Meaning of the phrase 'Daksha Siksha(ka)'

[Suryasriram]

Muttuswami Dikshitar was prolific in weaving the Puranic legends into his compositions. So usually whenever we see any reference to Daksha, we connect it to the Yajna of Daksha, where he was punished by Veerabhadra for insulting Shiva and causing the death of Sati Devi.

In five (I think) of his kritis, Dikshitar has mentioned the phrase 'Daksha Siksha(ka)'. These are: Akshayalinga Vibho (Sankarabharanam), Neelakantham Bhajeham (Kedaragaulai), Rudrakopa (Rudrapriya), Hariharaputram (Vasanta) and Vinayaka (Vegavahini).

The first three kritis are on Lord Shiva, so we can connect it to the story of Daksha Yajna.

But in Vinayaka, on Ganesha (Daksha Shikshaka), and Hariharaputram on Ayyappa (Garvita Daksha Shiksham), how are we supposed to understand the meaning, given that the two gods weren't even present at Daksha Yajna?

[rshankar]

I am not an expert, but daksha is not just the name of the prajApati, but can also mean things like expert, or intelligent, or intellectual. So a daksha Sikshaka could mean an intelligent teacher, and daksha SikshA could mean intellectual learning, for example, or could mean the brahmOpadESa.

garvita daksha Siksham is a descriptor of murugA (guru guha) in the vasantA kRti. I am not sure of the interpretation of daksha Sikshaka in the vEgavAhini kRti.

Rajani/Keerthi/Sachi etc can be of better help.

[RaviSri]

Both the so called vEgavAhini song and the Vasantha song are spurious, not Dikshitar's. Many of the so called Dikshitar kritis were manufactured at a factory or various factories. The Vasantha song apparently written in praise of Sabarimala Ayyappan has wrong descriptions of the deity enshrined at the hill temple. This explains the wrong mention of dakSha sikSha in these two songs.

[pvs]

Daksha shikshaka = punisher of Daksha = Shiva
It is also used by Thyagaraja to describe Rama as "Daksha Shikshaka Priya"
I agree the other uses to describe Ganesha and Ayyappa make no sense unless there are hidden myths(doubtful)

[Pratyaksham Bala]

.
Daksha means : able, fit, adroit, expert, clever, dexterous, industrial, intelligent; strong, heightening or strengthening the intellectual faculties, etc.
(Among several other meanings, it also refers to 'one of the Prajapatis'.)

Sikshaka means: trainer, teacher

Daksha-Sikshaka means: Expert teacher / trainer

[RaviSri]

In akShayalinga vibhO the words are actually dakSha sikShaNa, not sikShaka, which means one who punished Daksha and nothing else.

[Suryasriram]

Both the so called vEgavAhini song and the Vasantha song are spurious, not Dikshitar's. Many of the so called Dikshitar kritis were manufactured at a factory or various factories. The Vasantha song apparently written in praise of Sabarimala Ayyappan has wrong descriptions of the deity enshrined at the hill temple. This explains the wrong mention of dakSha sikSha in these two songs.

Interesting.. why would you call Vegavahini as spurious? Is it because of the Dvitiyakshara Prasam?