Lord Shiva has taken various forms to please his devotees and in one of the forms he appeared as a teacher to guide humankinds on the right path and Lord Shiva’s this teacher form is known as Dakshinamurthy or Jnana Dakshinamurthy. As a teacher this divine form of Lord Shiva is the personification of all types of knowledge and symbolizes awareness, understanding and wisdom. He is considered as the master of the Vedas and Shastras.
The word Dakshinamurthy is composed by the fusion of two words Dakshina meaning ‘the south facing’ and Murthy meaning “an idol” hence the Dakshinamurthy means an idol of Lord Shiva which always faces the south direction. Ramana Maharshi1 has interpreted the name Dakshinamurthy as ‘he who is all capable but does not have a form’.
In Hindu philosophy, it is important to have a Guru (teacher) and if one does not have a guru then those people are advised to consider Lord Dakshinamurthy as their teacher.
Importance of Guru in Hindu tradition
There is a very popular saying in hindu tradition which is “matrudevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava, acharyadevo bhava” meaning mother, father, and the teacher are equal to the Ishwara (God). There was a time when these words of wisdom were recited by the students during their morning assembly prayers in schools. The above phrase is taken from the Taittiriya Upanishad.
The importance of Guru in an individual’s life can also be inferred from the fact that in earlier days and even in today’s time in ashrams and gurukuls, after a child undergoes the Upanayana2 ceremony then his guru or teacher is considered as his father because it is believed that the upanayana ceremony is like a second birth of the child, whereas the Vedas taught by such a Guru become the mother of such a person.
Origin story of Dakshinamurthy
According to a popular story the four mind born sons of Lord Brahma, “Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Sanat kumara” did austere tapas but they were still unable to find the Supreme Truth. They finally decided to come to Lord Shiva to get this supreme knowledge. Lord Shiva made himself sit under a banyan tree while the four sages sat down around him. Lord Shiva stayed in the yoga posture without speaking or reciting a single word and all the doubts of the four sages got cleared just by looking at that posture. The form in which God appeared as a Supreme Guide to these four rishis is the form of wisdom “Dakshinamurthy”.
This also explains that the ultimate truth cannot be explained in words, and it can only be experienced.
How does the Dakshinamurthy form of Shiva looks like?
The iconographic description of the great teacher is not consistent. One can find the stone image of Dakshinamurthy facing south in most of the Shiva temples. Apparently, it is the only hindu deity who faces the south direction.
Sri Dakshinamurthy is mostly seen in a seated posture and occasionally in a standing position (while holding his veena, the musical instrument he plays proficiently). When he is shown seated, his right leg is stretched down and rests upon a dwarf demon (apasmara, who stands for lack of knowledge and illumination). The place where he sits is covered by the skin of either deer or tiger. His left foot is bent at the knee and rests on his right knee or thigh. He has an expression of meditative simplicity on his face and the rishis look towards him for the light of knowledge.
Sri Dakshinamurthy wears a mala made up of rudraksha beads, and simple embellishments like garlands of flowers, a sacred cord rests on his chest and there is sandal paste on his arms. His complexion is bright and glows brightly. He is deeply immersed in self with a gentle smile on his divine face.
When Sri Dakshinamurthy is depicted as jnana Dakshinamurthy, his right hand is in the jnana mudra (symbolizing knowledge and wisdom). A popular interpretation on the jnana mudra is that his thumb represents the god, the index finger represents the man and the other three fingers stands for three inborn impurities that afflict man, viz, egotism, delusion and bad deeds performed in the past births. Since the three fingers separate the index finger (man), we learn from Dakshinamurthy that we can also reach God if we can detach ourselves from impurities. Sri Dakshinamurthy may also appear as Veenadhari Dakshinamurthy (Sri Dakshinamurthy holding a veena).
Only one of the twelve Jyotirlingas represents Dakshinamurti, the Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain. As it is the only Dakshinamurthy Jyotirlinga, it holds a special place and importance for Shaivites as a site of learning. One of the most famous Dakshinamurthy temples in India is the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple in Kerala. There are also several temples in Tamil Nadu with Dakshinamurthy as the chief deity. Majority of the Shiva Temples also have Dakshinamurthy as a sub-deity.
Mantras to please Dakshinamurthy
Hindu scriptures tell how Lord Brahma imparted Manu Smriti to his son Manu, how Lord Vishnu took incarnation as VedaVyasa to divide and arrange the Vedas similarly Lord Shiva also manifested himself as a young boy “Dakshinamurthy” to impart supreme knowledge. Thus, one of the meditation verses by about Dakshinamurthy describes Him as:
चित्रं वटतरोर्मूले वृद्धाः शिष्याः गुरुर्युवा | गुरोस्तु मौनं व्याख्यानं शिष्यास्तु च्चिन्नसंशयाः ||
Meaning- wondrous indeed! Under the tree are the aged disciples sitting around their youthful guru. Guru taught them with silence, but the doubts of the disciples were all dispelled.
The name Dakshinamurthy can also be understood in another way. It can be broken into “Dakshina”, which means a person who has skill, competency, and authority and “Amurthy”, which means formless. In other words, Dakshinamurthy is someone who never took birth, who doesn’t have a form, one who is eternal Para-Brahman, who through his own power of Maya, manifests this Universe and sustains it as its Lord. Thus, Dakshinamurthy is identified with Ishwara, who creates, sustains, and dissolves the Universe.
The Dakshinamurti Stotra by Adi Shankara is a laudatory hymn dedicated to this form of Shiva.
oṃ maunavyākhyā prakaṭita parabrahmatatvaṃ yuvānaṃ, varśiṣṭhānte vasad ṛṣigaṇair āvṛtaṃ brahmaniṣṭhaiḥ
ācāryendraṃ karakalita cinmudram ānandamūrtiṃ, svātmarāmaṃ muditavadanaṃ dakṣiṇāmūrtimīḍe
Meaning- I salute Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the Young Guru, who teaches the knowledge of Brahman through silence, who is surrounded by disciples, who are themselves ṛṣis and scholars in the Vedas. (I worship Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti), who is the teacher of teachers, whose hand is held in the sign of knowledge (cin-mudrā), whose nature is fullness, who reveals in himself, and who is ever silent.
- Ramana Maharshi (born Dec. 30, 1879, Madurai, Madras states, India—died April 14, 1950, Tiruvannamalai) was a Hindu philosopher and yogi called “Great Master,” “Bhagavan” (the Lord), and “the Sage of Arunachala,” whose position on monism (the identity of the individual soul and the creator of souls) and maya (illusion) parallels that of Shankara (c. 700–750). His original contribution to yogic philosophy is the technique of vichar (“self-pondering” inquiry). ↩︎
- Upanayana became an elaborate ceremony that includes rituals involving the family, the child and the teacher. A boy receives during this ceremony a sacred thread called the yajnopavita to be worn. The yajnopavita ceremony announces that the child had entered into formal education ↩︎