DakshiNAmUrtiStotramofAdiSankara

Part2.Stotram&Interpretation
S.Yegnasubramanian
Verse1
ivXv' dpR,dOXym;nngrItuLy 'inj;NtgRt'.
pXyNn;Tmin m;yy; bihirvod&Ut' yq; ind[y;..
y" s;=;Tkue[bo/smyee'
.t p Sv;Tm;nmv;y.
tSmwuUtRye nm Ed' ;Idi=,;mUtyRe ...
;Ig.m
viSvamdarpaNa-driSyamAnanagarI
tulyamnijAntar-gatam
paSyannAtmanimAyayAbahirivod
bhUtamyathAnidrayA|
ya:sAkshAt-kuruteprabodha-samaye
svAtmAnam-eva-advayam
tasmaiSrIguru-mUrtayenamaidam
SrIdakshiNAmUrtaye||
(The one who experiences at the time of
realizationone sownimmutableSelfinwhichthe
Selfaloneplays as the universe ofnames and
forms, likeacityseeninamirror,due tothe
powerofmAyAasthoughproducedoutside,asin
adream,tosuchaperson,thedivineteacher,SrI

dakshiNAmUrti,isthissalutation.)
Aswasmentionedintheintroduction,SrIAdi
Sankara condenses the entire upanishadic
literatureinthesetenverses.Fromthispoint
ofview,onecouldconsiderthisasarefresher
for assimilation

nididhyAsanam, of the

vedAnticlearning.Hence, the author takes

severalideasforgranted as the student is
supposedtobe familiar withthem already.
(Thereadermayrefertotheseriesofarticles
ontattvabodhapublishedearlierinParamArtha
tattvam

available in our website

www.svbf.org, for some of thepreliminary

vedAnticconcepts).
In additiontogiving the essence ofthe
Upanishads,SrISankaraisofferingsalutations
toLorddakshiNAmUrtialso,thus serving a
twofoldpurposeofteachingandprayer.
Thefourthlineofeveryverse
thelastverse isthesame:
;Ig.mte ;Id=,;mR ...
tSmwuURy nm Ed'iUtye

except

tSmw to Him; ;Igu.mUtRye

.
the divine guru;
;Idi=,;mReI dakshiti'is
Uty SrNAmUr; Ed nm" th
salutation.
(I offer) this prostration to Lord
dakshiNAmUrti(whoisavailabletomeinthe
visibleform as ),the guru.(SrIGovinda
bhagavadpAdAcArya) .
SrISankaragives the essence ofthe
Upanishadsinthefirstthreelinesofthisverse,
which isAtmajnAna orone struenature.
Thatmeans,whateverknowledgeonehasof
oneselfpresentlyisnotone struenatureand
byknowingthetruenatureoneisliberated.In
allthese verses,SrISankararevealsthatthe
AtmA is of the nature of caitanyam
Consciousness

which makes one s body

sentient.Onemissesthisrealnaturebecauseit
is an invisibleprinciple.The analogy canbe
givenofafanrotatingandgivingoutbreeze;
thefanbyitselfcannotrotate,butbehindthe

fan,theinvisibleelectricityisresponsiblefor
19

thefantorotate.Thatmeans,eventhoughI
lookatonlyonevisiblefactor,namelythefan,
thereisaninvisiblefactor electricity which
is not visibleto me.Similarly,theinvisible
Consciousnessonlymakesthebodysentient.
Justtorefreshourselvesoftheteachingsof
tattvabodha, there are fivepoints tobe
remembered aboutConsciousness (AtmA,
one srealnature),andtheyare:
1. Consciousness is not apart,product or
propertyofthebody,justastheelectricity
isnotapart,productorpropertyofthefan;
2. Consciousness is a separate entity which
pervadesandenlivensthebody,justasthe
electricityisseparatewhichpervadesand
enlivensthefan;
3. ThisinvisibleConsciousnessisnotlimited
bytheboundariesofthebody,justasthe
electricityisnotlimitedbytheboundaries
ofthefan -but isbeyondthe fanalso
throughoutthewire,etc.
4. ThatinvisibleConsciousnesssurviveseven
afterthedestructionofthebody,justasthe
electricity survives even when the fan
becomesdefective;
5. The invisible Consciousness is not
recognizablewhenthemediumofthebody

is absent, notbecauseConsciousness is
absent,butthemediumofmanifestationis
absent.
TorecognizethisConsciousnessas AtmA,
thescripturesgiveusamethodology,known
asdrig-driSya-viveka:-whichstatesthat, Iam
differentfromwhateverIexperience

