Guest guest Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Dear Members, I recently completed a simple translation of "dakshinamurthy ashtakam of Adhi Sankara".Since the stothra is very complicated due to its philosophical import, I would like to get comments from those of you who can spare the time, so that I can edit my translation and put in my web site www.geocitites.com/ramya475.I am giving below my translation. Kindly send your comments to ramya475 P.R.Ramachander Sree Dakshinamuthy Ashtakam Written by Adhi Sankara Bhagawat Pada. Translated by P.R.Ramachander (Adhi Sankara has written very many great Stotras (prayers) but here is a unique prayer, which is not only a prayer but the summary of all the philosophy he has taught. Even during his time, this stotra was difficult to comprehend and it became necessary to one of his disciples called Sureshwaracharya to write a commentary called Manasollasa to this stotra. There are large number of books and commentaries on this commentary itself. What I am trying to do is to make a very feeble attempt to translate the stotra in to simple English. This is done with the grace of God and blessings of Adhi Sankara, as I clearly understand that I am not capable of such a great venture. It has an introductory sloka, followed by eight slokas, which is again followed by a sloka of Phala sruthi.) Mouna Vyakhya prakatitha, para, Brahma thathwam yuvanam, Varshishtan deva sadh rishi ganai, Ravrutham brahma nishtai, Acharyendram kara kalihtha chin, Mudram ananda roopam, Swathmaramam mudhitha vadanam, Dakshinamurthy Meede. I praise and salute that Dakshinamrthy, Who faces the south, Who explains the concept of the ultimate God, Through his state of silence, Who is young in looks, Who is surrounded by Sages, Meditating on Brahman, Who is the greatest of teachers, Who shows the Chinmudhra* by his hand, Who is personification of happiness, Who is in the state of extreme joy within himself, And who has a smiling face. *He joins the edge of the thumb and first finger, which indicates that God and soul are one. This is called Chinmudhra. Viswam darpana drusyamana nagari, Thulyam nijandargatham, Pasyannathmani mayaya bahirivoth, Bhutham yada nidraya, Ya sakshath kuruthe prabodha samaye, Swathmanameva dwayam, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree Dakshinamurthaye. 2 Similar to the image of a town as seen in the mirror, When one sees the image of the world within him, It is similar to his seeing due to illusion, During the state of sleep, That the one real fact is many different, 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. The above stanza tells us that the world which is outside us is same as our soul but we see them as different entities due to the veil of ignorance. As soon as we wake up, we realize that the dream is false and even while seeing our image in the mirror, we know that we are not seeing us in the mirror but our image. When we get knowledge from the guru we are in the wakeful state without the veil of ignorance. Bheejasyanthari vankuro jagadhidham, Prang nirvikalpam puna, Mayakalpitha desa kala kalanaa, Vaichithrya chithrikrutham, Mayaveeva vijrumbhayathyapi maha, Yogeeva yah swechaya, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 3 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. When the net of illusion is lifted and when we reach the stage of manifestation, we would find that what we think as different is but one and the same. Yasyaiva spuranam sadathmakamasath, Kalparthagam basathe, Sakshaath thathwamaseethi veda vachasa, Yobodhyathyasrithhan, Yath saksht karanath bhavenna punara, Aavrithir bhavambhonidhow, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 4 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, Get away from this cycle of life and death. Salutation to the God facing the south, Who is the greatest teacher. "That Thou Art is the famous Grand Pronouncement (mahA-vAkya) found in the Chandogya-Upanishad of the Sama Veda, meted out by AruNi to Svetaketu. It is repeated nine times to him and explained nine times. It is not supposed to be a casual statement. It is the summum bonum of all Upanishadic teaching. It says: That brahman which is the common Reality behind everything in the cosmos is the same as the essential Divinity, namely the Atman or the Self, within you." This realization which is extremely difficult to achieve makes you understand that you are an infinite part of this absolute reality called "Brahman". Nanachidhra