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vlrks ek ln xe;A
Rkelks ek T;ksfrxZe; A
E`kR;ksekZ ve`ra xe; A
TWa 'kkfUr% 'kkfUr% 'kkfUr%AA

Asato maa Sadgamaya
Tamaso maa Jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma Amritam gamaya
Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih

Lead me
From untruth to truth
From darkness to light
From death to immortality

(From the transient world of decay lead me to the everlasting world of Bliss. Let the effulgence of Thy Grace illumine by being with Truth. Save me from this cycle of birth and death and destroy the craving of the mind, which produce the seeds of birth).

EXPLANATION

When the room is dark, we stumble and fall; we are terrorized by imaginary fears; a number of insects move about freely and make us uncomfortable. When we put on the light, we are comfortable and happy, so also when our minds are dark, the pests of Moha, Lobha, Mada, Matsarya, Kama and Krodha trouble us and make our lives miserable. So we pray to God to illumine our minds.

Ignorance is like darkness. In this darkness, we fail to see that we are all related to one another and to God, by the kinship of Atma. This gives rise to greed, envy, jealousy, hatred and anger. These evil tendencies make our lives miserable. Hence we pray for the light of Jnana, which dissolves all the differences.