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| The sage Patanjali lived around 300 B.C. There were in fact, two Patanjalis and two Patanjali yogasutras. The one we use today, is that of the Second one. Original knowledge of the universe and existence is always obtained only in the meditative state by seers called Rishi (not the ones who are named as Rishi as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but these are the original ones). The names of these Rishis for the current cycle of universal existence are Vashishta (Rama's guru), etc. The knowledge of these rishis is called Vedas and is given to the disciple only in sound form, called mantras, these are samhita part of Vedas. Vedavyasa, who lived at the junction of Kaliyuga (current times) and the Treta (past, when Shree Krishna incarnated at the end of it), codified the known Vedas for the benefit of the Kaliyuga people, who have less intelligence (NOT more as we understand it in science). The textual form of the vedas which explain the mantra part is called brahmana (NOT brahman or brahmin). Later, there were more communicative texts written called as Upanishads which are dialogs generally between a guru and a disciple. Also, Vedavyasa did a great work of writing all vedic principles into the historical and storified documents called Puranas.
This made the understanding very easy for lay persons. Now, this whole understanding was also appended by 6 sciences to give organized appearance to all this. They are called Shatdarshanas, System of six philosophies. All these ultimately point to Brahman, Kaivalyam, Moksha, the formless reality and the NON Dual Reality. One of these sciences is :
Yoga Philsophy or Yogadarshana or Science of Yoga or Yogashastra.
Patanjali Mahamuni wrote Yogasutras and they were so profound and perfect, that they replaced the then exisiting Science of Yoga with his Sutras as the Prescribed Yoga Philosophy. (Hathayoga came much later).
Anyway, Patanjali Mahamuni's mother was Gonika and he was born in town of Gonarda. I do not know where that town is. Nothing is known about his father. This is similar to many saints who are supposed to be born of virgins, and such things. Anyway, patanjali means he fell into the palms of his mother (pata - to fall, anjali - palms).
In the entire history of the Universe, there is NO work equivalent or even close to that of Vedavyasa. Patanjali Mahamuni did three major works:
a) Commentary on Paninis Vyakarana (Grammer) Sutras and Katyayanas commentaries on grammer. This is caled Vyakarana Mahabhashya. There are thousands of commentaries and commentaries on commentaries, etc in Sanskrit. They are called bhashya at the most, like those of the sage Adi Shakaracharya, 600 A.D. (Shankaracharya is known to be the Second Most contributor, next to Vedavyasa, to the field of Philosophy, in the entire universe). But, ONLY Patanjali Mahamuni's commentary on Panini is called Mahabhashya, because that work is most profound.
b) Commentary on Charakasamhita ..(Ayurveda)
c) Codification of Entire Science of Yoga into Yogasutras. This replaced the original Science as explained earlier.
During his work on Grammer, he explained the importance of Sanskrit Language and Grammer as essential to understanding of original Sanskrit work. Buddhism had modified the vedic understanding to work on Social Problems of the time, and this had led to misunderstanding, and misinterpretations. Patanjali Mahamuni corrected this understanding in his Yoga Sutras in the fourth chapter.
Anyway, sorry to be that long. The great poet Bhartuhari and grammarian wrote Vakpadiya. And, in the beginning of this, he made the prayer:
yogena chittasya padena vachanm
malam shareerasya cha vaidyakena
yopam karot tam pravaram muneenam
patanjalim pranjaliranatosmi.
Peace
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Thank you Neelbhai for taking the time to explain that. I will be interested in the fourth chapter for sure. |
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| Neel:
I thought I had read once that there was dissension on whether the same individual wrote the Vyakarana Mahabhashya and the yoga sutras. Your thoughts? |
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| Dear Mitch:
I love your dual personality from the picture!!! Sage Patanjali being the same person for all three has been accepted by great scholars such as Bhartuhari, who do not write with any economy in mind for hundreds of years. So, that is one side. However, since you asked for thoughts: Sage Patanjali who wrote Vyakarana Mahabhashy indicated the importance of grammer (this may be wrong translation of vyakarana word of Sanskrit) which is almost one aspect of knowledge and language which expresses the knowledge. And, only such a scholar can exactly codify the text like Yogasutras.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| BTW:
What is the logic of dissentions?
