Pavamana Mantra, the Chant for Enlightenment

At the end of every Yoga class, together we chant the Pavamana Mantra, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Despite being chanted in Sanskrit, it is relatively easy for most beginners to pronounce, with a universal, non-denominational appeal in the form of a simple imperative:

"May I be inspired to keep moving from the untruth (or misunderstanding) into the truth, from darkness (ignorance or fear) into the light, transforming suffering into bliss."

Please note that this is my liberal translation.  Feel free to compare with others to enhance your own interpretation.

We chant it very simply, in the style I learned in my Yoga Teacher Training at the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.

In my classes, we chant it accompanied only by the peaceful drone of the Shruti Box, but there are many other more orchestral versions which you may enjoy listening to or chanting along with.

Here are a couple to get you started:

The first version is an epic musical performance, most famous for appearing in the end credits of The Matrix and the second is a gentler, more traditional rendition from Ravi Shankar and George Harrison.

Jai!!!

Ravi Shankar, Chants of India

This beautiful recording is one of my all time favorites! 

And now here it is for free on Youtube?!?  Jai!

Ravi Shankar Chants of India (Full Album)

Prayers for Ravi Shankar

I offer my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Sitar legend Ravi Shankar,who left his body yesterday at the age of 92.

Ravi Shankar has been a immeasurable influence on Indian music and is credited with bringing Indian music to the west.

Well known for teaching Beatle George Harrison to play Sitar, he is also the father of a new Sitar Virtuoso, Anoushka Shankar and Jazz Siren Norah Jones.

I have been loving and listening to his music for nearly twenty years and wish his family and fans fond memories and a continued relationship with him through his musical legacy.

Ravi, of Noble Birth, may you travel swiftly through the transitory states of existence to a harmonious rebirth or to the heavenly realms where the Gandharvas will surely welcome you with open arms and open hearts!

Click here to watch Ravi and Anoushka Shankar on YouTube.

Chant for Enlightenment

Om
Asatoma sat gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mryityor ma amritam gamaya

Om
From the unreal (untruth) to the real (truth)
from darkness (tamas) to light (sattva)
from suffering to the nectar of immortality.

 - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad


This is the verse I often close my yoga classes with.  I chant it the way I learned from my Sivananda teachers, but here are a few of others for you to listen to.

First, a beautiful and meditative Ravi Shankar version from "Chants of India".

Now, some of you may recognize the next one from the final credits of "The Matrix".

WARNING - this video contains scenes from the movie which are violent and gross!

Please feel free to scroll to something more sattvic while you listen.

And finally, the sweet and lovely Deva Premal. 

(Did I ever tell you that I met Deva?  In 2009, at the Omega Ecstatic Chant weekend.  I thanked her for Dakshina which I and many of my students at the time were listening to over and over and over again!  She hugged me for a long time and Om'ed in my ear... ahhh... I pass that big hug and her beautiful smile on to you now!)

Let us reach enlightenment together!  Jai!

The Teacher Student Chant

Om
Sahanavavatu sahanau bhunaktu
Sahaviryam karavavahai
Tejasvinavadhitamastu
Ma vidvishavahayai
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Let the Studies that we undertake be effulgent;
Let there be no Animosity amongst us;
OM. Peace, Peace, Peace.

(Recited before the commencement of education)  From the Yajurveda Taittiriya Upanishad 2.2.2

Many of you are familiar with this short chant from the Upanishads from the opening of the classes I teach. 

I learned it during my Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training in 1997 and loved it so much that I have chanted it out loud or in my heart before every Yoga class I've taken or taught since.

It reminds me that we are all, always, and in all ways both teacher and student in every situation. 

It reminds me to honor both roles and the divine Leela or play we partake in when we assume either role.

And it reminds me that on those rare and precious occasions when we have the karma to participate in formal sacred teachings, we must make a conscious decision to embody Namaste - to suspend criticism and judgement and choose to see the divinity in eachother rather than the differences.

Although the tune below is not the one I typically use, it is definitely one of my very favorites. 

It comes from the cd "Chants of India" on George Harrison's Angel Records Label and features the great Ravi Shankar on sitar. 

It is so beautiful I had to share it here. 

Thank you for chanting it with me.  May we enjoy learning Yoga together for as long as it takes...