avery

fundamentallawofvedAnata.Thismeansthat
20
I am different from all objects of my
experience (which are inert, anAtmA) the
world,thebody,and mind.And Iamthe
Consciousnessprinciple,sincetheexperiencer
(subject)cannotbeinert!Theteacherassumes
the readertohavethis muchknowledgeto
startwith,namely,
a.IamAtmA,theConsciousness(thesubject),
and
b.this entire world-body-mind isanAtmA
inertmatter(theobjectofexperience).
Thesubjectmatterofthefirstverseisthe
relationshipbetweentheAtmA,I,andanAtmA,
theentireuniverse.
The teacher tries to explain this

relationshipthroughtwoexamples.Theyare:
1. dpRO-$;Nt" loa
,ngrId(exampe f
reflectedcityinamirror).
2. SvPnngrIdO-$;Nt" (example ofa city
inadream)
1. dp,ngrIdOexampeoarel
R-$;Nt" (lffected
city in a mirror).In this example, we
imagineahugemirrorkept infrontofa
city(oranyobject).Wehavetwothings:
a)ahugemirrorand
b)the reflected city (not original)
obtainedinthemirror dpR,ngrI.
Upon analysis, we make the following
observations:
1.themirroristhesupport adhishThAna
-oftheentire(reflected)city.Hencethe
relationshipbetweenthemirrorandthe
(reflected)cityissupporter-supportedor

adhishThAna-Adheya sambandha:.That
means, nopart ofthe (reflected)city
can exist without the mirror. So
adhishThAnatvam ofthe mirror isthe
firstaspect.
2. the reflected city (pratibimbha nagarI)
doesnothaveanexistenceofitsown,
eventhough itis experiencedbythe
observer.Thatmeansthereflectedcity
has borrowed existence, while the
mirrorhas its own existence.Sothe
secondaspectis,mirroris satyamand
the(reflected)cityismithyA.
3. Whatever happens to the (reflected)
city, the observer can see and
experience,buttheydonotaffectthe
mirroratall.Sothethirdaspectisthe
unaffectedness

asangatvam

ofthe

mirror.
4. Sincethe reflected object or mithyA,
doesnothaveanexistenceofitsown,it
isasgoodasnon-existent thatmeans,
thereis no realentityotherthanthe
mirror,evenifweseeandexperience
100sofreflectionsinthemirror.So,the
fourthaspectisadvayatvam withouta
second entity ornon-dualtiy ofthe
mirror.
To summarize, the four features ofthe
mirror from this example are,

adhishThAnatvam, satyatvam, asangatvam and

adviteeyatvam.
Withaviewtoemphasizethisrelatioship,
SrI Sankaragives another example of the
dream world. The entire dream world is
restingorresidinginthemindofthewakeror
thewaker(sincethemindisanintegralpartof
thewaker).Therefore,themirrorofthefirst
exampleiscomparabletothewakerandthe
reflected city is comparable to the dream
world.Onecaneasilyseethattherelationship
betweenthewakerandthedreamissimilarto
thepreviousexample,withthewaker(likethe
mirror)havingthesamefourfeatures,namely,
adhishThAnatvam, satyatvam, asangatvam and
adviteeyatvam.
Inthesameway,SrISankarasaysthat I ,
theConsciousness am the mirror and the
waker, and the entire universe that I
experience the jAgrat-prapanca

including

myownbody-mindcomplex,isthereflected

city(darpaNa-nagarI)ordreamworld(svapna
nagarI).Thatmeans,wecanapplythesame
four features discussed earlier to the
Consciousnessalso.Theyare:
1. I,theConsciousness,amtheadhishThAnam
whole universe;nopart ofthe universe
exists out side ofMe,theConsciousness
(notbody-mind).
2. Justasthedreamworlddoesnothavean
existence ofits own,the entire universe
(anAtmA)alsodoesnothaveanexistenceof
its own, where as, I,theConsciousness
(AtmA)isindependentlyexistent,revealing
thesatyatvamofAtmA.
3. Justasthemirror,theConsciousness,-the
AtmA isasanga:.Thismeans,anyevent
in the form ofinteractionbetween the
mithyA world,mithyAbody,and mithyA
mind, cannot affect Me, the satya
caitanyam.
21

4. Sincetheentireworldislikethedreamcity
mithyA,nothavingitsownexistence,itis
asgoodasnon-existent.Thatmeansthere
is no second entity apart from
Consciousness, I, thus revealing the
adviteeyatvamofAtmA.
Inaddition,eventhoughthedreamworld
isinsideme,itappearsasifitisoutsideand
thesleep

nidrA makestheinside,unreal

dream worldas anoutside,realworld.That

means,innidrAoneisnotawareofthewaker
nature and so nidrAcanbe interpreted as
waker-ignorance!SincewakerisadhishThAna
(as seen earlier),nidrAcanbe called as
adhishThAna-ajnAnam.Becauseofthis,during
sleep,theinsidedreamworldappearsrealand
outside.Also, when nidrAends

asone

becomesawareofthewakerstatus-prabodha
samaye whenonegainsthe adhishThAna
jnanam,theoutsidedreamisnomoreoutside
andisfalsified.Becauseoftheignoranceofthe
AtmA Atma-adhishThAna-ajnAnam this

ignorance canbe called as vedAntic sleep

(comparedtonidrA theworldlysleep).When
oneisundertheinfluenceofthisavidyA-nidrA,
thisuniverseappearsasthoughitisoutsideof
Me,theConsciousness,andreal(correlatewith
dreamuniverse).And,as longasthe avidyA
nidrAcontinues,theuniversewillappearas
realandoutside.Themomentonewakesup
fromthisavidyA-nidrA whenonebecomesa
jnAnI thepersonrealizesthattheuniverseis
nomoreoutsideofMe,thecaitanyam,andin
fact Iam theverysupportofthisuniverse.
SrISankarasaysthatsuchanawakenedperson
isthe guru, and every guru-murtiissrI
dakshiNAmUrti.Withthisbackground, letus
lookattheverse1,splittingthefirsttwolines
intofivesentences(wewilladdcertainwords
to the sentences to understand the implied
meaning)
1.ivXv' dp,dROXym;nngrItuLy' (aiSt)

ivXv' thisuniverseofnamesandforms;tuLy 'is

equivalent to;ity;dXym;n which is
ngrI acO
seen(experienced);dp,e inamirror.
R
2.(j;g[iTvXv') inj;NtgtR '(SvPnivXv' Ev aiSt)
Thisuniverseislikethedream
universewhich isreallyinj;NtgtR' withinMe
(theConsciousness).
3.(j;g[iTvXv'' )a;Tmin pXyit .
(Notethatthe wordpaSyanofthe verse is
takenaspaSyati
jnAnI)seesthe
oneself.
4.(inj;NtgRt' SvPn(Ev &vit) .
forourdiscussion).One (the
jAgrat-viSwam;a;Tmin within
)
ivXv'ind[y; bih" d&Ut' .
Thedreamuniversewhichisreallyexisting
within,appearsasthoughproducedoutside,
duetosleep.
ind[l;
y;.
duetoseep
inj;NtgRt' SvPnivXv 'thedreamuniversewithin
bih" d&Ut '(Ev &vit)appearsasthough

producedoutside.
yq; -Inthesameway,as(tq;)
5.(inj;NtgtR' j;g[iTvXv)' m;yy; bih" d&Ut'.
(Ev aiSt)
Thisuniverse jAgrat-prapanca-whichisreally
withinMe, appears asthoughproduced
outsideduetomayA.
inj;NtgRt' j;g[TivXv' Thisuniverse,thejAgrat
prapanca-whichisreallywithinMe
m;yy.
duetomAyA(avidyA-nidrayA)
22

h" d&t Ev aSt

biU'(i)appearsasthough
producedoutside.
Movingontothe3rd lineoftheverse,
p[eifwaki(the
bo/smy.
atthetmeongup
outsidedreamuniverseisresolvedinto
oneself,andso)
Av ay'' s;=;Tku.te
Sv;Tm;n.
(thewaker)recognizeshimselfasthenon-dual
Self
Sv;Tm;n'.
one sownself
Av alone
ay 'non-dual
s;=;Tkueiencesdrectly.
.t experi
tSmwuUtRye nm Ed' ;Idi=,;mRe
;Ig.mUty.
Tohim,thedivineguru,SrIdakshiNAmUrti,is
thissalutation.
Thus,throughthefirstverse,SrISankarahas
revealed the adhishThAnatva, satyatva,
asangatva,adviteeyatvasvarUpaofAtmA.
Thefirst3versesofthisstotramaresupposed
tobetheessenceofthemahA-vAkya,tat-tvam
asi.Sincethefirstversedealtwiththe Atma

svarUpam,throughtheanalysisofthesleeping
jeevAtmAandthewaking jeevAtmA,thisverse
istakenasthe tvam-padArtha-vicAra-sloka:
dealing with the individual. In vedAntic
context,themeaningofthewordtvam (you)
doesnotimplythebody-mindcomplex(which
is the empirical or general meaning vAcyArtha)but the caitanyam

AtmA

Consciousness -the implied meaning

(lakshyArtha).
Verse2
bIjSy;Ntirv;kuro jgidd' .
kLp
p[;inivR' pun".
m;y;kiLptdxk;lkln; .
e
vwic}yic]IkOtm..
m;y;vIv ivjOM&yTyip .
mh;yogIv y" Sve
Czy;.
;Ig.me
tSmwuUtRy nm Ed' .
;Idi=,;mUtRe
y ...
bIjasyAntarivAnkurojagadidam
prAngnirvikalpampuna:
mAyAkalpitadeSakAlakalanA

vaicitryacitrIkritam|
mAyAvIvavijrumbhayatyapi
mahAyogIvaya:svecchayA
tasmaiSrIgurumUrtayenamaidam
SrIdakshiNAmUrtaye||
(The one whois a magician or agreatyogi,
createsthisuniversejustoutofhisownfree-will
theuniverse,whichbeforecreationremainedun
manifestlikethetree inaseed,andhas later
projectedhimself outtobe the universe of
diversities,duetotheplayoftimeandspace,the
productsofmAyA,toHim,thedivineteacher,SrI
dakshiNAmUrti,thissalutation)
Inthisverse,SrISankaradealswiththe
meaningoftheword tat ofthemahA-vAkya,
whichimpliesparamAtmA.
AlltheSAstras define Brahmanasthe
causeoftheuniverse.Or,theuniverse isa
productbornoutofBrahman.InvedAntic
language,Brahmanisthecause kAraNam
andtheuniverseistheeffect

kAryam.The

causecanbetwo-fold:
23

intelligentcauseornimitta-kAraNam,which
executes producing the effect, like a
carpentercreatingthefurniture,and

materialcauseorupAdAna-kAraNam.
Generallythesetwocausesaredistinct.
However there are some exceptions, where
thesetwocausesareidentical forexample,
thespider.Thespidermakesthewebandthe
rawmaterialforthewebalsocomesfromthe
spideritself.Inthesameway,theUpanishads
pointoutthat Brahman,theparamAtmAisthe
intelligentandmaterialcauseofthisuniverse.
Therefore,beforecreationtherewasonlythe
non-dualBrahman,whichservedbothasthe
intelligentandrawmaterialcausetoproduce
theuniverse.
Thetopic ofcreation itselfhasbeen
analyzedbydifferentsystemsofphilosophy.
SrI Sankara, in his commentary on
brihadAraNyakaUpanishaddiscussesthetopic
ofcreationveryelaboratelythroughaclay-pot
analysis. In this analysis, thequestion is:
beforetheemergenceofthepot,didthepot
thekAryaghaTa:-existintheclay kAraNa

mrudornot?Inotherwords,isanexistentpot
createdorisanon-existentportcreated,bythe
potter?An analysis of thequestion would
revealthatbotharenotpossible,because:a)an
existentpotcannotarrivebecauseitisalready
existent;b)tosayanon-existentpotisbornis
illogicalandnotgrammaticaltoo(tohavea
verb (isborn)butwitha non-existentpotas
subject!)Thatmeans,anexistentthingcannot
becreatedandanon-existentthingalsocannot
be created.In short, according to vedAnta,
thereisnocreation!Thewordcreation isa
24
mis-nomer, and is used for some other
phenomenon.Whenathingisexistentinan
un-manifest,potentialform, it can cometo
manifestationthroughsometransformation
forexample,thebutterthatexistsinmilkinan
un-manifest,un-differentiated,potentialform,
whichisreallynotavailableforuse,manifests
itselfasbutterthroughaprocessofchurning
the milk. This transformation of an un
manifest,potentialentitytoamanifest,useful
condition is called creation.This theory is

calledsat-kArya-vAda.
Similarly,if creation isnot creation
butonlyatransformation,then

destruction

also is not destruction. In vedAnta sAstra

creation isknown as janma-vikAra:deathis
called maraNa-vikAra:,the common word
being vikAra (modification, change). SrI
Sankara establishes this sat-kArya-vAda
throughthesecondverse.Therefore,thetwo
pointsthatarebroughtoutinthisversearea)
Brahmanisjagat-kAraNam andb)sat-kArya
vAda anyproduct (kAryam)existsinitscause
(kAraNam)in apotentialform.The author
wantstoconveythesethroughanexample
theexampleofaseedandtree.
In the seed-tree example, the author
pointsoutthatthetreeisalreadyexistentin
theseedbeforeitsorigination,inadormant,
potential,

nirvikalpaka rUpeNa

differentiatedform.
bIjSy aNt" inivRkur" ai
kLp" aSt .

