Dakshinamoorthy Mantra
ॐ नमः श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तयेAlso known as Dakshinamurthy Mantra
In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Dakshinamoorthy is
Dakshinamoorthy is Śiva in his aspect as the silent, south-facing preceptor who transmits the highest knowledge without uttered speech. Seated beneath the banyan, youthful yet primordial, he forms the cinmudrā with his right hand while the left rests upon the thigh or holds a palm-leaf manuscript. The four mind-born sons of Brahmā—Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana and Sanatkumāra—sit before him as the first disciples. In temple architecture his shrine occupies the southern wall of the sanctum, confronting the direction of Yama and thereby declaring that knowledge of the Self stands beyond death. He is the ādī-guru from whom every authentic teaching lineage traces its descent, distinct from Naṭarāja the dancer, Bhairava the fierce guardian, or Ardhanārīśvara the united form. Contemplation of this mūrti is bound to the stilling of mental proliferation and the recognition that the knower, the known and the means of knowledge are one.
Silence Beneath the Banyan
The episode is preserved in the tradition surrounding Ādi Śaṅkara’s Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotram. At the dawn of a cycle of creation the four Kumāras issued from Brahmā’s mind already mature in austerity yet still unsettled by the riddle of multiplicity and liberation. They wandered the three worlds seeking a teacher equal to their doubt. On a Himalayan slope they beheld a youth seated in perfect stillness under an ancient banyan, his body turned toward the south. That youth was Śiva as Dakshinamoorthy. No word passed his lips; the teaching was given entirely through the cinmudrā and the unbroken silence of his presence. In that silence the Kumāras’ questions dissolved, and they beheld the non-dual Self directly. Śaṅkara later sang that the universe itself is the city reflected in the mirror of consciousness, and that the silent guru awakens the disciple to this recognition. South-facing shrines throughout the Tamil country and beyond continue to mark the place where speech ends and knowledge begins.
The mantra, in six scripts
The name mantra, and the form most devotees chant daily. No initiation is required — it is open to anyone, including a parent chanting for a child.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the praṇava
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutations
- श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये
- śrīdakṣiṇāmūrtaye — to the glorious Dakshinamoorthy
More Dakshinamoorthy mantras
Dakshinamurti Gayatri
The verse in the Gayatri metre, asking for understanding as well as presence.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the sacred syllable Om
- दक्षिणामूर्तये
- dakṣiṇāmūrtaye — to Dakshinamurti, the south-facing form of Shiva as teacher
- विद्महे
- vidmahe — may we know
- ध्यानस्थाय
- dhyānasthāya — to the one established in meditation
- धीमहि
- dhīmahi — may we meditate on
- तन्नो
- tanno — that (one) ... us (tat + naḥ)
- धीशः
- dhīśaḥ — the lord of the intellect (dhī + īśa)
- प्रचोदयात्
- pracodayāt — may he inspire / impel (our minds)
Source: Dakshinamurti Gayatri, from the Gayatri collections (Linga Purana, Mantra Maharnava, Gayatri Mahatantra) compiled on sanskritdocuments. Other Dakshinamurti Gayatris also exist.
Dakshinamurti Dhyana (Mauna-vyakhya)
The verse recited to picture the deity before japa.
- मौनव्याख्याप्रकटितपरब्रह्मतत्त्वं
- maunavyākhyāprakaṭitaparabrahmatattvaṃ — who reveals the truth of the supreme Brahman through silent exposition
- युवानं
- yuvānaṃ — youthful
- वर्षिष्ठान्तेवसदृषिगणैः
- varṣiṣṭhāntevasadṛṣigaṇaiḥ — by groups of very aged sages who are his disciples
- आवृतं
- āvṛtaṃ — surrounded
- ब्रह्मनिष्ठैः
- brahmaniṣṭhaiḥ — (sages) established in Brahman
- आचार्येन्द्रं
- ācāryendraṃ — the foremost of teachers
- करकलितचिन्मुद्रम्
- karakalitacinmudram — whose hand forms the chin-mudra, the gesture of knowledge
- आनन्दरूपं
- ānandarūpaṃ — whose form is bliss
- स्वात्मारामं
- svātmārāmaṃ — who delights in his own Self
- मुदितवदनं
- muditavadanaṃ — with a joyful face
- दक्षिणामूर्तिम्
- dakṣiṇāmūrtim — Dakshinamurti
- ईडे
- īḍe — I praise
Source: Dhyana verse 1 of the meditation verses traditionally recited before the Dakshinamurti Stotram of Adi Shankaracharya. Some editions read ānandamūrtiṃ for ānandarūpaṃ.
Dakshinamurti Pranama (Nidhaye sarvavidyanam)
The verse of salutation, recited before or after japa.
- निधये
- nidhaye — to the treasury, storehouse
- सर्वविद्यानां
- sarvavidyānāṃ — of all branches of knowledge
- भिषजे
- bhiṣaje — to the physician
- भवरोगिणाम्
- bhavarogiṇām — of those afflicted by the disease of worldly existence (saṃsāra)
- गुरवे
- gurave — to the teacher
- सर्वलोकानां
- sarvalokānāṃ — of all the worlds
- दक्षिणामूर्तये
- dakṣiṇāmūrtaye — to Dakshinamurti
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutation, I bow
Source: Dhyana verse 4 of the meditation verses traditionally recited before the Dakshinamurti Stotram of Adi Shankaracharya. Popular prints sometimes start the verse with gurave sarvalokānāṃ instead.
The syllable people get wrong
The long ū in the syllable mūr of dakṣiṇāmūrtaye is the point at which many recitations falter. It is commonly shortened to a brief u, producing “murtaye” instead of the full, sustained mūr that the dignity of the name requires. The lips must remain rounded for the entire length of the vowel before releasing into the following ta.
When Dakshinamoorthy is chanted
Weekday. Thursday
Festival. Guru Pūrṇimā receives special observance at Dakshinamoorthy shrines, and in numerous South Indian Śiva temples the Thursday pūjā is dedicated to this form alone.
Questions
Have your chart read before you decide
Chanting is yours to do, and free. But which deity your situation calls for — and whether a mantra alone is the right response — depends on your chart. Sometimes it is; sometimes it is not.
- Over 30 years in the Guru–Sishya Parampara, from the age of five
- He reads every chart himself — 60 minutes, one to one, never delegated
- Charts are read only between sunrise and sunset, following tradition
Related
Chanting is yours to do. Some things are performed for you.
Where a matter carries real weight — an examination that decides a course, a performance, a child whose studies have stalled — devotees sponsor the homa alongside their own practice. Performed for you and any family members you name, at our Yagna Ashram, in your name and gotra, on a muhurta calculated from your chart, and telecast live so you can watch it done for you.