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Patajali (Tamil: , Sanskrit: ,IPA: [ptli]) is a Sanskrit proper name. Several important
Sanskrit works are ascribed to one or more authors of this name, and a great deal of scholarship has been devoted
over the last century or so to the issue of disambiguation.
[1]
Amongst the more important authors called Patajali are:
[2][3][4]
The author of the Mahbhya, an advanced treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics framed as a
commentary on Ktyyana'svrttikas (short comments) on Pini'sAdhyy. This Patajali is the only one who
can be securely dated. A grammatical example he uses to illustrate a past event witnessed by the present
speaker is the siege of the town of Sket by the Greeks, and event known from other sources to have taken
place in about 120 BCE.
The compiler of the Yoga Stras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice.
[5]
One of the 18 siddhars in the Tamil siddha(Shaiva) tradition.
The author of an unspecified work of medicine (yurveda).
[6]
In some Sanskrit grammatical works, Patajali is called "the man from Gonarda". He is held by some to have been
born at the "Gonarda" (Thiru-Gona-Malai), India. This tradition is corroborated inTirumular's seventh-century
Tamil Tirumandhiram, which describes him as hailing from Then Kailasam (Koneswaram temple, Trincomalee), and
tradition has him visiting the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, where he wrote the Charana Shrungarahita
Stotram onNataraja.
Contents [hide]
1 Name
2 Life
2.1 Grammar tradition
2.2 Yoga tradition
2.3 Tamil Shaivite legend
2.4 Other legends
2.5 Samadhi
3 Ascribed works
3.1 Yoga Stra
3.1.1 Relevance of his contribution to the science of yoga
3.2 Mahbhya
3.2.1 Sphota
3.2.2 Metaphysics as grammatical motivation
4 Transcendental Meditation program and Patanjali
5 See also
6 References
Name [edit]
The compound name Patajali has been explained by Sanskrit commentators in two ways. The first explanation of
the word is ajalau patan iti patajali (Patajali is one falling into folded hands), which is a mayra-
vyasakdi compound with akandhvdi Sandhi.
[7]
The name comes from a legend about his birth which says
that ea, the divine serpent-kingincarnated as a snakelet and fell into the folded hands (Anjali Mudra) of a
Brahmin.
[7]
The second explanation parses the word as a Bahuvrihi compound patanto namaskryatvena
jannmajalayo yasmin viaye sa (He for whom the folded hands of people are falling is Patajali).
[7]
Life [edit]
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The tiger-f ooted Vyaghrapada and
snake-f ooted Patanjali salute Nataraja.
That the Patajalis who wrote on Yoga and on grammar were two different scholars was compelling argued by the
great scholar of Sanskrit literature, Louis Renou.
[8]
Many outstanding scholars since then have reexamined the
question and come to the same conclusion.
[9]
The tradition that one Patajali wrote treatises on grammar, medicine and yoga is memorialized in a verse
by Bhoja at the start of his commentary on the Yogasutras. This tradition is discussed by Meulenbeld
[6]
who traces
this "relatively late" idea back to Bhoja(11th century CE), who was perhaps influenced by a verse by Bharthari (ca.
5th century CE) that speaks of an expert in yoga, medicine and grammar who, however, is not named.
Grammar tradition [edit]
In the grammatical tradition, Patajali is believed - for the reason given above - to have lived in the second century
BCE
[7]
Some say that he lectured on Paninian grammar at a place calledNgakpa, which is identified with modern
day Nagakuan (Hindi:

).
[7]
He lectured for 85 days, which resulted in the 85 hnikas or "daily lessons" of
the Mahbhya.
[7]
Many writers in the grammar tradition, including Bhaoj Dkita, Hari Dkita, Ngea Bhaa,
and Kaunda Bhaa, held Patajali to be an incarnation of the mythical serpent ea.
[7]
Yoga tradition [edit]
In the Yoga tradition, Patajali is a revered name and has been deified by many groups, especially in
the Shaivite bhakti tradition. It is claimed by some that Patajali is an incarnation of the mythical serpent Ananta.
This Patajali's oevre comprises the sutras about Yoga (Yogastra) and the commentary integral to the sutras, called
the Bhya. In the past, the sutras and the Bhaya have been considered by some to have had different authors, the
commentary being ascribed to "an editor" (Skt. "vysa"). However, a recent comprehensive reexamination of all the
evidence has confirmed the view of many older Sanskrit authors in the period before 1000 CE that one and the same
person composed the sutras and theBhya commentary.
[10]
The same study also confirms the date of composition
of this work as falling in approximately 400 BCE.
[11]
Tamil Shaivite legend [edit]
Regarding his early years, a Tamil Shaiva Siddhantatradition from around 10th
century AD holds that Patajali learned Yoga along with seven other disciples
from the great Yogic Guru Nandhi Deva, as stated
in Tirumular's Tirumandiram (Tantra 1).
