Sacred text · Hindu practice

Asato Ma Sad Gamaya

From the unreal lead me to the real; from darkness lead me to light; from death lead me to immortality

असतो मा सद्गमय तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Asato mā sad gamaya tamaso mā jyotir gamaya mṛtyor mā amṛtaṃ gamaya Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Three requests, each the same shape, from one of the oldest Upaniṣads. It is among the most widely recognised lines in Indian religious literature and is recited at the opening of gatherings far outside its original ritual setting.

Source: Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28

The count shown here is Japa's suggestion, not a rule of the tradition. Follow the form and number you were taught.

Not counted on beads

How many times

Japa suggests three times a day. Follow the number you were taught.

Japa counts this one without a mala: a plain daily number rather than a ring of beads, with the words kept in view while you say them. Counting is unlimited and free.

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What the words say

Mā is 'me'; gamaya, 'lead' or 'cause to go'. Asat is what is not — the unreal, the untrue; sat is what is. Tamas is darkness and jyotis light. Mṛtyu is death, amṛtam the deathless. The three pairs are not three different requests so much as one request said three ways. The closing Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ is the standard peace invocation and is a customary addition rather than part of the cited passage.

Where it comes from

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28, where it belongs to a chant in a Vedic rite. It has long since left that setting and become a general invocation.

How it is practised

Recited at the beginning of study, of a gathering, or of a day. Three times is a common framing; the verse is not typically counted on a mala.

References

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.28

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