Dakshinamurthy Stotram

ॐ यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति पूर्वम्

Oṃ yo brahmāṇaṃ vidadhāti pūrvam

Om. He who in the beginning brings Brahma into being,

यो वै वेदांश्च प्रहिणोति तस्मै ।

Yo vai vedāṃśca prahiṇoti tasmai |

and who then sends forth the Vedas to him,

तं ह देवमात्मबुद्धिप्रकाशं

Taṃ ha devamātmabuddhiprakāśaṃ

that Lord, the light by which the intellect knows the Self,

मुमुक्षुर्वै शरणमहं प्रपद्ये ॥

Mumukṣurvai śaraṇamahaṃ prapadye ||

I, longing for liberation, take refuge in.

मौनव्याख्याप्रकटितपरब्रह्मतत्त्वं युवानं

Maunavyākhyāprakaṭitaparabrahmatattvaṃ yuvānaṃ

Youthful, revealing the truth of the supreme Brahman by an exposition made in silence,

वर्षिष्ठान्ते वसदृषिगणैरावृतं ब्रह्मनिष्ठैः ।

Varṣiṣṭhānte vasadṛṣigaṇairāvṛtaṃ brahmaniṣṭhaiḥ |

encircled by bands of aged rishis settled close by, steadfast in Brahman,

आचार्येन्द्रं करकलितचिन्मुद्रमानन्दरूपं

Ācāryendraṃ karakalitacinmudramānandarūpaṃ

chief among teachers, the chin-mudra formed in His hand, bliss itself in form,

स्वात्मारामं मुदितवदनं दक्षिणामूर्तिमीडे

Svātmārāmaṃ muditavadanaṃ dakṣiṇāmūrtimīḍe

delighting in His own Self, His face glad: Dakshinamurthy I praise.

विश्वं दर्पणदृश्यमाननगरीतुल्यं निजान्तर्गतं

Viśvaṃ darpaṇadṛśyamānanagarītulyaṃ nijāntargataṃ

The universe, like a city seen inside a mirror, contained within Himself,

पश्यन्नात्मनि मायया बहिरिवोद्भूतं यथा निद्रया ।

Paśyannātmani māyayā bahirivodbhūtaṃ yathā nidrayā |

yet by maya seen as though it had sprung up outside, the way it does in sleep,

यः साक्षात्कुरुते प्रबोधसमये स्वात्मानमेवाद्वयं

Yaḥ sākṣātkurute prabodhasamaye svātmānamevādvayaṃ

and who, at the moment of waking, realises directly His own Self alone, without a second:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

बीजस्यान्तरिवाङ्कुरो जगदिदं प्राङ्निर्विकल्पं पुनः

Bījasyāntarivāṅkuro jagadidaṃ prāṅnirvikalpaṃ punaḥ

As the sprout lies within the seed, so this world, undifferentiated before,

मायाकल्पितदेशकालकलनावैचित्र्यचित्रीकृतम् ।

Māyākalpitadeśakālakalanāvaicitryacitrīkṛtam |

is painted over with the variegation of space, time and measure that maya fashions,

मायावीव विजृम्भयत्यपि महायोगीव यः स्वेच्छया

Māyāvīva vijṛmbhayatyapi mahāyogīva yaḥ svecchayā

and who unfolds it at His own will, like a conjurer, like a great yogi:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

यस्यैव स्फुरणं सदात्मकमसत्कल्पार्थकं भासते

Yasyaiva sphuraṇaṃ sadātmakamasatkalpārthakaṃ bhāsate

By whose shining alone, itself the real, do objects that are as good as unreal appear,

साक्षात्तत्त्वमसीति वेदवचसा यो बोधयत्याश्रितान् ।

Sākṣāttattvamasīti vedavacasā yo bodhayatyāśritān |

who awakens those who take refuge in Him with the Veda's own words, 'tat tvam asi', that thou art,

