The first Yoga Sutra says: "Now the exposition of yoga," implying that there must be something leading up to yoga in the form of necessary developments of consciousness and personality. Patanjalipresentedan eight-limbed system of yoga (ashtanga)-Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Patanjali gave the Yoga tradition its classical format, and hence his school is often referred to as Classical Yoga. There are countless parallels between Patanjali's Yoga and Buddhism. Of all the numerous schools that existed in the opening centuries of the Common Era, Patanjali's school was the one to become acknowledged as the authoritative system (darshana) of the Yoga tradition. The Yoga of Patanjali represents the climax of a long development of yogic technology. In the Yoga Sutras-he brought many threads from the Vedas, Upanishads and Buddhism, altogether. He gave Sanskrit a muscular power that made it a more precise, subtle, effective and artistic instrument capable of expressing any aspect whatever of human thought or existence.Īnd importantly, he is the founder of the system of yoga and author of Yoga Sutras, the ancient text that establishes the practice and philosophy of yoga. In the Mahabhashya, he defined the rules of Sanskrit grammar and greatly enlarged its vocabulary. He was a great grammarian and his Mahabhashya or Great Commentary on Panini's grammar (the first grammar written for any language) was magisterial. Some say that Patanjali also wrote a treatise on ayurvedic medicine. Patanjali, therefore, is effectively the patron saint of dance. To this day dancers in India working in the classical traditions invoke him and pay him their respects.
![maharshi patanjali maharshi patanjali](https://new-img.patrika.com/upload/images/2016/06/20/yoga-1466420348_835x547.jpg)
He is recognized as a truly great dancer. Many forms of Yoga existed by the time this treatise was written, and Patanjali came at the end of a long and ancient line of yogis. There is a strong consensus that the Yoga Sutras represents a masterly compendium of various Yoga practices which can be traced back through the Upanishads to the Vedas. The name itself is obviously a pseudonym, since it denotes no caste and implies divine descent from the Great Serpent, Shesha.In addition to our lack of definite knowledge about Patanjali's life, confusion arises from contrasting appraisals of the Yoga Sutras itself. There is a possibility that many persons used this name, because it was used by the authors of a number of other works on such diverse subjects as medicine, metrics, music, and alchemy. Authorities therefore tend to credit more than one author writing under this name, although there is wide variance in opinion. and the last book in the 5th century A.D. The Yoga Sutra seems to span several centuries, the first three volumes apparently written in the 2nd century B.C. Among them, he is famous as an author or one of the authors of two great Hindu classics: the first, Yoga Sutras (also known as Yoga Darshana), a categorization of Yogic thought arranged in four volumes and the second, the Mahabhashya ("Great Commentary"). He promptly married her, thus indissolubly joining himself to the fruits of spiritual quest, and lived happy old age. One day he discovered an exquisitely and enchantingly beautiful woman, Lolupa, in the hollow of a tree on the north slope of Mount Sumeru-the top of the celestial mountain of enlightenment. As for where exactly he was born is also not clear. If so, this would make him not only the grandson of the Creator of the universe, but also the brother of Brhaspati, god of wisdom and eloquence and chief offeror of sacrifices. He is also called Gonardiya or Gonkaputra.According to one legend he was the son of Angiras, one of the ten sons of Brahma, the Creator and of Sati, the consort of Siva.
![maharshi patanjali maharshi patanjali](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded_episode400/16548533/16548533-1628611660699-001b77326f91f.jpg)
and 5th century A.D.) is unknown and his life had been distorted by myth and numerous legends.
![maharshi patanjali maharshi patanjali](https://i1.rgstatic.net/publication/215731249_Introduction_to_Patanjal_-_Yoga/links/5645764808ae451880a8d85e/largepreview.png)