ghato dhara sthitha maha, Deepa prabha bhaswaram, Jnanam yasya thu chakshuradhi karana, Dwara bahi spandathe, Jaanameethi thameva baandha manubath, Yethath samastham jagat, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 5 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", He will be followed by the entire world. Salutation to the God facing the south, Who is the greatest teacher. Our body prevents us from seeing the truth(the light from outside) that we are the Brahman and lets out light though the sensory organs and makes us deceive ourselves by feeling that we are happy. This simile of a pot with holes for the body occurs in many places in Indian philosophy. Deham pranam api indryanyapi chalaam, Budhim cha soonyam vidhu, Stree balandha jadopamasthvaha mithi, Brandha brusam vadhina, Maya sakthi vilasa kalpitha maha, Vyamoha samharine, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 6 Those great philosophers , who think that, The body , the soul and the senses, The empty brain and all other nothingness, Are nothing but themselves, Are similar to the women children , blind and the 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. This is a sample of the approach of negation in identifying the truth about the concept of self. Senses, the body etc cannot be the absolute truth as they are transient. Rahu grastha divakarendu sadrusho, Maya samachadanath, Sanamthra karanopa samharanatho, Yo abhoot sushuptha pumaan, Pragaswapsaamithi prabodha samaye, Yaa prathyabignayathe, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 7 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 the state of sleep, When he wakes up. Salutation to the God facing the south, Who is the greatest teacher. Similar the sun existing even when there is eclipse, we exist when we are sleeping. This is denial of the Buddhist theory that , when we are asleep there is nothingness. Balyadishwapi jagaradhadishu thadha, Sarva sva avasthasthaswapi, Vyavrutha swanuvarthamanamaha , Mithyanth sphurantham sada, Svathmaanam pragatikarothi bajatham, Yo mudraya bhadraya, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 8 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 truth as represented by the concept of Brahman, exists always. Viswam pasyathi karya karana thaya, Swa swami sambandatha, Sishyacharya thaya thadaiva pithru, Puthradhyathmana bedatha, Swapne Jagrathi va ya esha purusho, Maya Paribramitha, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 9 The world sees as cause and effect, The relation between us and our lord, The relation between teacher and the taught, The relation 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. The ignorance of the truth because of the veil of ignorance Maya is reemphasized. Bhoorambaamsya anilo ambhara, Maharnadho himamasu puman, Ithyabhathi characharathmakamidham, Yasyaiva murthyashtakam, Nanyath kinchana vidhyathe vimrusathaam, Yasmath parasmath vibho, Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, Sree dakshinamurthaye. 10 To the sake of which great one, 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. Sarvathmathvamithi sphutikruthamitham, Yasmadamushamin sthave, Thenasya sravanath thadartha mananath, Dyanascha Sankeerthanath, Sarvathmathva maha vibhuthi sahitham, Syadheeswarasthvam svatha, Siddhyeth thath punarashtadha parinatham, Chaisvaryamvayhatham. 11 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 a dual less soul, And the great state of merging with the god, And also you would get the eight powers of occult , Without any problems in between. Appendix: The following three stanzas as well as the first stanza are chanted after the main stotra:- Chitram Vata tharor mole vruddha, Sishya, Guror Yuva, Gurostu mounam vykhyanam, Sishyasthu china samsaya It is strange to see, The very old disciples , And the very young teacher, Who sit under a banyan tree, With the teacher always observing silence, And the students getting all the doubts cleared. Om nama pranavarthaya, Suddha jnanaika moorthaye nama, Nirmalaya prasanthaya, Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama. Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the meaning of the pranava , "om", Who is the personification of unalloyed wisdom, Who is crystal clear in his thought, And who is the epitome of peace. Gurave sara lokaanam, Bishaje bhava roginaam, Nidhaye sarva vidhyanam, Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama. Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the teacher of the entire world, Who is the doctor to those, Afflicted by the disease of birth and death, And who is the treasure hose of all knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Sri Ramachandra-ji ! A Valiant attempt. i would suggest you please send this translation to our learned subbuji who can make the necessary additions , comments or improvements- he is well versed in this subject ! may i kindly request you to spell ADI SHANKARA AS ADI SHANKARA AND NOT AS Adhi shankara AS 'ADHI' in hindi language means 'half' and we know that if there is any 'purnatvam' - it is found in Shankara AND HIS BHASYAS. Adi ofcourse means 'Primary' or beginning! smile! i would send you by private email certain typos i found in the translation- nothing major just minor! otherwise, i congratulate you on this ... we need more peopole to undertake this type of work ! thank you -- In advaitin, "ramya475" <ramya475 wrote: > > Dear Members, > I recently completed a simple translation of "dakshinamurthy ashtakam > of Adhi Sankara".Since the stothra is very complicated due to its > philosophical import, I would like to get comments from those of you > who can spare the time, so that I can edit my translation and put in > my web site www.geocitites.com/ramya475.I am giving below my > translation. Kindly send your comments to ramya475 > P.R.Ramachander > > > > Sree Dakshinamuthy Ashtakam > > Written by > Adhi Sankara Bhagawat Pada. > Translated by > P.R.Ramachander > > (Adhi Sankara has written very many great Stotras (prayers) but here > is a unique prayer, which is not only a prayer but the summary of all > the philosophy he has taught. Even during his time, this stotra was > difficult to comprehend and it became necessary to one of his > disciples called Sureshwaracharya to write a commentary called > Manasollasa to this stotra. There are large number of books and > commentaries on this commentary itself. What I am trying to do is to > make a very feeble attempt to translate the stotra in to simple > English. This is done with the grace of God and blessings of Adhi > Sankara, as I clearly understand that I am not capable of such a great > venture. > It has an introductory sloka, followed by eight slokas, which is > again followed by a sloka of Phala sruthi.) > > Mouna Vyakhya prakatitha, para, > Brahma thathwam yuvanam, > Varshishtan deva sadh rishi ganai, > Ravrutham brahma nishtai, > Acharyendram kara kalihtha chin, > Mudram ananda roopam, > Swathmaramam mudhitha vadanam, > Dakshinamurthy Meede. > > I praise and salute that Dakshinamrthy, > Who faces the south, > Who explains the concept of the ultimate God, > Through his state of silence, > Who is young in looks, > Who is surrounded by Sages, > Meditating on Brahman, > Who is the greatest of teachers, > Who shows the Chinmudhra* by his hand, > Who is personification of happiness, > Who is in the state of extreme joy within himself, > And who has a smiling face. > > *He joins the edge of the thumb and first finger, which indicates that > God and soul are one. This is called Chinmudhra. > > Viswam darpana drusyamana nagari, > Thulyam nijandargatham, > Pasyannathmani mayaya bahirivoth, > Bhutham yada nidraya, > Ya sakshath kuruthe prabodha samaye, > Swathmanameva dwayam, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree Dakshinamurthaye. > 2 > > Similar to the image of a town as seen in the mirror, > When one sees the image of the world within him, > It is similar to his seeing due to illusion, > During the state of sleep, > That the one real fact is many different, > 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. > > The above stanza tells us that the world which is outside us is > same as our soul but we see them as different entities due to the > veil of ignorance. As soon as we wake up, we realize that the dream is > false and even while seeing our image in the mirror, we know that we > are not seeing us in the mirror but our image. When we get knowledge > from the guru we are in the wakeful state without the veil of ignorance. > > Bheejasyanthari vankuro jagadhidham, > Prang nirvikalpam puna, > Mayakalpitha desa kala kalanaa, > Vaichithrya chithrikrutham, > Mayaveeva vijrumbhayathyapi maha, > Yogeeva yah swechaya, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. > 3 > > > 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. > > When the net of illusion is lifted and when we reach the stage > of manifestation, we would find that what we think as different is but > one and the same. > > Yasyaiva