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Usage in culture: Added reference.

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{{Short description|Hindu mantra introduced in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad}}
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The '''Pavamana Mantra''' (''pavamāna'' meaning "being purified, strained", historically a name of [[Soma (drink)|Soma]]), also known as ''pavamāna abhyāroha'' (''abhyāroha'', lit. "ascending", being an Upanishadic technical term for "[[prayer in Hinduism|prayer]]"<ref>[[Monier-Williams]], [https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/webtc/servepdf.php?page=77 ''A Sanskrit Dictionary'' (1899)] page 77</ref>)
is an ancient Indian [[Hindu mantra|mantra]] introduced in the [[Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad]] (1.3.28.)<ref name="EighteenPrincipalUpanisads">[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553883/page/n201/mode/2up Eighteen Principal Upanisads, vol. 1, ed. by V. P. Limaye and R. D. Vadekar, Poona 1958], page 183</ref><ref>[http://fiindolo.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/1_veda/4_upa/brup___u.htm Brhadaranyaka-Upanisad (Brhadaranyakopanisad), Kanva recension; GRETIL version, input by members of the Sansknet project (formerly: www.sansknet.org)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719104637/http://fiindolo.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/1_veda/4_upa/brup___u.htm |date=19 July 2011 }}
</ref><ref name=BrihadaranyakaUpanishad>[https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n113/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chapter 1], Translator: S Madhavananda, page 86</ref> The mantra was originally meant to be recited during the introductory praise of the [[soma sacrifice]] by the patron sponsoring the sacrifice.<ref name="Olivelle">{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|author-link=Patrick Olivelle|title=Upaniṣads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9-2jV7sRuEC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-283576-5|pages=12–13}}</ref>

==Text and translation==
The text of the mantra reads:<ref name="EighteenPrincipalUpanisads"/>

:{{lang|sa|असतो मा सद्गमय ।}}
:{{lang|sa|तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।}}
:{{lang|sa|मृत्योर्माऽमृतं गमय ॥}}

:{{IAST|asato mā sadgamaya}},
:{{IAST|tamaso mā jyotirgamaya}},
:{{IAST|mṛtyormā'mṛtaṃ gamaya}}.

[[Swami Madhavananda]] offers the following translation:<ref name=BrihadaranyakaUpanishad/>

:From evil lead me to good,
:From darkness lead me to light,
:From death lead me to immortality.

[[Patrick Olivelle]] offers a slightly different translation:<ref name="Olivelle" />

:From the unreal lead me to the real!
:From the darkness lead me to the light!
:From death lead me to immortality!

The more common modern translation differs slightly in the translation of the first line{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}:

:From falsehood lead me to truth,
:From darkness lead me to light,
:From death lead me to immortality.

These three statements are referred to as the three Pavamana Mantras. Some renderings — generally modern<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greenmesg.org/stotras/vedas/om_asato_ma_sadgamaya.php|title=Om Asato Ma Sadgamaya - In sanskrit with meaning|website=Green Message: The Evergreen Messages of Spirituality, Sanskrit and Nature|access-date=14 November 2020|publisher=greenmesg.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://brah.ma/shlok/om-asato-maa-sad-gamaya-tamaso-maa-jyotir-gamaya/|title=ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय । तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ - BrahmaShlok|publisher=Brah.Ma|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amritapuri.org/3731/asatoma.aum |title= Meaning of the mantra ''Asatoma Ma Sadgamaya''|author= |date= |website= |publisher= amritapuri.org|access-date=1 November 2016 |quote=}}</ref> — add {{IAST|ॐ}} ({{IAST|oṃ}}) at the beginning and/or {{lang|sa|ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥}} ({{IAST|oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ}}, 'om peace peace peace') as a fourth line. This is a stylistic addition that concludes a recitation; as such it is often included with the verse. The Upanishad itself does not end the line that way.<ref name="EighteenPrincipalUpanisads"/><ref name=BrihadaranyakaUpanishad/>

