From darkness to light...

I want to dedicate some time to sharing my knowledge about one shloka that I use in my classes, or have been taught as a child, or one that I came across and found to be share-worthy. It is a privilege to share the ancient knowledge and also to deepen my own understanding of the verses so that I may be able to explain to my kids as they grow up.

Ancient Indian texts are replete with deep and meaningful mantras. There is absolutely nothing religious about most of them and they do not even have a mention of any particular deity. They are just evergreen, universally applicable sutras, or guidelines for living a good life and to achieve self-actualization as the final goal. I use these shlokas in my yoga class as part of savasana, intention setting or at the end of guided meditations and it never fails to give the sessions a complete, holistic and classical yoga feel.

Sharing one such Sanskrit shloka and its meaning. I recited these lines back in school every morning. Did not really know the meaning then, but I plan to teach my kids and explain to them it's simple but rich meaning.

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya | Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya | Mrutyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya | Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning: Take me from unreal/untruth to reality/truth Take me from darkness to light Take me from death to eternal life Peace Peace Peace (At all three levels of misery/pain defined in Samkhya Philosophy i.e of divine or worldly origin or self-inflicted)

One might wonder why we chant peace thrice? More on that in another post titled 'Shanti Shanti Shanti'.