He who sees the Universe contained within
Himself like the reflection of a city in the mirror
Of his intellect, and knows that it is appearing even
Out side through Maaya or illusion as in sleep like reality
In the self, and realises at the time of Spiritual illumination
His own immutable Self alone all over the Universe,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He who, like a juggler or a great Yogi spreads out
This Universe as light of His consciousness, but does it
Out of His own will, the Universe which exists as the germ
Of a seed, and is later on diversified by the difference
Arising from the notions of Space and Time, created
By the power of His Maaya or His magic,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He whose manifestation is the essence of reality,
Appears as the object of illusory notions to the eyes,
Who imparts direct enlightenment to those disciples
Who resort to Him by Vedic teaching-Thou art That;
And through immediate perception of whom there is
No return to the ocean of worldly existence,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He whose intelligence vibrates outside through
The eyes and other sense organs, like the bright light
Of a great lamp placed inside of a jar with various holes
And after whose shining this whole universe shines,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He who destroys the terrible infatuation created
By the play of the power of Maaya, of those who consider
Themselves as the body, or vital air, or the senses,or
The changeable intellect, or as the void, and through error
Declare themselves to be a woman or a child or blind,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He who goes into deep sleep on withdrawal
Of the senses and becomes only the existence
Covered by Maaya,like the Sun or the Moon in
An eclipse, and who on awakening remembers
To have slept, the knower of the state of sleep,
To Him,incarnate as the Blessed teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He who through auspicious gestures
In silence reveals to His devotees His own Self,
Which is a witness to the childhood or manhood
Or old age or the states of waking, dream,
And deep sleep, and other states that have
Come and gone, and constantly manifests it
Self inwardly as 'I', the One consciousness,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He who as man, whirled by Maaya or nescience
Sees the world of cause and effect diversely related
As parent and child, subject and object, or owner
And property, or teacher and taught, or this one
And that one, in the state of waking or dream,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
He whose eight fold form, consisting of the earth,
Water, fire, air, ether, the sun, the moon, and man,
the sacrificer, manifests as this universe of movable
And immovable objects and besides Him, the Supreme
Omnipresent Lord there exists nothing when you reflect,
To Him, incarnate as the Blessed Teacher,
To Sri Dakshinamurti, is this salutation!
~*~
The Lord of the Universe is the Teacher of the World
And the inner Self, the three are One and the Same Atman
Who is the all-pervading consciousness like the Space infinite;
Because of the universality of the Atman has thus been
Explained in this hymn, one who carefully reads it and
Meditates on the meaning of the entire hymn realises
That Divine State endued with the grandeur of being
The Universal Self as also the eight fold Power divine!
*Dakshinamurty : The merciful Lord who has no form,
(Once Lord Shiva assumed the illusory form of Sri Dakshinamurti
To enlighten the seven celestial sages)
The Most efficient Teacher,The Support of all existence,
The One who sits south faced when he teaches.
~*~