spuranam sadathmakamasath, > Kalparthagam basathe, > Sakshaath thathwamaseethi veda vachasa, > Yobodhyathyasrithhan, > Yath saksht karanath bhavenna punara, > Aavrithir bhavambhonidhow, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. > 4 > > > 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, > Get away from this cycle of life and death. > Salutation to the God facing the south, > Who is the greatest teacher. > > "That Thou Art is the famous Grand Pronouncement (mahA-vAkya) found in > the Chandogya-Upanishad of the Sama Veda, meted out by AruNi to > Svetaketu. It is repeated nine times to him and explained nine times. > It is not supposed to be a casual statement. It is the summum bonum of > all Upanishadic teaching. It says: That brahman which is the common > Reality behind everything in the cosmos is the same as the essential > Divinity, namely the Atman or the Self, within you." This realization > which is extremely difficult to achieve makes you understand that you > are an infinite part of this absolute reality called "Brahman". > > Nanachidhra ghato dhara sthitha maha, > Deepa prabha bhaswaram, > Jnanam yasya thu chakshuradhi karana, > Dwara bahi spandathe, > Jaanameethi thameva baandha manubath, > Yethath samastham jagat, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. > 5 > > 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", > He will be followed by the entire world. > Salutation to the God facing the south, > Who is the greatest teacher. > > Our body prevents us from seeing the truth(the light from outside) > that we are the Brahman and lets out light though the sensory organs > and makes us deceive ourselves by feeling that we are happy. This > simile of a pot with holes for the body occurs in many places in > Indian philosophy. > > Deham pranam api indryanyapi chalaam, > Budhim cha soonyam vidhu, > Stree balandha jadopamasthvaha mithi, > Brandha brusam vadhina, > Maya sakthi vilasa kalpitha maha, > Vyamoha samharine, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. 6 > > Those great philosophers , who think that, > The body , the soul and the senses, > The empty brain and all other nothingness, > Are nothing but themselves, > Are similar to the women children , blind and the 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. > > This is a sample of the approach of negation in identifying the > truth about the concept of self. Senses, the body etc cannot be the > absolute truth as they are transient. > > Rahu grastha divakarendu sadrusho, > Maya samachadanath, > Sanamthra karanopa samharanatho, > Yo abhoot sushuptha pumaan, > Pragaswapsaamithi prabodha samaye, > Yaa prathyabignayathe, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. 7 > > 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 the state of sleep, > When he wakes up. > Salutation to the God facing the south, > Who is the greatest teacher. > > Similar the sun existing even when there is eclipse, we exist when > we are sleeping. This is denial of the Buddhist theory that , when we > are asleep there is nothingness. > > Balyadishwapi jagaradhadishu thadha, > Sarva sva avasthasthaswapi, > Vyavrutha swanuvarthamanamaha , > Mithyanth sphurantham sada, > Svathmaanam pragatikarothi bajatham, > Yo mudraya bhadraya, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. 8 > > 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 truth as represented by the concept of Brahman, exists always. > > Viswam pasyathi karya karana thaya, > Swa swami sambandatha, > Sishyacharya thaya thadaiva pithru, > Puthradhyathmana bedatha, > Swapne Jagrathi va ya esha purusho, > Maya Paribramitha, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. 9 > > The world sees as cause and effect, > The relation between us and our lord, > The relation between teacher and the taught, > The relation 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. > > The ignorance of the truth because of the veil of ignorance Maya > is reemphasized. > > Bhoorambaamsya anilo ambhara, > Maharnadho himamasu puman, > Ithyabhathi characharathmakamidham, > Yasyaiva murthyashtakam, > Nanyath kinchana vidhyathe vimrusathaam, > Yasmath parasmath vibho, > Thasmai sri guru murthaye nama idham, > Sree dakshinamurthaye. 10 > > > To the sake of which great one, > 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. > > > Sarvathmathvamithi sphutikruthamitham, > Yasmadamushamin sthave, > Thenasya sravanath thadartha mananath, > Dyanascha Sankeerthanath, > Sarvathmathva maha vibhuthi sahitham, > Syadheeswarasthvam svatha, > Siddhyeth thath punarashtadha parinatham, > Chaisvaryamvayhatham. 