DakshiNa-mUrti ashTakam Verse 1

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> Verse No.1

>

> viSvam darpaNa-dRSyamAna-nagarI tulyam nijAntar-gataM

> paSyan-nAtmani mAyayA bahirivo-dbhUtam yathA nidrayA /

> yas-sAkshAt-kurute prabodha-samaye svAtmAnam-evAdvayaM

> tasmai SrI-guru-mUrtaye nama idaM SrI-dakshiNA-mUrtaye //

>

> Translation:

>

> To Him who, by mAyA, who sees in Himself `the universe which is inside

> Him as if it were outside, just as in a dream, like unto a city that is

> seen in a mirror, to Him who apprehends on awakening, His own Self as

> the One without a second, to Him of the form of the Guru, (the ancient of

> all) the blessed dakshinA-mUrti, is this prostration.

>

> Commentary:

>

> Verses 1, 2 and 3 dwell on the origin of the universe and its

> philosophical implications. In this verse there are two analogies cited.

> One is that of the dream, and the other that of the appearance of

> reflection in a mirror. Each serves a purpose. The dream analogy says

> that unless we wake up from the dream we cannot see the falsity of the

> dream. The mirror analogy says that even as we experience the reflection

> before us we know its falsity; so also even as we experience the presence

> of this universe 'outside' of us , we must realise their falsity, because

> it is only a projection of the real Self within. There is another point

> of distinction between the dream analogy and the mirror-reflection

> analogy. In the dream analogy what is really 'within' appears as

> 'outside'. In the analogy of the mirror-reflection what is really outside

> of the mirror appears as 'within' the mirror. We have to extrapolate both

> the analogies and understand that the universe is actually within us but

> appears as outside of us by the sheer force of the projecting power of

> mAyA. The purport of this verse is to tell us that brahman is the Truth,

> the visible universe is only an appearance and to that extent it is

> unreal. When one thing appears to us as something else it is false

> knowledge of the thing. By reason of the mAyA power we have this false

> knowledge and think that the universe is something other than brahman. But

> when the Realization dawns on us by the grace of the Guru we will then

> realize that there is nothing other than brahman.

>

> Commentary and translation by Prof V Krishnamurthy

> The website is at:

> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/2952/gohitvip/63.html

>