Dakshinamurti Stotra — opening verse
Shankara's opening verse on the world seen as a city in a mirror.
Dakshinamurti Stotra 1edition
Sanskrit · संस्कृत
Read in another script
Meaning
The universe is within him, like a city seen in a mirror, though by maya it appears outside — as in sleep. He sees this, and on waking realises directly his own non-dual Self. To him, in the form of the revered teacher, to the revered Dakshinamurti, is this salutation.
This rendering is by a DharmSetu editor, not a quotation from a published translation. Compare with the public-domain translation.
A Hindi meaning has not been written for this mantra yet. Hindi is authored by a named editor rather than machine-translated, so it arrives more slowly.
How to recite
- Repetitions
- 1
- Time
- brahma muhurta
Pronunciation key — sounds commonly got wrong
- ट ठ ड ढ ण · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
- Retroflex — the tongue curls back and touches the roof of the mouth. Distinct from the dental त थ द ध न, where the tongue touches the teeth.
- श ष स · ś ṣ s
- Three different sounds: ś as in “shy”, ṣ retroflex and further back, s plain. Collapsing them changes words.
- ः · ḥ (visarga)
- A soft outward breath echoing the preceding vowel — not a hard “ha”.
- ं · ṃ (anusvara)
- Nasalises the vowel; the closing sound follows the consonant that comes next.
- Long vs short vowels — a / ā, i / ī, u / ū
- Vowel length is meaningful in Sanskrit. Hold the macron vowels roughly twice as long.
- Aspirated consonants — kh, gh, ch, th, dh, ph, bh
- A distinct puff of breath. ph is an aspirated p, never an English “f”.
Word by word
- विश्वम्viśvam
- the universe(nom. sg. n.)MW1899-CDSL p.992
- दर्पणदृश्यमाननगरीतुल्यम्darpaṇadṛśyamānanagarītulyam
- like a city seen in a mirror(nom. sg. n.)
- निजान्तर्गतम्nijāntargatam
- existing within oneself(nom. sg. n.)
- पश्यन्paśyan
- seeing(nom. sg. m. pres. part.)MW1899-CDSL p.491
- आत्मनिātmani
- in the Self(loc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.135
- माययाmāyayā
- by maya, by illusion(inst. sg. f.)MW1899-CDSL p.811
- बहिःbahiḥ
- outside
Context
Shadanga — the six limbs
The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.
- chhanda
- Shardulavikridita
- devata
- Dakshinamurti
Recited at / traditionally recited for
Classified as Stotra — Devotional hymn literature — praise poetry rather than a Vedic formula. Basis for this classification.
Related mantras
Gayatri Mantra
The most widely recited Vedic verse, addressed to the light of the sun — Rigveda 3.62.10.
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra
The Tryambaka verse of the Rigveda, addressed to Rudra — a prayer for release, likening it to a ripe fruit loosening from its stem.
Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Three movements — from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to what does not die. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.