un

bIjSy aNt" Withintheseed,

aur" aiSt thetreeexists
k
inivRkLp' un-differentiatedform.
Ev -Similarly,

Ed' jgt inivRkLpk' a;sIt this universe was

existent in anun-manifest,potentialform in
Brahman.Itwasnotcreated,butwasexistent
inpotential,un-manifestform.
Then,thatun-manifest universegotmanifest
and the un-differentiated universe, got
differentiated. Just as, from the un
differentiated seed,graduallydifferentiation
arisesintheformofsprout,branches,leaves,
flowers etc.So,theterm creation couldbe
viewedasmanifestation,ordifferentiationora
formofmultiplication.
m;y;kiLptdxk;lkln;vewic}yic]IkOtm..
Thenextquestionwillbe,howthisdivision
arises?SrISankaragivestheanswerinavery
technicalway.Forexample,iftwoindividuals
sitin a room indifferentplaces, they are
dividedhorizontallybyspace(de
.
inthisSloka),
the time being same. That means, two
individualscannotbeinthe same spotatthe
same time.However,twoindividualscanbe

atthe same spotat different times,andso

are verticallydividedbytime (k;l inthis
Sloka).Theverticaldivisioncausedbytimeis
knownaspast,presentandfuture.Similarly,
thehorizontaldivision causedby space is
knownas,here,thereandelsewhere.Hence,
space and time are responsible for the
perception ofplurality, and oncethe spacetime is removed,pluralitydisappears.Space
andtimearethemselvescausedbythepower
ofmAyA.Inshort,themAyASaktiinBrahman,
creates time and space and causes the
perception ofadvaitam as dvaitam and ekam
brahmaasanekamjagat.
m;y;kiLp.
createdbymAyA
ic]IkOtm.
multiplied;
viwc}y' variety,diversity;
kln; influenceorsambhandha:(of)
deme
xk;l spaceandti
The mAyA-Sakti is in Brahman. Brahman

continuestobenon-dual;when mayA-Saktiis
activated knownas vikshepaSakti thetime
and space cometo existence.They are like
gogglesandwhenonelooksthroughthetime
spacegoggles,the non-dualBrahmanappears
asthepluralisticuniverse.Duringsleep,this
time-spacegogglesisremovedasitwere,there
isnovarietyandonlythenon-dualcaitanyam
exists.
Fromthesetwolines, one infersthe
Brahman to be the material cause of the
universe and in the next lineSrISankara
pointsoutthatthe Brahmanistheintelligent
causealso.
y".
theverysameBrahman
ivjOM&yit aip createsalso(astheintelligent
cause)using Himself asthe
instrument
Czy;.
byHl
Sveisownfree-wil,bymere
samkalpa,effortlessly
Theauthorgivestwoexamplestoexplainthis

aspect,namely:
m;y;vI Ev.
Likeamagician createsthe
universefrom nothing
infactfrom
nothingelse ,exceptHimself.
mh;yogI Ev Like agreatsiddha-purusha:(for
example, Sage Viswamitra materialized a
wholeworldcalledtriSankusvarga)
25

Likeamagicianoragreat siddha-purusha,by
Hisownwill,parmAtmAcreatesthisuniverse,
andsoistheintelligentcausealso.
The next logicalquestion wouldbe,
whyshouldparamAtmAcreatethisuniverse?
Sastrassaythattheuniversehastobecreated
becausethebeingshave lot ofpuNya-pApa
karma stobeexhausted,andtheexhaustion
canhappen onlythroughthe experience of
pleasure andpain.One accumulated the
puNya-pApa sinthepreviousbirth,andsoon
andonto innumerablenumberofcyclesof
birthanddeath.Ifthisargument isextended
linearly,theultimatequestionwouldbe,how
thefirstcreationcameabout,sincetherecould
benokarmatoleadtothefirstcreation.SrI
Sankaragivesthe answerthoughthe word
pun" inthefirstline,whichmeans,repeatedly,
indicatingthecyclicnatureofcreation.Itisthe
karma-creation-karma cycle which is anAdi
ananta-cakra.Ifwe look at the creation as
linear,then itcanhave abeginning and an
end.Butwhenwethinkofcreationasatotal
process,one shouldgive up linearthinking.
Anysegment ofcreation islinear hasa
beginning and an end;buttotalcreation is
cyclical.For example, atreehasbirth and
death;aseedhasbirthanddeath;buttheseed

tree cycledoes nothavebirth anddeath,

becauseitisacyclical,eternalprocess.
Thus one canimagine Brahmanasan
entity who expands and contracts eternally.
Thisprocesscanneverbestopped.Butonecan
stopthe sufferingbytheunderstandingthat
the universe islike thedarpaNa nagarI or
svapnanagarI,andIamtheConsciousness,the
26
adhishThAnam,whois never affectedbythis
process.
TothatparamAtmabrahma

the jagat-

kAraNambrahma who isintheformofSrI

dakshiNAmUrti,who is none otherthanthe
gurumUrti,idamnama:isthisnamaskAra:
ThusthetatpadArthaofthemahAvAkya is
establishedinthe2ndverse.
Verse3.
ySywur, sd;Tmk' asTkLp;qR'e
v Sf'k &;st.
s;=;TtvmsIie
.