11 > > 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 a dual less soul, > And the great state of merging with the god, > And also you would get the eight powers of occult , > Without any problems in between. > > Appendix: > The following three stanzas as well as the first stanza are chanted > after the main stotra:- > > Chitram Vata tharor mole vruddha, > Sishya, Guror Yuva, > Gurostu mounam vykhyanam, > Sishyasthu china samsaya > > It is strange to see, > The very old disciples , > And the very young teacher, > Who sit under a banyan tree, > With the teacher always observing silence, > And the students getting all the doubts cleared. > > Om nama pranavarthaya, > Suddha jnanaika moorthaye nama, > Nirmalaya prasanthaya, > Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama. > > Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, > Who is the meaning of the pranava , "om", > Who is the personification of unalloyed wisdom, > Who is crystal clear in his thought, > And who is the epitome of peace. > > Gurave sara lokaanam, > Bishaje bhava roginaam, > Nidhaye sarva vidhyanam, > Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama. > > Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, > Who is the teacher of the entire world, > Who is the doctor to those, > Afflicted by the disease of birth and death, > And who is the treasure hose of all knowledge. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Note from List Moderator: Members are once again reminded not to include the entire message from the previous poster while sending your replies. Thanks in advance. Dear Chiranjeevi God bless you. I have seen your mail. The sanskrit version is not put properly. For example in the first line you have put para and then applied , which is not correct it should be parabrahma and para --- and brahma, similarly you have put a comma after Chin in the fifth line and mudram ananda in the sixth line which should be read as CHINMUDRA MAANANDA. There is a Chandus - a style and a rythem in all sanskrit slokas and mantraas. This I believe is in ANUSHTAP CHANDUS in other words a composition of a 8 letter sentence only. In certain cases it appears as though it has 9 letters but ardhaakshar - half letter like num in the second line are not counted as a full letter. For your information even BHAGAVATGITA is also composed in that chandus where only 8 letter composition has to be taken. In this way every line in a two line stanza has 16 letters and every two line sloka has only 32 letters. The entire geetha is in that rythem only. You have selected the MASTER OF MASTERS SHRI DAKSHINA MURTHY as a topic. I appreciate it. I will try to help you on seeing our other active members participation and involvement. Yours affly HARA HARA MAHADEVA DR P V SESHA SAI ASWAMEDHAYAAJI ramya475 <ramya475 > wrote: Dear Members, I recently completed a simple translation of "dakshinamurthy ashtakam of Adhi Sankara".Since the stothra is very complicated due to its philosophical import, I would like to get comments from those of you who can spare the time, so that I can edit my translation and put in my web site www.geocitites.com/ramya475.I am giving below my translation. Kindly send your comments to ramya475 P.R.Ramachander Sree Dakshinamuthy Ashtakam Mouna Vyakhya prakatitha, para, Brahma thathwam yuvanam, Varshishtan deva sadh rishi ganai, Ravrutham brahma nishtai, Acharyendram kara kalihtha chin, Mudram ananda roopam, Swathmaramam mudhitha vadanam, Dakshinamurthy Meede. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 advaitin, Dr Perisepalli Venkata Sesha Sai <aswamedhayaagam wrote: > This I believe is in ANUSHTAP CHANDUS in other words a composition of a 8 letter sentence only. > > Mouna Vyakhya prakatitha, para, > Brahma thathwam yuvanam, > Varshishtan deva sadh rishi ganai, > Ravrutham brahma nishtai, > Acharyendram kara kalihtha chin, > Mudram ananda roopam, > Swathmaramam mudhitha vadanam, > Dakshinamurthy Meede. > This verse is in 'mandAkrAntA' (Mandakranta) meter, with 17 syllables in each quarter. Most verses in Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Gita are in anuShTubh (Anushtubh) meter, interspersed with triShTubh (Trishtubh) meter of 11 syllables in each quarter. Adopting the Itrans or similar encoding scheme will make it easy for readers to get the correct meter. [e.g. Subbu-ji's series on Dakshinamurty stotra.