ARTICLES

Introduction to the invocation to Patañjali

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A (gentle) how-to for teachers

By Vula Bolou, BSc, MSc, CIYT (Level 3)

There is always one. New to Iyengar yoga, curious and eager to learn, with a somewhat healthy amount of sceptisism regarding the religiosity of this new practice, a student will pluck up the courage after a couple of classes and ask the question: “So, what is it that we chant in the beginning of the class?”. My little speech is ready. Well practised many times before to briefly explain what it all means in Sanskrit and simultaneously to clear their minds of any religious connotation, this is my cue to introduce Patañjali, the great philosopher: how he systematised the philosοphy of yoga and compiled some 196 verses, the Yoga Sūtra, to guide practitioners through the practice of yoga (the method) towards yoga (the goal) – yes, if it wasn’t all profound enough, the new student has to get their head around the fact that the path and the goal are the same word. So, in order to show respect to this ancient sage for the gift of yoga, we chant a few lines in the beginning of each class. My -very- brief translation at this point is:

“I thank Patañjali, the greatest of the sages for the gift of yoga, grammar and medicine (āyurveda).”

The second half of the chant, or invocation as it is also termed, has to do with the mythological form attributed to Patañjali. This is a part that might be omitted, depending on the audience, since it might ignite an instinctive objection in Western people or fellow Greeks to a half-man half-snake creature with a thousand-headed cobra over their head. Understandably you might say, especially if the students have never been to India or have no tradition in mythology. Us Greeks shouldn’t really find this peculiar what with all the Olympian gods from our mythology; yet our Christian Orthodox mindset usually clouds over our ancient heritage. 

Content that the question was answered but the analytical mind wasn’t overstretched with this information, we get on with the stretch of the bodies in the rest of the class and leave it at that. After some time, the written text of the invocation might be given as a handout and musical guidance to the chant offered. People will eventually go ahead and chant along, allowing themselves a certain degree of quietude and humility, unavoidable side-effects of the chant.

Everyday matters aside, the invocation is, in fact, the introductory part of a commentary on the Yoga Sūtra, the Bhojavṛtti, by King Bhoja of 11th century CE central and west India1. It is, also sometimes referred to as Patañjali Dhyānaṃ Ślokam2, which means the hymn (ślokam) for meditation (dhyānaṃ) on Patañjali. But why does one need to meditate on Patañjali? Yoga is a guru-śiṣya tradition3, which means the spiritual teacher (guru) guides the keen student (śiṣya) in the practice of yoga. To meditate on Patañjali is to take the time to acknowledge the ancientness of the practice and to pay respects to all our teachers, from Patañjali’s time to today. Isn’t it truly remarkable that people in a land far away at a time even further away have been doing the exact same thing we are doing right now? Yoga practice, as it exists and continues to evolve through the ages, is truly a miracle and, without a doubt, unsurpassed in its universality among human activity towards self-study.

Geetaji points out: “We chant so that at the very beginning that feeling of sanctification comes from inside, with the feeling of surrendering oneself, because nothing can be learned in this world unless you have the humility to learn. So the moment you think of the Lord [Patañjali] at the beginning of doing a practice, you know that you are very small in front of that greatest soul. Once that is understood then the other problems which always arise while practicing, mainly concerned with the ego, will be affected. You know that you are “coming down” to learn something. And you can’t learn anything unless you come down; if you think you are on the top and you know everything, then you are not a learner at all. In that sense, the chanting helps.”4

The full Sanskrit text of Patañjali Dhyānaṃ Ślokam is as follows (you may listen to Guruji Iyengar chanting it5):

yogena cittasya padena vācāṃ 
malaṃ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena |

yo’pākarot taṃ pravaraṃ munīnāṃ 
atañjaliṃ prāñjalir ānato’smi ||

ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam |
sahasraśirasaṃ śvetaṃ praṇamāmi patañjalim ||

A true-to-the-text translation with some guidance with the Sanskrit in brackets is:

Meditation Hymn to Patañjali

I bow (ānato’smi) with the palms together (prāñjalir) to him (taṃ), the most brilliant (pravaraṃ) of the sages (munīnāṃ), Patañjali (patañjaliṃ), who eradicated (yo’pākarot) the impurity (malaṃ) of the consciousness (cittasya) with yoga (yogena), [the impurity] of speech (vācāṃ) with grammar (padena) and [the impurity] of the body (śarīrasya) with medicine (vaidyakena).

I bow (praṇamāmi) to luminous (śvetaṃ) Patañjali (patañjaliṃ) with the thousand heads (sahasraśirasaṃ), [who has] a human form (puruṣākāraṃ) up to the arms (ābāhu), the holder (dhāriṇam) of a shell (śaṅkha), a wheel (cakra), a sword (asi).

Another question frequently arises after this longer and more accurate definition, possibly from that eager student of earlier. How could Patañjali produce all these important works in one single lifetime? Guruji Iyengar writes that Patañjali was a svayaṁbhū6, a being incarnated of their own will to guide humanity through the turmoil of life, and hence compiled the treatises on yoga, grammar and āyurveda at different lifetimes. Guruji also narrates the beautiful story of Patañjali’s birth and how he initially appeared as a tiny snake in the palms of his mother, Goṇikā. The name is a composite of pata (fallen) and añjali (palms folded in prayer), relating this very story. Patañjali is considered to be an incarnation of Ādi Śeṣa, the lord of the Serpents, hence the depiction of half-man half-snake of his statues. This is why, in the second part of the hymn, Patañjali’s form is described thus: “up to the arms, he has the form of a human; he holds a conch, a wheel and a sword (these items are symbols for the state of alertness, the destruction of ignorance and the cutting of the ego respectively4); and a thousand white heads (of a cobra crowning him)”. These external elements are there to provide the form to be meditated upon.

A chant to sanctify our practice symbolises a union of voices, in much the same way as yoga is the communion of the individual human spirit with the Supreme Universal Spirit7. May we be blessed to humbly live in yoga, as passed on to us by Patañjali.

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Foonotes

  1. https://hinduaesthetic.medium.com/invocation-to-patañjali-d838526afead
  2. https://yogastudies.org/2012/05/opening-dhyanaṃ-slokam-to-patanjali-with-translation/
  3. Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on Yoga, Thorsons, 1991 edition. (p. 9-10)
  4. https://iyengaryogacentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Patanjali-2.pdf
  5. https://bksiyengar.com/audio/invocation.mp3
  6. Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on the yoga sūtras of Patañjali, Thorsons, 1996 edition.(p. 1-2)
  7. Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on Yoga, Thorsons, 1991 edition. (p. 1)

Vula Bolou (BSc, MSc, CIYT (Level 3)) lives in Athens, Greece with her family and Margie, the Persian cat. She teaches in her overflowing-with-props studio, escapes to nature as often as possible and looks forward to her yoga retreats in the summer. Chanting vedic hymns and studying Indian philosophy is part of her daily sādhana.

This article first appeared in Iyengar Yoga News, Spring 2023, Issue 43.