Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra

Sri Shankaracharya

Verse 3 यस्यैव स्फुरणं सदात्मकमसत्कल्पार्थकं भासते साक्षात्तत्त्वम सीतिवेदवचसा यो बोधयत्याश् रितान् । यत्सा क्षात्करणाद्भवेन्न पुनरावृत्तिर्भ वाम्भोनि धौ

तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ३ ॥

3.Obeisance to him, Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti, by whose brilliance, which is of the nature of existence 1 , (this world which is) similar to unreality 2 shines, who is enlightening those who have taken refuge in him 3 by the message of the Vedas 4 , viz. ‘Thou art verily That!’ 5 , and by realising which 6 there is no return to this ocean of transmigration. 7 1) Sattā and sphuraṇa, same as ‘sat’ and ‘cit’, are not two different things but identical. 2) The word used in the hymn is asat-kalpa—‘that which is almost or as good as asat’. This is just to show that this world, which is a product of māyā, which itself is anirvacanīya or indescribable, is neither sat (real) nor asat (unreal) in the absolute sense. Since it is being perceived and experienced, it is not asat. Since it is constantly changing, gets destroyed, and is transcended in the state of spiritual realisation, it is not sat either. 3) According to all the schools of Hindu religious tradition, spiritual realisation can come only by the grace of the guru. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.14.2) says: आचार्यवान् पुरुषो वेद - ‘It is (only) the person who is blessed by a teacher who can know the (Truth).’ 4) The Upaniṣads. 5) Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.8.7) 6) It is to be realised as one’s own Self. 7) Self-knowledge destroys avidyā or nescience which was responsible for saṁsāra or transmigration.