The Pavamana Mantra (''pavamāna'' meaning "being purified, strained", historically a name of

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

), also known as ''pavamāna abhyāroha'' (''abhyāroha'', lit. "ascending", being an Upanishadic technical term for "

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

") is an ancient Indian

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

introduced in the

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad The ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' ( sa, बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्, ) is one of the Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the ''Bri ...

(1.3.28.)Eighteen Principal Upanisads, vol. 1, ed. by V. P. Limaye and R. D. Vadekar, Poona 1958
page 183Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chapter 1
Translator: S Madhavananda, page 86 The mantra was originally meant to be recited during the introductory praise of the

soma sacrifice Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

by the patron sponsoring the sacrifice.

Text and translation

The text of the mantra reads: : : : :, :, :. Swami Madhavananda offers the following translation: :From evil lead me to good, :From darkness lead me to light, :From death lead me to immortality.

Patrick Olivelle Patrick Olivelle is an Indologist. A philologist and scholar of Sanskrit Literature whose work has focused on asceticism, renunciation and the dharma, Olivelle has been Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions in the Department of Asian Studi ...

offers a slightly different translation: :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: :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 — add () at the beginning and/or (, '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.

Sanskrit word meaning

* — "from falsehood";

ablative case In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; sometimes abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. T ...

of "falsehood", from (negation) + "truth"; becomes due to

sandhi Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...

; can be a synonym for "evil" * — "me"; first

person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...

, singular

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

accusative case The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...

* — "to truth"; accusative case of "truth"; here accusative case shows the destination; becomes due to sandhi; can be a synonym for "good" * — "lead";

causative In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...

imperative mood The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request. The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. To form the imperative mood, ...

active voice Active voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. It is the unmarked voice for clauses featuring a transitive verb in nominative–accusative languages, including English and most other Indo-European languages. A verb ...

, singular number, second person of root "to go". * — "from darkness"; ablative case of "darkness"; becomes due to sandhi * — "to light"; accusative case of "light"; becomes due to sandhi * — "from death"; ablative case of "death"; becomes due to sandhi * — "to immortality"; accusative case of "immortal", literally "not dead", from (negation) + "dead"; becomes due to vowel elision. The Sanskrit term ''

sat The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

'', which means "truth" or "what is existing, real", has a range of important religious meanings including "truth" or "the Absolute,

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

". 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." 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 In philosophy, a noumenon (, ; ; noumena) is a posited object or an event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. The term ''noumenon'' is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to, the term ''phenomenon'', which ...

." According to this interpretation and in keeping with the philosophy of

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...

, the text rejects the material world as "unreal", "dark" and "dead" and invokes a concept of the transcendental reality.

Usage in culture

The quote has been used as an opening statement for the Economic Survey 2021 by

Krishnamurthy Subramanian Krishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian (born May 5, 1971) is an Indian economist who served as the 17th chief economic adviser to the Government of India. Subramanian is a leading expert on economic policy, banking and corporate governance, who was ...

, who reports to the finance minister under the

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

Government. In 1976, the mantra was used for the lyrics for "Gita", a song by

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 a ...

, from their album ''

Inner Worlds ''Inner Worlds'' is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was the group's sixth album release, as well as their last for nearly ten years. In 1975, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and keyboardist Gayle Moran left the band. Stu Goldberg was brought ...

''. In 2003, the mantra was worked into the theme

Navras "Navras" is a composition and a song from ''The Matrix Revolutions'' soundtrack by goa trance band Juno Reactor, whose remix version is composed by Don Davis and Juno Reactor featuring vocal elements by Lakshmi Shankar and Azam Ali. The song con ...

Juno Reactor Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and compo ...

and used for the end credits of ''

The Matrix Revolutions ''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following ''The Matrix Reloaded''. The film stars ...

''. The mantra features in 'To Kiss or Not to Kiss' in the soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).

References

{{Reflist *Ram K. Piparaiya, ''Ten Upanishads of Four Vedas'', New Age Books (2003), p. 101. Hindu mantras Sanskrit words and phrases Upanishads