Dakshinamurti is an aspect of the Hindu god Shiva, as a teacher. Dakshinamurti literally means 'one who is facing south.' An image of Shiva as Dakshinamurti is part of every temple to Shiva, installed facing south. This work primarily contains the Dakshinamurti Stotra, along with commentary by the translator, as well as two shorter works, the Pranava-Vartika and the Dakshinamurti-Upanishad. The Dakshinamurti Stotra is a treatise on Hindu philosophy, attributed to the sage Sankaracharya, comparing various schools of thought, including Buddhism, concerning the nature of reality.