यत्साक्षात्करणाद्भवेन्न पुनरावृत्तिर्भवाम्भोनिधौ

Yatsākṣātkaraṇādbhavenna punarāvṛttirbhavāmbhonidhau

and from realising whom there is no returning to the ocean of birth and death:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

नानाच्छिद्रघटोदरस्थितमहादीपप्रभाभास्वरं

Nānācchidraghaṭodarasthitamahādīpaprabhābhāsvaraṃ

Bright as the flame of a great lamp set inside a pot pierced with many holes,

ज्ञानं यस्य तु चक्षुरादिकरणद्वारा बहिः स्पन्दते ।

Jñānaṃ yasya tu cakṣurādikaraṇadvārā bahiḥ spandate |

whose knowing pulses outward through the doorways of the eye and the other senses,

जानामीति तमेव भान्तमनुभात्येतत्समस्तं जगत्

Jānāmīti tameva bhāntamanubhātyetatsamastaṃ jagat

so that as 'I know' arises, this entire world shines only in the wake of His shining:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

देहं प्राणमपीन्द्रियाण्यपि चलां बुद्धिं च शून्यं विदुः

Dehaṃ prāṇamapīndriyāṇyapi calāṃ buddhiṃ ca śūnyaṃ viduḥ

The body, the breath, the senses too, the shifting intellect, even the void: these they take for the self,

स्त्रीबालान्धजडोपमास्त्वहमिति भ्रान्ता भृशं वादिनः ।

Strībālāndhajaḍopamāstvahamiti bhrāntā bhṛśaṃ vādinaḥ |

disputants badly deluded about the 'I', whom the verse likens to women, children, the blind and the dull-witted,

मायाशक्तिविलासकल्पितमहा व्यामोहसंहारिणे

Māyāśaktivilāsakalpitamahā vyāmohasaṃhāriṇe

to Him who destroys that vast delusion fashioned by the play of maya's power,

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

राहुग्रस्तदिवाकरेन्दुसदृशो मायासमाच्छादनात्

Rāhugrastadivākarendusadṛśo māyāsamācchādanāt

Like sun or moon swallowed by Rahu, covered over by maya,

सन्मात्रः करणोपसंहरणतो योऽभूत्सुषुप्तः पुमान् ।

Sanmātraḥ karaṇopasaṃharaṇato yo'bhūtsuṣuptaḥ pumān |

the person who, his instruments withdrawn, lay in deep sleep as pure being alone,

प्रागस्वाप्समिति प्रबोधसमये यः प्रत्यभिज्ञायते

Prāgasvāpsamiti prabodhasamaye yaḥ pratyabhijñāyate

and who at waking is recognised in the thought 'I slept just now':

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

बाल्यादिष्वपि जाग्रदादिषु तथा सर्वास्ववस्थास्वपि

Bālyādiṣvapi jāgradādiṣu tathā sarvāsvavasthāsvapi

Through childhood and the ages after it, through waking and the states after it, through every condition

व्यावृत्तास्वनुवर्तमानमहमित्यन्तः स्फुरन्तं सदा ।

Vyāvṛttāsvanuvartamānamahamityantaḥ sphurantaṃ sadā |

that comes and goes, He continues on, always shining within as 'I':

स्वात्मानं प्रकटीकरोति भजतां यो मुद्रया भद्रया

Svātmānaṃ prakaṭīkaroti bhajatāṃ yo mudrayā bhadrayā

and who, by the auspicious mudra, reveals that Self to those who worship Him:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

विश्वं पश्यति कार्यकारणतया स्वस्वामिसंबन्धतः

Viśvaṃ paśyati kāryakāraṇatayā svasvāmisaṃbandhataḥ

This person sees the world as effect and cause, as owner and owned,

शिष्याचार्यतया तथैव पितृपुत्राद्यात्मना भेदतः ।

Śiṣyācāryatayā tathaiva pitṛputrādyātmanā bhedataḥ |

as disciple and teacher, as father and son and the rest, all of it as difference,

