असतो मा सद्गमय — Benefits & How to Chant
असतो मा सद्गमय
Complete guide to chanting correctly for maximum benefit
Benefits of Chanting असतो मा सद्गमय
One of the most ancient and revered prayers of the Upanishads (the Pavamana Mantra, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28)
a prayer for the journey from ignorance to enlightenment.
Recited for the seeker's progress from untruth to truth, darkness to light, and death to immortality
the very goal of spiritual life.
Chanted for inner peace, clarity and the dispelling of ignorance, at the start of study, meditation and prayer.
A universal prayer, beloved across traditions for its sublime expression of the human longing for the eternal.
Recited daily and at the close of prayers with 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti'.
How to Chant असतो मा सद्गमय
Instructions
Recite slowly and meditatively, dwelling on the movement of the soul from the unreal to the real, darkness to light, and death to immortality. It is chanted at the beginning of spiritual study and meditation, and closed with 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti'.
Spiritual Significance
Sages hold this prayer to be the very voice of the soul's longing — that beneath every human desire lies this one cry to pass from illusion to truth, darkness to light, and death to the deathless; to chant it sincerely is to turn the whole being toward the eternal.
Origin & History
Source: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28
Author: Traditional (Upanishadic)
The Pavamana Mantra, 'Asato Ma Sadgamaya', is found in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, among the oldest of the Upanishads. In three sublime lines it sets out the entire aspiration of the spiritual seeker — to be led from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. For its beauty and depth it has become one of the most cherished prayers of Hinduism, recited the world over.