Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra

Sri Shankaracharya

Verse 8 विश्वं पश्यति कार्यकारणतया स्वस्वामि सम्बन्धतः शि ष्या चार्यतया तथैव पितृपुत्राद्यात्मना भेदतः । स्वप्ने जाग्रति वा य एष पुरुषो मायापरिभ्रामि तः तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ८ ॥

8. Obeisance to Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti, who is the Guru, (who as) this person 1 , being deluded by māyā 2 sees the world both in sleep and in the waking state, as (full of) differences 3 (brought about by such) relationships as cause and effect, 4 property and owner, 5 disciple and teacher, 6 as also father and son, and so on.

Notes: 1) The original word is puruṣaḥ. It is interpreted as pūrṇaḥ, ‘the full’, ‘the complete’. According to another interpretation, it means ‘one who occupies this city or body’. Here it obviously refers to the jīvātman who in essence is Paramātman. 2) This māyā is malina-sattva-pradhānā, that is, the sattva tainted by tamas. It is this māyā that has evolved into this world of causes and effects. Again, it is into this māyā that Īśvara has entered as the jīvātman. Hence, the delusion should be looked upon from the standpoint of the jīvātman. 3) The differences are not only among the various objects, but also between himself and them. 4) What produces and what is produced. 5) The phrase may also be interpreted as ‘servant and master’. 6) Uncompromising Advaita goes so far as to deny even the teacher-disciple relationship as a product of māyā. But one should not forget that without passing through the mill of discipleship such a realisation cannot come.

Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotra with Mānasollāsa. Translated and Annotated by Swami Harshananda