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| Thanks Neel.
It's similar to the case of Adi Sankara, where he is known to have authored the commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi and the Gaudapadiya karikas, but it is suspected that the same man did not author the Viveka Chudamani, due to the philosophical discrepencies, even though it is attributed to him.
Now, I'm in way over my head, but here's a snippet from Patanjali's bio on wikipedia:
---begin cut and paste---
Patañjali (Devanagari ???????) 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 meditation practice, ethics, metaphysics, and devotion to the one common soul, God, or Brahman/Atman.)
Virtually nothing is known about the life of Patañjali, and some scholars believe he is entirely mythical. Various references suggest he lived between 200 BC and 400 AD. Ancient texts often refer to Patañjali as an incarnation of the serpent god Ananta, and he is sometimes depicted as half human and half serpent.
Patañjali is the reputed author of the Yoga Sutra, as well as commentary on Paini's Sanskrit grammar (Aadhyayi) which is called 'Mahabhaya'. There are also many ayurvedic texts attributed to him. Nearly all scholars believe these texts were actually written by different people in different eras.
The Yoga Sutra probably dates around AD 200. Patañjali has often been called the founder of Yoga because of this work, although in reality is more a major figure. The Yoga Sutra is a treatise on Raja Yoga, built on Samkhya and the Hindu scripture of the Bhagavad Gita. Yoga is also found in the Puranas, Vedas and Upanishads. Still, this work is certainly a major work among the great Hindu scriptures and certainly is the basis of Raja Yoga. Patañjali's Yoga is part of the six schools of Hindu Philosophy. They 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.
---end cut and paste---
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| Hello Mitch:
wikiopedia article is ok,but has many flaws. Such as it uses word Hinduism, it did not exist at the time of Patanjali. Second, it states Ashtanga is the term earliest quoted by Patanjali. It is alreaady found in Upanishad, long before him. But, in general the article is ok, perhaps written by a journalist of Time Magazine.
About, comment on Adi Shankara, we shall talk some other time. He was in 600 A.D. And, there is no doubt that all the work mentioned here is done by him. And, there are no contradictions in his work. They all point to one philosophy 'advaita vedanta', non dualistic philosophy. He might use other terms when he is explaning what the original text is trying to say, and then he gives his comments.
ETC. I am glad that you participated in this talk, and I wish you all the best in your Yoga Studies.
Neel Kulkarni
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| kulkarnn - 2005-10-27 6:19 PMHello Mitch:wikiopedia article is ok,but has many flaws. Such as it uses word Hinduism, it did not exist at the time of Patanjali. Second, it states Ashtanga is the term earliest quoted by Patanjali. It is alreaady found in Upanishad, long before him. But, in general the article is ok, perhaps written by a journalist of Time Magazine.
Neel, the nice thing about wikipedia is that ANYBODY can edit the articles. If you feel confident that you know more than the original, I encourage you to make the necessary changes.
BTW, thanks for the history lesson. Very interesting that there were two Patanjali's. BTW, are the any copies of the first/original Patanjali's sutras? It would be interesting to see what had changed, and why they thought it was an improvement.
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| Dear Neel,
Thank you as always for your rich and compact historical information on this science that we all love so much. This kind of thing really helps to enhance my own personal practice and the efforts of people like yourself to get the information out to us with accuracy is a very good thing.
I find it interesting that Buddhism indirectly influenced what Patanjali did in the fourth chapter by correcting the understanding.
Also, the commentaries on commentaries has always fascinated me. In a thousand years from now, people may be reading these posts and discussing how we a thousand years ago discussed the commentaries on commentaries on the Sutras.
You can correct the article in Wikipedia by the way if you so desired to spend the time on it. The site as you may already know is set up for people to make corrections on errors.
Best Regards
Adam |
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| Dear Adam and GJ:
Thanks very much for your love. When I came on this bulletin board, I was reluctant to spend time on bulletin board. Now, all the time I can give to Bulletin Board goes to this board. So, no time for wikipedia, etc. I think that one can only do limited work.
Peace
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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Patanjali Mahamuni
