35. दक्षिणास्यपद्ध्यायी Dakṣiṇāsya-pada-dhyāyī

One who meditated on the feet of Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrti

Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrti, a form of Śiva, is described as seated under a large banyan tree facing dakṣiṇa, South, teaching the oneness of Ātman-Brahman that is beyond speech and the mind, to the exalted sages, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana and Sanatkumāra. This teaching is through the cinmudra (characterised by the tips of the thumb and index finger touching one another and the other three fingers held straight) and silence. An alternative explanation given by the Dakṣiṇāmūrti-upaniṣad for the word ‘Dakṣiṇābhimukha’, an epithet of Dakṣiṇāmūrti synonymous with ‘Dakṣiṇāsya’, is that the word ‘dakṣiṇa’ refers to the intellect that is capable of grasping Brahman; Śiva is the means (‘mukha’ or ‘āsya’) to attain (‘abhi’) such an intellect.⁹⁶

As mentioned under nāma 17, one of the forms of Śiva that His Holiness meditated on was Dakṣiṇāmūrti. He did so on the Lord’s form as described in the dhyāna-śloka of the Medhā-dakṣiṇāmūrti-mantra, into which the senior Jagadguru had initiated Him. The import of the verse is, “I adore Dakṣiṇāmūrti who is of crystal and silver complexion, holds in His lotus-like hands a rosary of pearls, a vessel of nectar, a book and the cinmudra, has a serpent for His girdle, has the moon in His crest, is three-eyed and has donned various ornaments.”⁹⁷

His Holiness meditated on Dakṣiṇāmūrti and became one with the Lord Himself. Little wonder that Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin has composed a verse describing His Holiness as follows: “I take refuge in that South-facing Lord (Dakṣiṇāmūrti), who, having relinquished the base of the

100 35. Dakṣiṇāsya-pada-dhyāyī banyan tree, resides in Sringeri (as Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin) and teaches the Truth to devotees.”⁹⁸

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As described under nāma 10, Lord Śiva graced His Holiness with darśana and the instruction to commence nirguṇa-dhyāna. Once the Lord vanished, His Holiness felt an urge to meditate again. Since the Lord had directly instructed Him as a Guru, He thought of meditating on Him as Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the divine conferrer of knowledge. Mentally chanting the Medhā-dakṣiṇāmūrti-mantra, He straightaway visualised the Lord in His heart-lotus as described in the mantra’s dhyāna-śloka. Awareness of the surroundings and the body ceased. Subsequently, the mental chanting of the mantra automatically came to a stop and His focus was just on the form. There were no distracting thoughts of any kind. The meditation was deep, with the form quite clear. When He regained consciousness of the body and opened His eyes, He found no trace of sunlight. The place was, however, illumined by the light of the moon. Stars were visible.

It was only a few moments later that He realised that there was something on His neck. A big cobra had loosely coiled itself around it. Its upraised hood was near His right shoulder, facing away from Him. He had meditated on Bhujaṅga-bhūṣaṇa (an epithet of Śiva meaning, “He who has a snake for an ornament”) and now a snake was on His body as an ornament. Taking this as a sign of the Lord’s grace, He felt very happy. He stroked the cobra gently. It seemed to like this and rested its head against His right cheek. After about five minutes, the snake slowly uncoiled itself and went away. He got up and walked down the hill, seeing His way in the light of the moon.

As per the normal practice, He was scheduled to have His Guru’s darśana only the next morning during the latter’s āhnika, and hence on returning to Sacchidananda Vilasa He went to His room. However, in a few moments, He received a message that He had been sent for by His Guru. As the senior Jagadguru was engaged in His evening āhnika, His Holiness went to His presence and stood silently after performing namaskāra. On completing a japa, the senior Jagadguru looked at Him with a smile and said, “Today, you have received the very special grace and instruction of Parameśvara. Finally, for a while, you were a bhujaṅga-bhūṣaṇa (one adorned with a serpent). Is it not?” His Holiness reverentially answered, “Yes” and added that all this was the consequence of His Guru’s blessing bestowed on Him before He had left for the hill (vide nāma 17).

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That night, He had a dream in which He beheld Śiva dancing magnificently in the form of Naṭarāja, the king of dancers, with the Divine Mother looking on. After some time, this scene was replaced by one in which Śiva appeared in conjunction with the Divine Mother, as Ardhanārīśvara. In the dream itself, He venerated Śiva-Śakti by chanting the Ardhanārīśvara-stotra. Thereafter, the scene changed to one in which He lay prostrate before the Lord as Dakṣiṇāmūrti seated at the base of a big banyan tree. He found Himself merging into the Lord.

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His Holiness was a lover of nature as mentioned under nāma 28. He would witness nature’s beauty, say while crossing the river Tuṅgā or while seated in the evening at His meditation spot from where He could see the Malahānikareśvara Temple and the beautiful mountains and valley during sunset when the sky would be splashed with colours of various hues and the moon too would be visible at times. Charmed by the sights, He would chant the penultimate verse of Bhagavatpāda’s Dakṣiṇāmūrti-stotra. The meaning of the verse is: “Obeisance to that resplendent Dakṣiṇāmūrti, who is incarnate in the form of the Guru, whose eight-fold form is all this moving and unmoving universe appearing as earth, water, fire, air, space, the sun, the moon and the soul, and beyond whom, the Supreme and all-pervading one, nothing else exists for the discerning.”⁹⁹

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