==Sanskrit word meaning==
* {{IAST|asataḥ}} — "from falsehood"; [[ablative case]] of {{IAST|asat}} "falsehood", from {{IAST|a}} (negation) + {{IAST|sat}} "truth"; becomes {{IAST|asato}} due to [[sandhi]]; can be a synonym for "evil"<ref>[https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/webtc/servepdf.php?page=118 Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit Dictionary (1899)] page 118</ref>
* {{IAST|mā}} — "me"; first [[Grammatical person|person]] [[Sanskrit pronouns and determiners|pronoun]], singular [[Grammatical number|number]], [[accusative case]]
* [[Sat (Sanskrit)|{{IAST|sat}}]] — "to truth"; accusative case of {{IAST|sat}} "truth"; here accusative case shows the destination; becomes {{IAST|sad}} due to sandhi; can be a synonym for "good" <ref>[https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/webtc/servepdf.php?page=1134 Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit Dictionary (1899)] page 1134</ref>
* {{IAST|gamaya}} — "lead"; [[causative]], [[imperative mood]], [[active voice]], singular number, second person of root {{IAST|gam}} "to go".
* [[Tamas (philosophy)|{{IAST|tamasaḥ}}]] — "from darkness"; ablative case of {{IAST|tamas}} "darkness"; becomes {{IAST|tamaso}} due to sandhi
* [[Divine light|{{IAST|jyotiḥ}}]] — "to light"; accusative case of {{IAST|jyotis}} "light"; becomes {{IAST|jyotir}} due to sandhi
* [[Mrtyu|{{IAST|mṛtyoḥ}}]] — "from death"; ablative case of {{IAST|mṛtyu}} "death"; becomes {{IAST|mṛtyor}} due to sandhi
* [[Amrita|{{IAST|amṛtaṃ}}]] — "to immortality"; accusative case of {{IAST|amṛta}} "immortal", literally "not dead", from {{IAST|a}} (negation) + {{IAST|mṛta}} "dead"; becomes {{IAST|'mṛtaṃ}} due to vowel elision.

The Sanskrit term ''[[sat (Sanskrit)|sat]]'', which means "truth" or "what is existing, real", has a range of important religious meanings including "truth" or "the Absolute, [[Brahman]]". The passage immediately following the mantra explicitly identifies the unreal and darkness with death and the real and light with immortality, saying that all three portions of the mantra have the same meaning of "Make me immortal."<ref name=BrihadaranyakaUpanishad/><ref name="Olivelle" />
In the interpretation of [[Swami Krishnananda]] (1977), "From the nonexistent, from the unreal, from the apparent, lead me to the other side of it, the Existent, the Real, the [[Noumenon]]." According to this interpretation and in keeping with the philosophy of [[Vedanta]], the text rejects the material world as "unreal", "dark" and "dead" and invokes a concept of the [[transcendence (religion)|transcendental]] reality.<ref>[[Swami Krishnananda]], ''The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' (1977) [http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup_audio/brdup-08.pdf (swami-krishnananda.org)] "The light that we see in this world is really a form of darkness, [...] all forms of life are forms of death only. They are not realities. The sunlight is not real light, because it is not intelligent. [...] So, the prayer is for a total rise from this involved, insufficient, conditioned 'being' to the absolutely independent, unconditioned 'Being' which is simultaneously Sat, Jyotir and Amrtam – Existence, Light, Enlightenment, Consciousness, Omniscience and Immortality. No rebirth is possible there".</ref>

==Usage in culture==

The quote has been used as an opening statement for the Economic Survey 2021<ref>{{cite report|title=Economic Survey 2020-21 Volume 1|url=https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/economicsurvey/doc/vol1chapter/epreface_vol1.pdf|date=January 2021|publisher=Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Economic Affairs Economic Division North Block}}</ref> by [[Krishnamurthy Subramanian]], who reports to the finance minister under the [[Narendra Modi]] Government.

In 2003, the mantra was worked into the theme [[Navras]] by [[Juno Reactor]] and used for the end credits of ''[[The Matrix Revolutions]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thematrix101.com/revolutions/symbolism.php|access-date=April 1, 2021|title=The MATRIX 101 – Understanding The Matrix Revolutions – Symbolism}}</ref>

The mantra features in 'To Kiss or Not to Kiss' in the [[Music of Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)#Miniseries_soundtrack|soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.yogarkana.com/index.php/2019/12/13/mantra-nature-et-structure/|access-date=September 1, 2021|title=Mantra – Nature et structure}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Ram K. Piparaiya, ''Ten Upanishads of Four Vedas'', New Age Books (2003), p. 101.

[[Category:Hindu mantras]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
[[Category:Upanishads]]

Pavamana Mantra - Revision history

imported>Bjohas: /* Usage in culture */ Added reference.