स्वप्ने जाग्रति वा य एष पुरुषो मायापरिभ्रामितः

Svapne jāgrati vā ya eṣa puruṣo māyāparibhrāmitaḥ

in dream or in waking, this person spun about by maya:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

भूरम्भांस्यनलोऽनिलोऽम्बरमहर्नाथो हिमांशुः पुमान्

Bhūrambhāṃsyanalo'nilo'mbaramaharnātho himāṃśuḥ pumān

Earth, waters, fire, wind, sky, the lord of day (the sun), the cool-rayed one (the moon), and the living person:

इत्याभाति चराचरात्मकमिदं यस्यैव मूर्त्यष्टकम् ।

Ityābhāti carācarātmakamidaṃ yasyaiva mūrtyaṣṭakam |

as these alone shines this world of the moving and the still, which is His eightfold form,

नान्यत्किञ्चन विद्यते विमृशतां यस्मात्परस्माद्विभोः

Nānyatkiñcana vidyate vimṛśatāṃ yasmātparasmādvibhoḥ

and for those who examine it, nothing whatever exists apart from that supreme, all-pervading One:

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये

Tasmai śrīgurumūrtaye nama idaṃ śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye

to Him who wears the form of the holy Guru, this salutation: to Shri Dakshinamurthy.

सर्वात्मत्वमिति स्फुटीकृतमिदं यस्मादमुष्मिन् स्तवे

Sarvātmatvamiti sphuṭīkṛtamidaṃ yasmādamuṣmin stave

Since being the Self of all has been made plain in this hymn,

तेनास्य श्रवणात्तदर्थमननाद्ध्यानाच्च सङ्कीर्तनात् ।

Tenāsya śravaṇāttadarthamananāddhyānācca saṅkīrtanāt |

therefore by hearing it, by pondering its sense, by meditating on it and by reciting it aloud,

सर्वात्मत्वमहाविभूतिसहितं स्यादीश्वरत्वं स्वतः

Sarvātmatvamahāvibhūtisahitaṃ syādīśvaratvaṃ svataḥ

there comes of itself the state of Ishvara, with the great glory of being the Self of all,

सिद्ध्येत्तत्पुनरष्टधा परिणतं चैश्वर्यमव्याहतम्

Siddhyettatpunaraṣṭadhā pariṇataṃ caiśvaryamavyāhatam

and with it an unobstructed sovereignty unfolding in eight forms.

वटविटपिसमीपे भूमिभागे निषण्णं

Vaṭaviṭapisamīpe bhūmibhāge niṣaṇṇaṃ

Seated on the ground beside the banyan tree,

सकलमुनिजनानां ज्ञानदातारमारात् ।

Sakalamunijanānāṃ jñānadātāramārāt |

close at hand, the giver of knowledge to all the sages,

त्रिभुवनगुरुमीशं दक्षिणामूर्तिदेवं

Tribhuvanagurumīśaṃ dakṣiṇāmūrtidevaṃ

guru of the three worlds, the Lord, the god Dakshinamurthy,

जननमरणदुःखच्छेददक्षं नमामि ॥

Jananamaraṇaduḥkhacchedadakṣaṃ namāmi ||

skilled at severing the sorrow of birth and death: to Him I bow.

इति श्रीमत्परमहंसपरिव्राजकाचार्यस्य श्रीगोविन्दभगवत्पूज्यपादशिष्यस्य श्रीमच्छङ्करभगवतः कृतौ दक्षिणामूर्त्यष्टकं सम्पूर्णम्॥

Iti śrīmat-paramahaṃsaparivrājakācāryasya śrīgovindabhagavatpūjyapādaśiṣyasya śrīmacchaṅkarabhagavataḥ kṛtau dakṣiṇāmūrtyaṣṭakaṃ sampūrṇam

Thus ends the Dakshinamurthy Ashtakam, from the work of the revered Shankara Bhagavan, disciple of the venerable Govinda Bhagavatpada, the illustrious paramahamsa, wandering ascetic and acharya.