t vdvcs; yo bo/yTy;;t;n..
yTs;=;Tkr,;veu;vOi;&R&oin/; w
Nn pnrv;'
tSmwuUtRe' ;Idi=,;mUtRe
;Ig.my nm Edy...
yasyaivasphuraNamsadAtmakam

asat-kalpArthakambhAsate
sAkshAt-tat-tvam-asItiveda-vacasA
yobodhayaty-ASritAn|
yat-sAkshAt-karaNAd-bhaven-na
punar-Avrittir-bhavAm-bho-nidhau
tasmaiSrIgurumUrtayenamaidam
SrIdakshiNAmUrtaye||
(The one whose manifestations

which are

themselvesnothingbuttheReality appearas the

objectsoftheworld;who impartstothosewho
have surrenderedtoHim,direct enlightenment,
throughthevediccommandment thatyouare ,
andafterthedirectexperienceofwhichthereisno
more any return to the ocean

of worldly

existence.., to Him, the divine teacher, SrI

dakshiNAMurti,isisthissalutation.)
This versegivesthe asipadArtha ofthe
mahAvAkya-tattvamasi.Letusanalyzethe
waySrISankaraapproachesthis.

Afundamental fact is, an existent

objectisexperiencedandnon-existentobjectis
notexperienced.Wecometoknowthatthere
isaworldwhichexistsinfrontofusbecause
weexperiencetheworldofobjects.Anyobject
thatisnon-existentcannotbeexperiencedby
me.
Thenextquestionwouldbe,whatisthenature
ofthisExistence?LikeConsciousness, vedAnta
givesa five-folddescriptionofExistencealso
(RefertoVerse1),asfollows:
1. Existenceisnotapart,productorproperty
oftheworldofobjects Forexample,
whenwesayanyobjectis,theis-nessisnot
aproperty,partorevenaproductofthe
object,butissomethingexperiencedbyus.
2.Existenceisanindependententity notan
adjective butanoun,denotedbyE.
3. Existence(theis-ness oftheobject)isnot
limitedbytheboundariesoftheobject
goesbeyondtheobject allpervading
sarvagata:.
4. Existencecontinuestoexistevenafterthe
destructionoftheobjectwhichitenlivens.
(theis-ness oftheobjectcontinuestoexist
even after the object is destroyed)
Existenceiseternal nitya:

5. Evenwhenthewholeworldisdestroyed,
theExistence sat survives. Inother
words, sat was, satis, and sat willbe,
lendingExistencetothearriving-departing
world.AndvedAnta saysthatthis satis
paramAtmA.
Outofthebody,whenoneseparatesthe
body

part, squeezes out the pure

27
Consciousness -C-, itiscalledthe jeevAtmA.
Andthe paramAtmA ispure Existence. The
pureExistenceandConsciousnessareoneand
thesameasindicatedby tat-tvam-asi,anditis
thisExistence-Consciousness that makes the
worldsentient.This recognition ofthe one
nessofthe jeevAtmAand paramAtmA isthe
essenceofthisverse.
Accordingto ourdefinitions ofExistence
and Consciousness, pure Existence and
Consciousness shouldsurvive even afterthe
universegoesaway.Thenthequestionwillbe,
howcanoneappreciatethepureE-Cwithout

association with any object? According to

Sastra s,onecanneverappreciatetheE-Conce
theworldandbodyareremoved,because,one
ishimselforherselfisthatpureE-C;thatbeing
theverysubjectitself,itisneveravailablefor
objectification,andismeantforunderstanding
only.The tat -thepureE-C,is tvam -you

the

verysubjectitself,thusrevealingtheidentity
tat-tvam-asi.
Withthisback-ground, letus lookatthe
verse3.
ySy .
thatparamAtmA s
Sfur,' manifestation(inthisworld)
sd;Tmk'.
intheformofExistenceinall
(The form-less, all-pervading paramAtmA s
manifestationisintheformofis-nessinevery
thing.)
asTkLp;qRk'.
mithyA unreal-object
(Anunrealthingisasgoodasnon-existent).
&;ste
.
appears
Itislikethereflectedsunlight themanifest
sunlight as experienced on every object.

Similarly,accordingto vedAnta,whenwesay
chairis, what we experience isthe formed
chair which is soaked in the formless
Existence.
HowtoexperiencetheExistenceinpureform
withoutbeingadulteratedbyanobject?The
authorsays,
tvmis Eit pure E is none other than
Yourself .So, one can experience onlythe
adulterated Eandpure
Ecannotbeexperiencedsinceitisthesubject
itself the formlessConsciousnessprinciple.
Astheteacherteachestat-tvam-asi,thestudent
willsay aham-brahma-asmi thepureE-C
withoutanynAma-rUpa.Ifonewantstothink
ofsomeexamplesofpureE-C,i.e, saccidAtmA
space canbe considered as one nearest
exampleandthedeepsleepstate isanother,
withoutnameandform.Hencethefirstlineof
theverseandupto tTvmis canbeconsidered
aswithinquotes,andthisteaching,theteacher
directlyteaches
y" (gu.") ve;=;tit.

