The Pavamana Mantra, also known as pavamāna abhyāroha is an ancientIndianmantra introduced in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad The mantra was originally meant to be recited during the introductory praise of the Soma sacrifice by the patron sponsoring the sacrifice.
Text and Translation
The text of the mantra reads: This translates to: हम सभी को असत्य से सत्य की राह दिखाना, हम सभी को अज्ञानता से ज्ञान की और ले जाना, हम सभी को मृत्यु से अमरत्व तक ले चलना | These three statements are referred to as the three Pavamana Mantras. Some renderings add at the beginning and ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ as a fourth line. This is a stylistic addition that concludes a recitation; as such it is often included with the verse itself though the Upanishad itself does not end the line that way.
Sanskrit word meaning
— "from falsehood"; ablative case of "falsehood", from + "truth"; becomes due to sandhi
— "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"; see also Mrtyu; becomes due to sandhi
— "to immortality"; accusative case of "immortal", literally "not dead", from + "dead"; becomes due to vowel elision.
The Sanskrit term 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." In the interpretation of Swami Krishnananda, "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 transcendental reality.
