Adhi Sankara has written very many great Stotras (prayers) but here is a unique prayer, which is not only a prayer but a summary of all the philosophy that he has taught. Even during his time, this stotra was difficult to comprehend and it became necessary for one of his disciples, Sureshwaracharya to write a commentary called Manasollasa to this stotra. There are a large number of books and commentaries on this commentary itself.
Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram in English:
santipathah
om yo brahmanam vidadhati purvam
yo vai vedamsca prahinoti tasmai |
tamhadevamatma buddhiprakasam
mumuksurvai saranamaham prapadye ||
dhyanam
om maunavyakhya prakatitaparabrahmatatvamyuvanam
varsisthantevasadrsiganairavrtam brahmanisthaih |
acaryendram karakalita cinmudramanandamurtim
svatmaramam muditavadanam daksinamurtimiḍe ||
vatavitapisamipe bhumibhage nisannam
sakalamunijananam nnanadataramarat |
tribhuvanagurumisam daksinamurtidevam
jananamaranaduhkhaccheda daksam namami ||
citram vatatarormule vrddhah sisyah gururyuva |
gurostu maunavyakhyanam sisyastucchinnasamsayah ||
om namah pranavarthaya suddhannanaikamurtaye |
nirmalaya prasantaya daksinamurtaye namah ||
gururbrahma gururvisnuh gururdevo mahesvarah |
gurussaksat param brahma tasmai sri gurave namah ||
nidhaye sarvavidyanam bhisaje bhavaroginam |
gurave sarvalokanam daksinamurtaye namah ||
cidoghanaya mahesaya vatamulanivasine |
saccidananda rupaya daksinamurtaye namah ||
isvaro gururatmeti mutribheda vibhagine |
vyomavad vyaptadehaya daksinamurtaye namah ||
angusthatarjaniyogamudra vyajenayoginam |
srtyartham brahmajivaikyam darsayanyogata sivah ||
om santih santih santih ||
visvandarpana drsyamana nagari tulyam nijantargatam
pasyannatmani mayaya bahirivodbhutam yathanidraya |
yassaksatkurute prabhodhasamaye svatmaname vadvayam
tasmai srigurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 1 ||
bijasyantati vankuro jagaditam prannarvikalpam punah
mayakalpita desakalakalana vaicitryacitrikrtam |
mayaviva vijrmbhayatyapi mahayogiva yah svecchaya
tasmai srigurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 2 ||
yasyaiva sphuranam sadatmakamasatkalparthakam bhasate
saksattatvamasiti vedavacasa yo bodhayatyasritan |
yassaksatkaranadbhavenna puranavrttirbhavambhonidhau
tasmai srigurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 3 ||
nanacchidra ghatodara sthita mahadipa prabhabhasvaram
nnanam yasya tu caksuradikarana dvara bahih spandate |
janamiti tameva bhantamanubhatyetatsamastam jagat
tasmai sri gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 4 ||
deham pranamapindriyanyapi calam buddhim ca sunyam viduh
stri balandha jaḍopamastvahamiti bhrantabhrsam vadinah |
mayasakti vilasakalpita mahavyamoha samharine
tasmai sri gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 5 ||
rahugrasta divakarendu sadrso maya samacchadanat
sanmatrah karanopa samharanato yoஉbhutsusuptah puman |
pragasvapsamiti prabhodasamaye yah pratyabhinnayate
tasmai sri gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 6 ||
balyadisvapi jagradadisu tatha sarvasvavasthasvapi
vyavrtta svanu vartamana mahamityantah sphurantam sada |
svatmanam prakatikaroti bhajatam yo mudraya bhadraya
tasmai sri gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 7 ||
visvam pasyati karyakaranataya svasvamisambandhatah
sisyacaryataya tathaiva pitr putradyatmana bhedatah |
svapne jagrati va ya esa puruso maya paribhramitah
tasmai sri gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 8 ||
bhurambhamsyanaloஉniloஉmbara maharnatho himamsuh puman
ityabhati caracaratmakamidam yasyaiva murtyastakam |
nanyatkincana vidyate vimrsatam yasmatparasmadvibho
tasmai gurumurtaye nama idam sri daksinamurtaye || 9 ||
sarvatmatvamiti sphutikrtamidam yasmadamusmin stave
tenasva sravanattadartha mananaddhyanacca sankirtanat |
sarvatmatvamahavibhuti sahitam syadisvaratvam svatah
siddhyettatpunarastadha parinatam caisvarya mavyahatam || 10 ||
|| iti srimacchankaracaryaviracitam daksinamurtistotram sampurnam ||
Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram Meaning:
I praise and salute that Dakshinamrthy,
Who faces the south,
Who explains the true nature of the supreme Brahman,
Through his state of silence,
Who is young in looks,
Who is surrounded by disciples who are old Sages,
Whose minds are fixed on Brahman,
Who is the greatest of teachers,
Who shows the Chinmudhra by his hand,
Who is the personification of happiness,
Who is in the state of extreme joy within himself,
And who has a smiling face.