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Sri Ramachanderji! i hope you are not discouraged by the exchanges on the message board regarding your 'humble' attempt at the translation of Sri Dakshnimurthy Ashtakam ( an ocyad of eight verses.) i believe , you were inviting comeents on your English translation of these eight verses ratyher than coments on the original sanskrit version. There was some mentions about 'chandas' etc ... Sir, may i please recall a story here just to let you know that nobody is perfect , not even Lord Shiva , the great Grammarian! There was a poet in the court of a Pandian king called 'Nakeerar' . It is said he refused to accept a poem by ONE OF THE POETS AS HE FOUND THE POEM TO BE FLAWED AND FULL OF ERRORS IN COMPOSITION. eVEN WHEN NAKEERER WAS TOLD THE POET WAS NONE OTHER THAN LORD SHIVA HIMSELF, NAKEERER REFUSED TO CHANGE HIS STAND AND MAINTAINS THAT THE POET'S COMPOSITION WAS FULL OF ERRORS. But even when Lord Shiva threatens to burn Nakeerer with his third eye, Nakeerer boldy says " Netri Kannai Tirundaalum , kutram kutram kutrame' ( meaning, even if you open your third eye and burn me to ashes, a mistake is a mistake . ) Lord shiva does burn the 'arrogant' (? ) poet with his third eye but brings Nakeerer back to life by saying that ' i honor a man who is so truthful and committed to Language, poetry and grammar." May i please recall the words of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya on 'chandas' in poetry ? "Siksa sastra may be said to be a "guard" to ensure the right enunciation of a (Vedic) mantra. But it is *Chandas* that determines whether the form of the mantra is right. Of course the form of a mantra can never be wrong. The mantras, as mentioned so often, were not created by the sages and are not the product of their thinking. It was Bhagavan who caused them to be revealed to them. The metre of a Vedic mantra must be naturally correct. However, Chandas helps us to find out whether a mantra or sukta that is being taught or chanted has come down to us in its true form. We may check the hymn according to its metre and if we find it faulty we may correct it in consultation with people who are well-versed in such matters. Apart from the mantras, which appeared on their own, are the composition of poets. Chandas is of help in giving shape to poetic thought and imagination. *Like tala to music is chandas to poetry. * ((((SNIP)))))) Chandas is the means by which we ensure that the Vedic mantra is preserved in its original form, it being impossible to add one letter to it or take away another. The very purpose of the Vedas is the raising up of the Self. Must we then permit a single sound to be added to it or be taken away? The Vedapurusa stands on Chandas. " Chandah pado Vedasya": the Vedic mantras are supported by Chandas. " www.kamakoti.org (chapter on hindu dharma-chandas) Sri Ramachander-ji, i do not want you to be discouraged in the least - Newcomers like you are a gift to the world of internet - keep up your brave efforts at translation. There are many sanskrit versions of the sri Dakshinamurthy Ashtakam available on the internet but few translations. HERE are MORE LINKs THAT HAS THE SRI DAKSHINAMURTHY ASHTAKAM VERSIONS www.shaivam.org/ssdakshina.htm - 30k www.nonduality.com/shankr13.htm - 32k acharya.iitm.ac.in/mirrors/vv/literature/sankara/dakshina.html THE MAIN POINT TO REMEMBER IS THERE ARE 'LITERAL' WORD BY WORD TRANSLATION AND THEN THERE IS THE 'ESOTERIC' TRANSLATION WITH METAPHYSICAL MEANINGS! i would like you to keep on trying because we need more people who will come forward to translate these difficult sanskrit verses. That will be your contrinution to the world of spirituality! "MODHYA BODHAYA" Dri Dakshinamurthy taught us the great spiritual truth of 'oneneess of the self' with his chin mudra and through his 'mauna' and not through 'medha' ! smile! Aum sri Dakshinamurthaye namaha! Aum Sri Gurave namaha! advaitin, "ramya475" <ramya475 wrote: > > Dear Members, > I recently completed a simple translation of "dakshinamurthy ashtakam > of Adhi Sankara".Since the stothra is very complicated due to its > philosophical import, I would like to get comments from those of you > who can spare the time, so that I can edit my translation and put in > my web site www.geocitites.com/ramya475.I am giving below my > translation. Kindly send your comments to ramya475 > P.R.Ramachander > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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