Nandhi arulPetra Nadharai Naadinom
Nandhigal Nalvar Siva Yoga MaaMuni
Mandru thozhuda Patajali Vyakramar
Endrivar Ennodu (Thirumoolar) Enmarumaame
Translation
We sought the feet of the Lord who graced Nandikesvara
The Four Nandhis,
Sivayoga Muni, Patajali, Vyaghrapada and I (Thirumoolar)
We were these eight.
The ancient Kali Kautuvam also describes how Patajali and Vyagrapada gathered along with the gods in Thillai
near Chidambaram to watch Shiva and Kali dance and perform the 108 mystic Karanas, which formed the foundation
for the system of Natya Yoga. He has also written Charana Shrungarahita Stotram on Nataraja.
This Tamil tradition also gives his birthplace in South Kailash - Koneswaram temple,Trincomalee. Some other
traditions feel that his being born in Bharatavarsha - the part of the ancient world corresponding to South Asia - is
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Patajali - Modern art rendering
inPatanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar
beneath his godlike status, and that he must have been born in the Jambudvipa, the mythical center of the universe.
Patajali as Siddha is also mentioned by the goldsmith-sage Bogar:
It was why my Grandfather who said, "Climb and see."
But it was Kalangi Nathar who gave me birth.
Patajali,Viyagiramar,and Sivayogi Muni all so rightly said,
"Look! This is the path!" - Bhogar 7000 (translation by Layne Little)
This tradition also holds that Patajali was a master of dance.
Other legends [edit]
In one popular legend, Patajali was born to Atri and his wife Anasuya (this would make him go back to the time of
the creation by Brahma). According to this tradition, Anasuya had to go through a stern test of her chastity when
the Trimurti themselves came as Bhikshuks and asked her for Bhiksha. She passed their test by accepting them as
her children and fed them. She got the boon where all the three Murtis will be born to them. They were Soma
Skandan or Patajali, Dattatreya, and Durvasa.
Samadhi [edit]
The Samadhi of Patanjali Maharishi is believed to be in Tirupattur Brahmapureeswarar Temple (30 km from Trichy),
where Lord Brahma installed 12 Shiva Lingams and worshipped Lord Shiva to get back his Tejas.
[citation needed]
Shankaracharya's guru had told Shankaracharya that Patanjali was reincarnated as Govinda Bhagavatpada and was
meditating in a cave somewhere in the state of samadhi.
[12]
Ascribed works [edit]
Whether the two works, the Yoga Sutras and theMahbhya, are by the
same author has been the subject of considerable debate. The authorship of
the two is first attributed to the same person in Bhojadeva's Rajamartanda, a
relatively late (10th century) commentary on the Yoga Sutras,
[13]
as well as
several subsequent texts. As for the texts themselves, the Yoga Sutra iii.44
cites a sutra as that from Patanjali by name, but this line itself is not from the
Mahbhya. This 10th-century legend of single-authorship is doubtful. The
literary styles and contents of the Yogastras and the Mahbhya are
entirely different, and the only work on medicine attributed to Patajali is lost.
Sources of doubt include the lack of cross-references between the texts, and
no mutual awareness of each other, unlike other cases of multiple works by
(later) Sanskrit authors. Also, some elements in the Yoga Sutras may date from as late as the 4th century AD,
[4]
but
such changes may be due to divergent authorship, or due to later additions which are not atypical in the oral tradition.
Most scholars refer to both works as "by Patanjali", without meaning that they are by the same author.
In addition to the Mahbhya and Yoga Stras, the 11th-century commentary on Charakaby the Bengali scholar
Cakrapidatta, and the 16th-century text Patanjalicarita ascribes to Patajali a medical text called
the Carakapratisaskta (now lost) which is apparently a revision (pratisaskta) of the medical treatise by
Caraka. While there is a short treatise on yoga in the medical work called the Carakasahit (by Caraka), towards
the end of the chapter called rrasthna, it is notable for not bearing much resemblance to the Yoga Stras, and in
fact presenting a form of eightfold yoga that is completely different from that laid out by Patajali in the Yoga Stras
and the commentary Yogastrabhya.
The tradition that holds that all three works are by the same author is summed up in this verse from the beginning of
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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
[15]
Pada (Chapter) English meaning Sutras
Samadhi Pada On being absorbed in spirit 51
Sadhana Pada On being immersed in spirit 55
Vibhuti Pada On supernatural abilities and gif ts 56
Kaivalya Pada On absolute f reedom 34
Bhoja's Rjamrttanda commentary on the Yoga Stras:
[14]
yogena cittasya, padena vc, mala arrasya ca vaidyakena
yo'pkarot ta pravara munn patajali prjalir nato'smi
9 c1 |1 c 9
91
English translation: I bow with my hands together to the eminent sage Patajali, who removed the
impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar, and of the body through medicine.
Yoga Stra [edit]
The Yoga tradition is much older, there are references in
the Mahbhrata, and the Git identifies three kinds of yoga.
