Lord Dakshinamurti
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Under the sacred banyan sits Lord Dakshinamurti.
Lord Dakshinamurti
Dakshin means
southward direction
and murthi means
deity.
Dakshinamurti is
perhaps the only
Hindu deity that sits
facing the southern
direction.
Dakshinamurti is
actually Shiva seated
as the primordial and
supreme teacher.
His uniqueness as a
teacher lies in the
fact that He teaches
through silence,
through His
all-pervasive
consciousness.
There is a verse on Dakshinamurti in the Dakshinamurti stotram sung by Shankara:
Chitram vadataror mooley
Vriddhah shishyaa gurur yuvah
Gurostu maunam vyaakhyaanam
Shishyaastu chinnah samshayah
Beneath the banyan tree they sit the disciples old men, the guru a mere youth! The guru speaks through Silence alone But lo! The disciples' questions dissolve on their own!
He who sports the symbol of consciousness, who is the very personification of bliss, surrounded by groups of sages and seers established in the Ultimate Reality, who is of tender age, expounding truths through silence, truly eloquent... reminds one of the young enlightened master of this very energy field, the founder and master of this temple!