Similar to the image of a town as seen in the mirror,
When one sees the image of the world within him,
The world appears as if it is outside.
It is similar to his seeing due to illusion,
During the state of sleep,
That the one real fact appears as many different truths,
And he realizes, when he wakes up and sees the reality,
That he is really the one and only one soul.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
Like the germ inside the seed is its part,
But becomes different after development
The many places and time which are before us,
Are drawn by illusion in the board of life in a peculiar manner,
By a great savant or an expert Siddha,
Who can create them as per their will,
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
He who exists as the real light of truth,
And shines in the false world of appearance,
And He who teaches disciples the great saying,
“Thou art that” after realizing its import,
Gets away from this cycle of life and death.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
Like the light emanating from a lamp,
Kept in a pot with many holes,
Goes out in all directions,
In the person in whom the wisdom goes out
Through the openings of ear, eye, mouth and thought,
And when that person realizes that ‘I know myself”,
This whole universe shines after Him alone,
Who shines in the consciousness as the knower.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
Those great philosophers, who think that,
The body, the soul and the fickle intellect,
The concept of emptiness and all other nothingness,
Are nothing but themselves,
Are similar to the women children, blind and ignorant.
It is only He who can destroy, this veil of ignorance,
And wake us up from this state of deceit.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
Similar to the Sun when being masked by the serpent Rahu,
Knows that it was existing, once the eclipse is over
That man whose senses are suppressed
When he is asleep,
Because of the veil of illusion,
Realizes that he was in a state of sleep,
When he wakes up.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
Salutations to him who shines and exhibits,
Himself by the beatific Chinmudhra of the hand,
That he exists within the humans as self,
Forever and non changing,
Even during the changing states of childhood, youth and old age
And even during the states of sleep, dream and wakefulness.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
The world sees as cause and effect,
The differences between us and our lord,
The distinction between teacher and the taught,
The distinction between father and son,
And so the man is confused by illusion,
And believes in these differences,
During the times of dream and wakefulness.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
To the sake of which supreme Brahman,
The universe is shining as self,
Which is Movable and immovable, with its aspects?
Of water, fire, air, space,
The sun, moon and the individual soul,
And also to those who examine the truth behind,
The meaning of this universe and find,
That it Consists of nothing but,
The God who is every where.
Salutation to the God facing the south,
Who is the greatest teacher.
The concept of the Athma,
Which is explained in this poem of praise,
Hearing which, understanding which,
Meditating which and singing which,
One would attain the state of godliness,
And the great state of self-realization,
And also you would get the eight powers of occult,
Without any problems in between.
Also Read:
Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram Lyrics in English | Hindi | Marathi | Bengali | Kannada | Malayalam | Telugu | Tamil
Wish both Sanskrit original and English transliteration were given. It would be helpful for those learning sanskrit
Dear Vijayalakshmi Venkataraman
Check the below link for Sanskrit Lyrics.
https://templesinindiainfo.com/sri-dakshinamurthy-stotram-lyrics-by-adi-shankaracharya-hindi-with-meaning/
Thank you for the excellent work and making it easy to understand for people who does not have formal training in Sanskrit.