The Yoga Stras codifies the royal or best (rja) yoga practices,
presenting these as an eight-limbed system (ashtnga). The
philosophic tradition is related to the Sankhya school. The focus
is on the mind; the second sutra defines Yoga - it is the
cessation of all mental fluctuations, all wandering thoughts cease
and the mind is focused on a single thought
In contrast to the focus on the mind in the Yoga sutras, later traditions of Yoga such as theHatha yoga focus on more
complex asanas or body postures.
Relevance of his contribution to the science of yoga [edit]
Patajali defended in his yoga-treatise several ideas that are not mainstream of eitherSankhya or Yoga. He,
according to 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.
Although much of the aphorisms in the Yoga Sutra possibly pre-dates 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.
Mahbhya [edit]
The Mahbhya ("great commentary") of Patajali on the Adhyy of Pini is a major early exposition on Pini,
along with the somewhat earlier Varttika by Katyayana. Here he raises the issue of whether meaning ascribes to a
specific instance or to a category:
kim punar AkritiH padArthaH, Ahosvid dravyam.
[16]
Now what is 'meaning' (artha) [of a word]? Is it a particular instance (dravya) or a general shape (Akriti)?
This discussion arises in Patanjali in connection with a sutra (Pini 1.2.58) that states that a plural form may be
used in the sense of the singular when designating a species (jAti).
Another aspect dealt with by Patanjali relates to how words and meanings are associated - Patanjali
claims shabdapramNaH - that the evidentiary value of words is inherent in them, and not derived externally
[17]
- the
word-meaning association is natural. The argument he gives is that people do not make an effort to manufacture
words. When we need a pot, we ask the potter to make a pot for us. The same is not true of words - we do not
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usually approach grammarians and ask them to manufacture words for our use. [27] This is similar to the argument in
the early part of Plato's Cratylus, where morphemes are described as natural, e.g. the sound 'l' is associated with
softness.
These issues in the word-meaning relation (symbol) would elaborated in the Sanskritlinguistic tradition, in debates
between the Mimamsa, Nyaya and Buddhist schools over the next fifteen centuries.
Sphota [edit]
Patanjali also defines an early notion of sphota, which would be elaborated considerably by later Sanskrit linguists
like Bhartrihari. In Patanjali, a sphoTa (from sphuT, burst) is the invariant quality of speech. The noisy element
(dhvani, audible part) can be long or short, but the sphoTa remains unaffected by individual speaker differences. Thus,
a single letter or 'sound' (varNa) such as k, p or a is an abstraction, distinct from variants produced in actual
enunciation.
[17]
This concept has been linked to the modern notion of phoneme, the minimum distinction that defines
semantically distinct sounds. Thus a phoneme is an abstraction for a range of sounds. However, in later writings,
especially in Bhartrihari (6th century CE), the notion of sphoTa changes to become more of a mental state, preceding
the actual utterance, akin to the lemma.
Patajali's writings also elaborate some principles of morphology (prakriy). In the context of elaborating on
Pini's aphorisms, he also discusses Ktyyana's commentary, which are also aphoristic and stra-like; in the later
tradition, these were transmitted as embedded in Patajali's discussion. In general, he defends many positions of
Pini which were interpreted somewhat differently in Katyayana.
Metaphysics as grammatical motivation [edit]
Unlike Pini's objectives in the Ashtyadhyayi which is to distinguish correct forms and meanings from incorrect ones
(shabdaunushasana), Patanjali's objectives are more metaphysical. These include the correct recitations of the
scriptures (Agama), maintaining the purity of texts (raksha), clarifying ambiguity (asamdeha), and also the pedagogic
goal of providing an easier learning mechanism (laghu).
[17]
This stronger metaphysical bent has also been indicated
by some as one of the unifying themes between the Yoga Sutras and the Mahbhya, although a close examination
of actual Sanskrit usage by Woods showed no similarities in language or terminology.
The text of the Mahbhya was first critically edited by the 19th-century orientalist Franz Kielhorn, who also
developed philological criteria for distinguishing Ktyyana's "voice" from Patajali's. Subsequently a number of other
editions have come out, the 1968 text and translation by S.D. Joshi and J.H.F. Roodbergen often being considered
definitive. Regrettably, the latter work is incomplete.
Patanjali also writes with a light touch. For example, his comment on the conflicts between the orthodox Brahminic
(Astika) groups, versus the heterodox, nAstika groups (Buddhism,Jainism, and atheists) seems relevant for religious
conflict even today: the hostility between these groups was like that between a mongoose and a snake.
[18]
He also
sheds light on contemporary events, commenting on the recent Greek incursion, and also on several tribes that lived
in the Northwest regions of the subcontinent.
Transcendental Meditation program and Patanjali [edit]
Scholar of New Religious Movements George D. Chryssides, says that the TM-Sidhi Program taught by Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi is derived from Patajali's Yoga and also that theTM-Sidhi Program is based directly on the theory and
practice of the Yoga sutras using a technique of Sanyama.
[19]