Shri Dakshinamurthy - Universal teacher

Gurupournima and origin of Guru parampara:

Gurupournima is a day when you remember and pay respect to Guru. For every human being the first Guru is their father. In case of Brahmins, father initiates the son in Gayatri mantra during upanayana (munja) ceremony. And hence father becomes Guru.

Gurupournima is also known as Vyasapournima named after Maharshi Vyasa who accomplished a gigantic work of collating Vedas and Puranas for the benefit of world. Vyasa is considered as incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. Since he collated Vedas and wrote puranas which are repositories of knowledge, he is considered as Jagadguru.

Even before Maharshi Vyasa, Guru-shishya parampara started from the first guru of the universe i.e. Lord Dakshinamurthy who is nothing but Lord Shiva. Lord Dakshinamurthy means one who is seated facing south. His shishyas are seated facing Him i.e. facing north. South direction is a direction of death or change. Means Dakshinamurthy takes his shishyas, who are facing Him i.e. north, from death to deathless state and from change to unchanging state. Hence it is recommended that when you are meditating or learning, you should sit facing north.

Worship of Lord Dakshinamurthy in temples:

Lord Dakshinamurthy, manifestation of Lord Shiva, represents him in his aspect as an universal teacher. The idol of Dakshinamurthy is found in almost all Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. The only jyotirlinga which is depicted as Dakshinamurthy is at Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga. Most of the idols of Dakshinamurthy are found as Lord Shiva seated on a deer skin throne and surrounded by munis. He is worshiped as god of wisdom. According to puranas, anyone who is unable to get a Guru can consider and worship Dakshinamurthy as his Guru. If they are worthy, they will be blessed with a self realized Guru later. As mentioned before, Dakshinamurthy literally means one who is facing south i.e. direction of death or change. In almost all Shiva temples the idol of Dakshinamurthy is installed facing south on the southern pradakshina path around the sanctum-sanctorum. Shiva’s idol as Dakshinamurthy has the following iconograhic representation. Shiva is depicted as seating on deer skin throne, surrounded by sages, and his right foot is on the mythical Apasmara (a demon personifying ignorance) and his left foot folded on the lap. There are other representations also known as Gnyan Dakshinamurthy, Yoga Dakshinamurthy, Veena Dakshinamurthy, Rishabharudha Dakshinamurthy etc. The fifth day of the week representing planet Jupiter is also the day of Dakshinamurthy hence the planet is also known as Guru and the day is known as Guruwar. Hence there is a special puja on Thursdays for Dakshinamurthy in many Shiva temples. Some of the famous temples of Dakshinamurthy are 

• Mahakaleshwar of Ujjain
• Shiva Temple of Alangudi, Tamilnadu (which is one of the Navagraha temples)
• Mahadev temple at Ettumanoor in Kerala
• Pragya Dakshinamurthy at Theni in Western Tamilnadu
• Thiruvotriyur near Chennai. Here Dakshinamurthy idol faces the north and the place is known as Vada Gurusthalam (north place)

Santhana Kuravars, shishyas of Lord dakshinamurthy:

It is believed Lord Dakshinamurty i.e. Lord Shiva gave Shaiva philosophy to Santhana Kuravars who then gave it to the whole world. The Kuravars may mean Gurus. The Santhana Kuravars were classified in 2 categories, namely

1) Agama Santhana Kuravars – They were 4 and they were not considered as normal human beings and are believed to be residing in Mount Kailash. They are as follows

1. Thiru (Shri) Nandidev
2. Shri Sanatakumara
3. Satya-gyana-darshi
4. Sage Paranjyoti

It is believed that the Guru-Shishya parampara started from Dakshinamurty and passed on in the order stated above.

2) Pura Santhana Kuravars – The job of spreading Shaiva Sidhanta was carried forward from Sage Paramjyoti by the following 4 kuruwars. They are namely

1. Meykandar
2. Arul Nandi Shivam
3. Maraigyana Sambandhar
4. Umapathi Shivachariyar

They resided in Tamilnadu and were responsible for spreading the Shaiva Sidhanta. Their disciples carried forward the tradition and established Mathas at Thiruvadurai and Dharmapuram. These 2 Mathas are known as Kailash parampara, as the tradition starts from Lord Dakshinamurty.

The 4 great saints who carried forward the parampara in 7th & 12th century are known as Samaya-shaiva-kuravars. They are also known as Nalwar. They are namely

1. Thirugyana Sambandhar
2. Thirunavukkarasar
3. Sundara Murty Nayanar
4. Manikka vachakar

During 4th, 5th & 6th century Budhism and Jainism were spreading very fast in south India and many rulers got converted. During this period the religious activity almost dwindled and came to a stop. But from 7th & 12th century due to the great effort of these 4, Shaiva Sidhanta attained glory again and many of the rulers came back into Shaiva Sidhanta.

Thevaram (Garland of divine songs / hymns) was sung by Nayanmars in praise of Lord Shiva. The first 3 of Nayanmars are considered foremost among the 63 Nayanmars. The Manikka Vachakar composed verses known as Thiruvasagam.

Thiruvasagam – There are 12 volumes of hymns (sacred songs) sung by the Nayanmars in praise of Lord Shiva. These were sung in 275 Shaiva Sthalams. They are collectively known as Thirumurai.