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

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