Dakshinamurthy – Incarnation of Lord Shiva
The quest to know about self and about God is an eternal quest. This quest requires the help of a Guru. A Guru is one who knows about God and who is enlightened. Only the one who has merged with God and has come back into the body can show the way to God. It is said that only God knows God and hence God took the form of the Guru to instruct mankind about God. Dakshinamurthy is the Adi Guru or the original Guru who did not undergo discipleship. Every Guru was a disciple and received knowledge from his Guru before he became a Guru. There is a natural flow of knowledge and wisdom from Guru to disciple. The flow of this knowledge started from Dakshinamurthy.
The concept of the teacher or the Guru is presented in Dakshinamurthy. Lord Shiva took this form in order to satisfy the thirst of knowledge of the Rishis who were created by Lord Brahma.
Sanaka, Sanatana, and Sanandana and Sanatkumara were the manasputra or the mind born sons of Lord Brahma. They were pure minded and had no material desires. They sought to learn about the nature of Divinity and how to attain enlightenment. Lord Shiva manifested as Dakshinamurthy in order to impart knowledge and wisdom to them. Dakshinamurthy means ‘One who faces south’.
He appeared as a young boy sitting under a banyan tree. His face was radiant like clear crystal and very peaceful. The magnetic vibrations of wisdom, knowledge and peace that emanated from Him drew the four sages to him. They understood that he was the real Sadguru and went thrice around Him in respect and prostrated before Him. They sat at His Feet and began to ask Him a multitude of questions about the nature of Reality and the means of attaining it. The Lord felt fatherly love and compassion for them and He answered their questions patiently. The sages were sincere and earnest and already had wisdom and maturity.
As Dakshinamurthy answered their questions, more questions rose in the minds of the sages. They continued asking further questions. The question and answer session continued for a whole year and still their doubts did not abate and the Lord kept his flow of answers flowing in His great compassion. Since their doubts did not lessen at all, the Lord went into meditative state and assumed the Supreme Silence. As soon as the Guru assumed silence, the disciples also merged in Supreme Silence and in the true state of the Self. Dakshinamurthy is also shown being surrounded by the great seven sages who sit in deep silence. The Guru transmits the Supreme Truth through silence.
Dakshinamurthy is the personification of spiritual wisdom and knowledge. His teaching is through the subtlest form of speech called para vak – sound which is beyond the physical hearing. Para vak can be felt in the vibrations of silence. The silence which envelopes the entire cosmos is called the para vak. This endless silence is beyond the human intelligence, logic, queries and meaningless questions. His teachings are beyond words and thoughts and the listeners sit in silence and let the wisdom light up their inner self.
When we sit in front of the Guru, it should be with utmost reverence and in silence. We should not talk or ask endless questions. We should ignore the chatter of our mind and allow the vibrations of the Guru to permeate our entire self and flow with the peace which emanates from his being. The light of wisdom and knowledge enters us automatically when we are in such a state. All the doubts and uncertainties in our minds disappear and we get the full benefit of darshan of the Guru. The finest and highest level of teaching takes places in silence when the mind is stilled. Let us do our japa practices and daily meditation sincerely and by doing so, silence the endless chatter of our monkey mind and absorb the wisdom of the Guru.