dvcs; s bo/y
Unlikeothertypesofknowledge,whereone
receivesaninstructionalorbookknowledgeto
be convertedto realexperientialknowledge
later,here,astheteacherreveals,thestudent
directlyrealizes, as indicatedby the word
s;=;t:a;i;t;n
.Theteacherteachesto those
who have surrendered unto him.
veiththegreatvedcstatement.What
dvcs; wi
isthebenefitofthisKnowledge?Theauthor
says:
yTs;=;Tkr,;tunr;vOi;" n &vt
pe
BythisdirectKnowledge

i.ea)Iamnotthe

body with C but I am C temporarily

functioning through the body , lending
sentienceor cit tothebodyandb)IamtheE
lendingExistence sat

totheworldof

objects,enablingalltransactions (Itislikea
dreamwherethedreameralonelendsCandE
tothedreamworld)
yt s;=;Tkr,;t afterthedirectexperienceof

which(yt -theparamAtmA)
puOi;" n &vtllneverreturn(born
nr;ve onesha
again)to;&v a'&oin/;w theoceanofworldly
existence.
tSmw;IguUtRe' ;Idi=,;mUtye
.my nm EdR
.
To Him, the divine teacher, SrI
dakshiNAmUrti,thissalutation.
Withthefirstthreeverses,theauthorrevealed
themahAvAkya tattvamasi.
Verse4
n;n;iCzd[`$odriSqtmh;dIpp[&; &;Svr'.
_;n'u c=uiih" SpNdt ..
ySy tr;dkr,;r; be
j;n;mIit tmev &;Ntmnu&;TyetTsmSt'
jgt .
tSmwuUtRye' ^Idi=,;mUtRy
^Ig.m nm Ede ...
nAnAcchidra-ghaTodara-sthita-mahA
dIpa-prabhAbhAsvaram
jnAnamyasyatucakshurAdikaraNa
dvArAbahi:spandate|
jAnAmItitamevabhAnta-manubhAti
etat-samastamjagat
tasmaiSrIgurumUrtayenamaidam

28

SrIdakshiNAmUrtaye||
(ThisworldshinesafterHimaloneshininginthe
Consciousness Iknow -afterHimalonewhose
Consciousness,luminouslikethelightofamighty
lampstandinginthebosomofamany-holedpot,
movesoutwardsthroughthesenseorganssuchas
theeye.ToHim,thedivineteacher,SrI
dakshiNAmUrti,isthissalutation)
Having revealed the mahAvAkya
tattvamasi-implyingthe oneness ofjIvAtmA
and paramAtmA, which we can call as
saccidAtmA,the author wantsto sayinthis
versethatthissaccidAtmAiseverevidentand
onedoesnotrequireaspecialexperienceofIt.
Thatmeans,inandthroughallexperiencesthe
Consciousness is evident. In other words,
every timeoneusestheword

I (aham),

effortlesslytheconsciousindividualexperience
is self-evidently available, known as the
svayam-prakASatvamofAtmA.Thisself-evident
natureofAtmAisdescribedinthisverseby
comparingConsciousnesstothelightprinciple.

As weknow, luminous objects (like

Sun)illuminenon-luminousobjects(including
ourbodies).By

illumine wemeanthat, in

whosepresence, another object is made

known.Fromthis angle, one can saythat
every sense organ islikelight,because of
whichonecanknowsound,touch,form,taste
and smell;and extendingthisprinciple,the
ultimatelight isConsciousness,because,only
inthepresence ofConsciousness,everything
elseisknown.Insummary,knowledgeofany
object in creation ispossibleonlyinthe
presenceofthe light ofConsciousness.
Ifonecanimagineadarkroomwithlot
ofobjects, none ofthese objects areknown
becauseoflackoflight.However,ifonecan
placeamirroroutsideanddirectthereflected
lightofthesunthroughawindowofthedark
room,onewillbeabletoseetheobjects.One
cantiltthemirrorindifferentdirectionsand
illuminedifferent objects.However, we can

easilyunderstandthatneitherthemirrornor
thesunlightcanilluminetheobjects inthis
dark room independently, and only the
combination ofsun and mirror can illumine
them. Since both are involved, one can
emphasize the role of either of them.For
instance,ifonewantstoemphasizethemirror,
one can use the expression,

the mirror

illumines the room, backed by the sun ,

retaining mirror as the subject of the
expression.Thereisnothingwrongwiththis
expression,since,ifthemirrorisremoved,the
sunlightcannot illumine the room.On the
otherhand,ifonewantstoemphasizethesun,
onecanusetheexpression, thesunillumines
theroomthroughthemirror .Wealsoknow
thattheperceptionoftheobjectsinthisdark
roomisthroughthegloryofthemirror,which
inturnisduetothegloryofthesun.
Similarly,AtmAis comparabletothe
sun. (self-luminous etc.),the mind ofevery
individualiscomparabletothemirror,andthe
entireuniverseofobjectsislikethedarkroom.

