Patanjali

Samkhya	Kapila;
Yoga	Patanjali;
Vaisheshika	Kaṇāda, Prashastapada;
Secular	Valluvar;

Patañjali as an incarnation of Adi Sesha

Patañjali (Devanāgarī पतञ्जलि) is the compiler of the Yoga Sutra, a major work containing aphorisms on the practical and philosophical wisdom regarding practice of Raja Yoga. "Yoga" in traditional Hinduism involves inner contemplation, a rigorous system of meditation practice, ethics, metaphysics, and devotion to the one common soul, God, or Brahman

His name

Desiring to teach yoga to the world, he is said to have fallen (pat-) from heaven into the open palms (-añjali) of a woman, hence the name Patañjali.

Patañjali as an incarnation

Patañjali is known to be an incarnation of Ādi S'esha who is the first ego-expansion of Vishnu, Sankarshana. Sankarshana, the manifestation of Vishnu His primeval energies and opulences, is part of the so-called catur vyūha, the fourfold manifestation of Vishnu. Thus may Patañjali be considered as the one incarnation of God defending the ego of yoga.

His life

Patanjali was born in Bharatavarsha, India 250 BCE . His father was Angiras from Himalyas and his mother was Gonika from Kashmir. At 20 years old Patanjali married Lolupa. The son of Patanjali was Nagaputra. Patanjali learned yoga from his mother and guru Gonika and from his param guru and grandfather Hiranyagarbha. Patanjali studied Samkhya, Vedas, the Upanishads, Kashmir Saivism, Brahmanism, Jainism and Buddhism. (Patanjali's lineage was Hiranyagarbha and Kapila) Patanjali's incarnation of the serpent Ananta, whose name means 'the endless one' -- and who is another form of Adisesa. Patanjali was born the Lord Vishnu was seated on his serpent, Adisesa. (Adisesa is in fact one of the many incarnations of Vishnu). While seated on his serpent carriage Vishnu was enraptured by the dancing of Lord Siva. Vishnu was so affected that his body began to vibrate causing him to pound down heavily on Adisesa -- who consequently suffered great discomfort. When the dance ended the weight was instantaneously lifted. Adisesa asked Vishnu what had happened. On hearing about the dance Adisesa wanted to learn it so he could personally dance it for the pleasure of Vishnu, his lord. Vishnu was impressed and predicted to Adisesa that one day Lord Siva would bless him for his understanding and devotion and that he would be incarnated so that he could both shower humanity with blessings and fulfill his own desire to master dance. Adisesa immediately began to ponder on the question of who his mother would be. At the same time a virtuous woman named Gonika , who was totally devoted to Yoga and Lord Shiva fahter of yoga, was praying and seeking for someone to be a worthy son to her. She wanted to pass on the knowledge and understanding she had gained through yoga. Concerned that, with her days on earth now severely numbered, she had not yet found a candidate, she prostrated herself before the Sun, the earthly manifestation of the light and presence of Shiva. She scooped up the only gift she could find -- a handful of water -- and beseeched him to bestow her with a son. She then meditated upon the Sun and prepared herself to present her simple but sincere offering. On seeing all this Adisesa -- the bearer of Vishnu -- knew that he had found the mother he was looking for. Just as Gonika was about to offer her handful of water to the Sun, she glanced down at her hands and was astonished to see a tiny serpent moving in her hands. She was even more astonished when, within a few moments, that serpent had assumed a human formby order of Shiva. Adisesa, who it was, in his turn prostrated before Gonika and pleaded with her to accept him as her son.

His repute

He was a great dancer and is worshiped by the dancers of India as their patron saint. Doubt exists whether he as a dancer would be the same Patañjali as the one known as the author of the famous sūtras. Next to the famous works of the Yoga-sūtras and the commentary on Pāṇini's Sanskrit grammar a dispute as to identity lingers. His name is also associated with the Aṣṭādhyāyī in a treatise called the Mahābhāṣya, and also with many texts on ayurvedic medicine; but this claim is also not accepted as an established fact among scholars. Similarly disputed is whether the Sanskrit commentary of the Mahābhāṣya is of the same Patañjali that established the Yoga Sutras, or perhaps another. There are contradictions in the philosophy of the sūtras and the Sanskrit commentary. So in all there might be three or four different Patañjalis adding to the fame of his name, a compilation of efforts all claiming the same identity.

His most famous work: the Yoga Sūtras

The Yoga Sūtras probably date around BC 200. Patañjali has often been called the founder of Yoga because of this work, although in reality he is a more major figure. The Yoga Sūtras, as a treatise on Yoga, build on the Samkhya school and the Hindu scripture of the Bhagavad Gita (see also: Vyasa). Yoga, the science of uniting one's consciousness, is also found in the Puranas, the Vedas and the Upanishads. Still, this work is certainly a major work among the great Hindu scriptures and serves as the basis of the yoga-system known as Raja Yoga. Patañjali's Yoga is one of the six schools or darshanas of Hindu Philosophy. The sūtras give us the earliest reference to the popular term Ashtanga Yoga which translates literally as the eight limbs of yoga. They are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

The commentary on Sanskrit grammar: Mahābhāṣya

The Mahābhāṣya ("great commentary") of Patañjali on the celebrated Ashtadhyayi of Panini is one of the three most famous works in Sanskrit grammar. It was with Patañjali that Indian linguistic science reached its definite form. The system thus established is extremely detailed as to shiksha (phonology, including accent) and vyakarana (morphology). Syntax is scarcely touched, but nirukta (etymology) is discussed, and these etymologies naturally lead to semantic explanations. People interpret his work to be a defense of Panini, whose Sūtras are elaborated meaningfully. He also attacks Kātyāyana rather severely. But the main contributions of Patañjali lies in the treatment of the principles of grammar enunciated by him.

Relevance of his contribution to the science of yoga

Patañjali defended in his yoga-treatise several ideas that are not mainstream of either Sankhya or Yoga. He, according the Iyengar adept, biographer and scholar Kofi Busia, acknowledges the ego not as a separate entity. The subtle body linga sarira he would not regard as permanent and he would deny it a direct control over external matters. This is not in accord with classical Sankhya and Yoga.

Evidently he was an original thinker, not just a compiler of the yoga wisdom known. Nevertheless he reinterpreted and clarified what others had said, undoing contradictions. For sure his genius brought together many lines of argument in the yoga philosophy, dating back in some respects to the Vedas and Upanishads. What was obscure he clarified and what was abstract he made practical, inspiring thus a long line of teachers and practitioners up to the present day in which his most renown defender is B.K.S. Iyengar. 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. For sure may he, with his practical summary of the essence of yoga, be regarded the greatest initiator into the science of uniting one's consciousness that is yoga.

External links

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras Translation and commentary by Yoga Expert T K V Desikachar
A Patañjali biography by Kofi Busia
The Thread of Uniting One's Consciousness: the yoga-sutras translated and read in English and Dutch by Anand Aadhar. With an introduction about Patañjali.
Patanjali Yoga Sutra - a concise translation
Internet Archive of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, featuring different interpretations (70+) translated into 34 different languages
PATANJALI YOGA
English translation of the Yoga Sutras by T.K.V.Desikachar, with links to 6 additional English translations and word-by-word definitions of included source text
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra Chanting by Kausthub Desikachar
Another English translation of the Yoga Sutras
Cultivating Loneliness: The Ethical Fragrance of Yoga - A Commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, by Sri Nitin Kumar.
Exposition of Patañjali's Yama and Niyama
Essays on the Yoga Sutras by Raghavan Iyer, plus much more
Works by Patañjali at Project Gutenberg
[1] Patanjali painting
Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge