The root daks meaning, to be able or strong and Dakshina means able, clever, straightforward, donation to the priest, to place anyone on the right side as a mark of respect, south and southern. The Dakshinamūrti Upanisad, which is in a dialogue format between Śavanaka sages and Mārkandeya, gives a clear imagery and salient features of Dakshinamūrti.
May the milk-white three-eyed Primal Being grant us purity of thought
He who, seated at the foot of a fig tree, surrounded by Śuka and other sages
Holding in the hands the symbol, the blessed wisdom, with axe and deer
One of the hands resting on the knees, the lion girdled round by a mighty serpent,
A digit of the moon enclosed in His clotted hair
Lord Shiva, in order to instruct the rishis and the seers assumed the form of a guru, and sitting on the peak of Kailasa. He turned southward to serve all seekers. The term Dakshinamurti means “that divine power of subtle perception which is generated in a fully integrated pure intellect”. He is the Supreme God who, at the end of an aeon (kalpa) absorbs within himself the whole universe and remains resplendent in joy. He is seen seated on a raised platform placed under a banyan or fig tree, his left leg bent and rested upon the seat and his right one rests on the Apasmāra-purusa who is the personification of ignorance; on his head is the jatābandha; the back right hand holds a snake and the front right hand holds an aksamālā and is in the chin-mudrā; the back left hand carries a bundle of kuśa grass, the front left hand carries an amrta-ghata. He wears round his lions a garment; deer skin worn in the upavīta fashion, he has a resplendent face and a calm radiant smile; He is seen surrounded by sages and disciples sitting around him.
The next part of my series is about Dakshinamurti – The Guru who taught through Silent eloquence.