The whole universe is seenbecause oftwo

factors,namely,themirror-likemindandthe
sun-like AtmA.Whenthe mind-mirror is
active,theuniverseisperceived;whenitisnot
active(duringsleep),theuniversegoesdark(is
notperceived).whenthemind-mirror is not
29

active also, the AtmA continues tobe self

evident,butthe worldgoesdark.Every
knowledge that we have, presupposes
(indirectlyreveals)thepresenceofAtmA,and
onedoes not need a separateproofforthe
existenceofAtmA.Ifthereisnothingpresent
inthatroom,andwhenweusetheexpression,
nothing isknown , that expression itselfis
known because of the presence of
Consciousness.
Theauthorsaysthatwheneverwesay
j;n;im.
therearetwofactorswhichareevident
:1)ahamjAnAmi Iknow,and2)theobject
that isknown .The AtmA isnot evident
becauseoftheobject,butbecauseoftheever
self-evidentaham.Alltheobjectsareevident
becauseofMe,theAtmA.Inotherwords,in
veryperception,I,theAtmAamindependently
evident(likethesun)andthe anAtmA(object)
isdependentlyevident(astheobjects inthe
darkroom).To illustratethispoint,theauthor

considersthebodyasapotwithfiveholesand
theAtmAasabrightlampplacedinsidethis
body-pot.Eachoftheseholesisasenseorgan
andisbackedbythemind(mirror).Through
thefiveholes, fivebeamsoflightwillcome
out fromthepotandwillillumineallthose
objectswhichfallwithinthebeamoflightin
thedarkroom(world).Thatmeans,whenone
says, xBd' j;n;i.
(Iknowthesound), I am
independently evident and

the sound

is

dependentlyevident.The same analysisis

extrapolatedtothe other sense organs.Now
lookingattheverse:
ySy whose;_;n' Knowledge;&;Svr' isbrilliant
(as)
n;n;iCzd[`$odriSqtmh;dIpp&;.
[
mh;dIpp[ilanceoagreatl
&;.
thebrlifamp
`$ driSqt keptinsideapot(literally,dr"
stomach);n;n;Czd[ (with)many(five)holes.
i
Oneshouldnotethattheself-luminouslampis

not abletodirectlyilluminethedark room

(world)becauseitisinsideapot.Therefore,
cooperationofthepotisrequiredthroughthe
fiveholes.Thatmeans,thelampwithoutthe
fiveholescannotilluminate;similarly,thefive
holes without the lamp cannot illuminate.
Also,onlythoseobjectswhichfallwithinthe
rangeofthebeamoflightareillumined.
(ThatbrightlightofConsciousness)bh" SpNdt e
iflashesoutside;d -kr,-;r; throughtheeyes
c=u" -a;i
andothersenseorgans.Extrapolatingthesun
lightexample, whenonesays

Iknow an

object,thesubject I revealsself-evidenceand
the object reveals dependent evidence
dependingontheAtmA Me. Inotherwords,
every cognition revealsthe congnizer ( I )
which itselfdoesnotrequiretheprocessof
cognition,andthecognizedobject,throughthe
processofcognition.Theself-evidentcognizer
isdenotedbytheterm &;n' andthecognized
objectthroughtheterman

u&;n'..
j;n;im Eit -Iknowthus
tm
theAtmA.
Av &;Nt' onlyillumining
Att'u&;ili(o
smSt jgt anit thswhoeunversef
objects)shining.
This approach isknown as svayam-prakASa
vicAra: -theenquiry intotheself-evident
natureofAtmA.
30

tSmwuUtRe nm Ed' ;Idi=,;mUtRy

;Ig.mye
To Him, the divine teacher, SrI
dakshiNAmUrti,isthissalutation.
(tobecontinued)
SourceMaterial:
1. Sri Dakshinamurti Stotram , D.S.
Subbarmaiya,DakshinamnayaSriSharada
Peetham,Sringeri,1988(twovolumes)
2. Hymn to Sri Dakshinamurty ,
CommentarybySwamiChinmayananda.
CentralChinmayaMissionTrust,Bombay.
1994.
3. Dakshinamurti Stotra of Sri
Sankaracharya , Alladi Mahadeva Sasty,
SamataBooks,Chennai,2001.
4. Sri Dakshinamurti Stotram , Sri
Subramania Sastri, Sri Kamakot
Kosasthanam,Chennai,1957.
5. LecturesofSwamiParamarthananda
6. LecturesofSwamiDayananda.
31