day, we feel his physical presence. That is why, when people ask me who is my Guru, I reply without any hesitation that Shankara Bhagavadpada is my Guru. Shankara has left behind a huge collection of works. His works can be grouped into three categories, each group targeting a particular type of seeker based on their ability to grasp the teaching. His elaborate commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma sutras, and Bhagavad Gita target the most advanced of seekers; his treatises, such as the Upadesasahasri, target the average seeker, and the various hymns he wrote, such as the Dakshinamurti, target the beginner. Every one of these works is a precious gem. Big or small, a commentary or a hymn, his writings spread the same divine light of Pure Non-Dual Consciousness everywhere. Whatever text we pick, we will find expounded in it, a complete teaching of Advaita. Our job is to abstract that knowledge, understand it thoroughly, and experience it for ourselves. This is the reason why I wrote the books, prasthAna traya, jagadguru mahopadesam, and sadhaka gita in Telugu. I researched Shankara’s works exhaustively, extracted the essence of his Advaita teaching, and presented it in the form of these books to Advaita seekers. I also wrote a commentary on Shankara’s Nirvana Dasakam to reveal the profound insights hidden in them. I had a similar desire to write a commentary on the Hymn to Dakshinamurti. A crown jewel amongst all of Shankara’s hymns, the Hymn to Dakshinamurti is in a class by itself. Although it is a short hymn of ten verses only, it is densely packed with the same profound wisdom that Shankara provides in his extensive commentaries on the prasthAna traya. If we read and absorb the wisdom packed into these short verses, there would be no need for us to read anything else. Perhaps, that is why Shankara’s favorite disciple, Sri Sureshwara Acarya, wrote elaborate commentaries (vArthika) on this hymn, and became well-known for his work, mAnasOllAsam, which translates into “that which rejoices the mind.” The Hymn to Dakshinamurti has won great fame and popularity. Based on the title, it may appear as though this hymn is meant for dualistic seekers and ritualists, and not for non-dual seekers whose practice, as advocated by Shankara himself, is only Self-enquiry. In this hymn, Shankara says, “I bow to the Guru, the Lord Dakshinamurti.” Who is this Guru? Is He different from the Lord? Or are the Lord and the Guru in essence One? For a casual reader, the hymn might read like a devotional (bhakti) or ritualistic (upAsana) rendering. Based on this popular notion, many scholars have written corresponding commentaries. Even Sureshwara Acarya, Shankara’s foremost disciples, seems to sway somewhat in favor of a ritualistic interpretation in his commentary because, at the end of his work (mAnasOllAsam), he describes in detail the form of Lord Dakshinamurti, the mantra for invoking him, and the process for worshiping him. However, he may have done so merely to draw the attention of the devotional types who worship the One with form and attributes. I personally strongly believe that Shankara’s intention is to propagate Self-Knowledge, and not ritualist worship through this hymn. Only then will this hymn be consistent with the rest of his works, which are essentially Advaita in purport. Duality is a common experience. There is no need for Shankara to propagate it specifically through this work. Ritualists have already done so quite extensively, so there is no need for Shankara to duplicate their work. Shankara’s core message is about the ultimate goal of human life, a topic that no one else has touched upon. Hence, his entire teaching is focused on driving home the core teaching of Advaita, and nothing else. This becomes quite obvious to anyone who studies his works attentively. We must, therefore, interpret the Hymn to Dakshinamurti in the context of Advaita, and not upAsana (ritualistic worship). When we say we bow to Lord Dakshinamurti, it means we bow to the Guru, the Great Teacher, who is Pure Consciousness Itself. The Guru, therefore, in essence is the disciple as well! Therefore, the one who bows and the one who receives the bow are the same. They appear outwardly as two separate entities, but as Consciousness, they are one and the same. This is the sarvAtma bhAva, the expansive feeling of Oneness, the feeling that “I AM everything.” Shankara reveals this truth through this hymn. He does so explicitly in the final verse of the hymn, “sarvAtma iti sphutIkrthmidam.’ Who is the Lord Dakshinamurti? He is not like the gods Shiva and Vishnu who are worshipped with forms and attributes. The Lord Dakshinamurti represents the union of the masculine and the feminine aspects of creation, graphically presented as the male on the right and female on the left. It is One Consciousness that appears as though split into two, the manifest and the un-manifest. The dakshina or the right side of the Lord symbolizes jnAna or Self-Knowledge. The creative power of the Lord, which is subservient to jnAna, is attributed to the vAma or the left side of the Lord. The word vAma means “vomit.“ Action or creation is the “vomit” of jnAna. It is the not-self that manifested out of the Supreme Self. Without action (shakti), there is no creation. Without Knowledge or Consciousness, there is no action. When jnAna alone Is in Its intrinsic nature, Its shakti or creative power lies dormant in Its womb. Therefore, when we say “Consciousness,” we include Its inherent shakti or creative power. Hence, Lord Dakshinamurti symbolizes the Un-manifested Pure Consciousness. A Guru is an embodiment of Knowledge or Pure Consciousness. Lord Dakshinamurti is the personification of Pure Consciousness. Having received the teaching from Him, and having contemplated deeply on it, His disciples also become teachers, and teach other earnest seekers. Hence, a Guru is both a teacher as well as a disciple. Since it is Consciousness Itself that is revealing Its true nature, It is the Guru. Since the disciple receives that Knowledge and experiences the Self directly, that Knowledge is the disciple as well. When we contemplate deeply on this teacher-disciple tradition, we realize that the three (teacher, teaching, and the taught) are in essence One. Lord Dakshinamurti symbolizes this Oneness. This is the significance of the Hymn to Lord Dakshinamurti. We start with Dakshinamurti (Supreme Self), and end with Dakshinamurti. This is the purport of Shankara’s hymn. I named my commentary Dakshinamurti Pradakshina to convey this message. Dakshinamurti Pradakshina means “Circumambulating the Lord Dakshinamurti.” A few years ago, I wrote a commentary on this hymn in Sanskrit, and later rewrote it in Telugu couple of times. The transitions from one verse to the next are much smoother in this latest version, and adhere more closely to Shankara’s style of writing. I explained the entire verse, and embedded the meanings of some words and phrases, as appropriate, within the explanation. This made it possible not only to present a comprehensive explanation of the verse, but also to stay focused on the main point under discussion without deviation. If, occasionally, it appears as though I deviated from the main point, it is only because I was trying to elaborate on some important concepts that Shankara merely hinted at in his original verse. As long as the commentary runs in Shankara’s style and voice, I believe, there will be no confusion. If you ask me why I chose to write a commentary on yet another work of Shankara, I can only answer in Shankara’s own words. When Shankara was asked why he wrote such elaborate commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, etc., Shankar replied that his hope was that at least a few hundreds of the thousands of verses he had written will be grasped by his disciples, and they will have a crystal clear understanding of the main goal of human life. This is my desire as well – that earnest seekers grasp the profound Advaitic truths buried in these ten profound verses and experience the Truth directly for themselves. Like a moth transforming into a butterfly, if their separate selves (jIvAtma) expand to become One with the Supreme Self, I will consider my desire fulfilled.
Meditation
मौनव्याख्या प्रकटित परब्रह्मतत्त्वं युवानं वर्षिष्ठांते वसद् ऋषिगणैः आवृतं ब्रह्मनिष्ठैः । आचार्येन्द्रं करकलित चिन्मुद्रमानंदमूर्तिं स्वात्मारामं मुदितवदनं दक्षिणामूर्तिमीडे ॥१॥
The Lord Dakshinamurti sits under the banyan tree facing the south. Foremost of all teachers, He provides the ultimate knowledge of the Self to seekers of the world. With a face resplendent with Divine Consciousness, He revels in the bliss of His own Self, in the Knowledge that He alone Is with no other. Seated around Him are His disciples, the old wise sages Vashista, Vamadeva, and others. The disciples are old, but the teacher is youthful. What can such a young one teach these wise old men, we may wonder. With His hand held in cin-mudra or jnAna mudra (the index finger and the thumb held together to form a circle, symbolizing the union of the separate self with the Supreme Self), the Lord silently transmits the knowledge of the Supreme Self to His disciples who also sit silently around Him, absorbed in the Self. With a burning desire for Knowledge and liberation, I bow to Him, the Lord Dakshinamurti, the embodiment of Self-Knowledge.