Opening for Ashtanga practice | Primary Series Asanas
*Shared with permission from the Calgary Ashtanga Yoga School
वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे
सन्दर्शित स्वात्म सुखाव बोधे ।
vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe |
I bow to the lotus feet of our great teachers,
who uncovers our true self and awakens happiness
निःश्रेयसे जङ्गलिकायमाने
संसार हालाहल मोहशांत्यै ॥
niḥ-śreyase jaṅgali-kāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāṁtyai ||
Like a Shaman in the Jungle he brings total complete well-being.
He can even heal the most awful poison of conditioning and illusion.
आबाहु पुरुषाकारं
शंखचक्रासि धारिणम् ।
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
śaṁkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam |
The upper body of human shape, carrying
a mussel horn (original tone), a discus (infinity) and a sword (power of differentiation)
सहस्र शिरसं श्वेतं
प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
praṇamāmi patañjalim ||
having 1000 bright heads,
I bow to Patanjali.
ॐ
auṁ
om
सन्दर्शित स्वात्म सुखाव बोधे ।
vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe |
I bow to the lotus feet of our great teachers,
who uncovers our true self and awakens happiness
निःश्रेयसे जङ्गलिकायमाने
संसार हालाहल मोहशांत्यै ॥
niḥ-śreyase jaṅgali-kāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāṁtyai ||
Like a Shaman in the Jungle he brings total complete well-being.
He can even heal the most awful poison of conditioning and illusion.
आबाहु पुरुषाकारं
शंखचक्रासि धारिणम् ।
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
śaṁkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam |
The upper body of human shape, carrying
a mussel horn (original tone), a discus (infinity) and a sword (power of differentiation)
सहस्र शिरसं श्वेतं
प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
praṇamāmi patañjalim ||
having 1000 bright heads,
I bow to Patanjali.
ॐ
auṁ
om
Patanjali
Patañjali ( Sanskrit: पतञ्जलि, IPA: [pət̪əɲɟəli] lived 150 BCE or 2nd c. BCE). He is considered the father of Yoga, having compiled his Yoga Sutras, an important treatise or aphorisms on Yoga practice and attainment of yogic consciousness.
According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya,
a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas (short comments) on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī and of an unspecified work of life science medicine (āyurveda).
In his yoga-treatise, Patañjali defended several ideas that are not mainstream of either Sankhya or Yoga. He, according to the Iyengar adept, biographer and scholar Kofi Busia, acknowledges the ego not as a separate entity but as integral to the whole being.
The subtle body or linga sarira he would not regard as permanent and would deny it a direct control over external matters. This is not in line with classical Sankhya and Yoga.
Although much of the aphorisms in the Yoga Sutra possibly pre-date Patanjali, it is clear that much is original and it is more than a mere compilation.
The clarity and unity he brought to divergent views prevalent till then has inspired a long line of teachers and practitioners up to the present day in which B.K.S. Iyengar is a known defender.
With some translators he seems to be a dry and technical propounder of the philosophy, but with others he is an empathic and humorous witty friend and spiritual guide.
According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya,
a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas (short comments) on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī and of an unspecified work of life science medicine (āyurveda).
In his yoga-treatise, Patañjali defended several ideas that are not mainstream of either Sankhya or Yoga. He, according to the Iyengar adept, biographer and scholar Kofi Busia, acknowledges the ego not as a separate entity but as integral to the whole being.
The subtle body or linga sarira he would not regard as permanent and would deny it a direct control over external matters. This is not in line with classical Sankhya and Yoga.
Although much of the aphorisms in the Yoga Sutra possibly pre-date Patanjali, it is clear that much is original and it is more than a mere compilation.
The clarity and unity he brought to divergent views prevalent till then has inspired a long line of teachers and practitioners up to the present day in which B.K.S. Iyengar is a known defender.
With some translators he seems to be a dry and technical propounder of the philosophy, but with others he is an empathic and humorous witty friend and spiritual guide.
