Patañjali (c.second century BCE) is the name associated with an Indian scholar and grammarian. According to ancient Indian tradition, Patañjali is the author or the compiler of the Yoga Sūtra, the seminal text on the classical yoga philosophy of Hinduism. He is also considered the author of Mahābhāshya, a treatise on grammar, and, less positively, of the Charaka Samhitā, a discourse on the āyurveda system of medicine.
Patañjali is traditionally thought of as the teacher who systematized the teachings of yoga and meditation in his Yoga Sūtra. Patañjali stressed the primary aim of yoga in the second sūtra—to still the mind for a transformation of consciousness. Of the 196 sūtras (verses) in the Yoga Sūtra, only three focus on the body.
The yoga system that Patañjali described in Yoga Sūtra is often referred to as “Ashtanga” yoga. The exercises of Ashtanga yoga kick off a focused sitting-meditation practice called “rāja yoga,” which centers upon breathing.
Patañjali’s Mahābhāshya is a philosophical and grammatical interpretation on ancient Sanskrit scholar Pānini’s treatise Ashtādhyāyī. The Mahābhāshya cites 1,228 of the 4,000 rules of Pānini and remains the most authoritative text on Sanskrit grammar. Besides, the Mahābhāshya contains over 700 extracts from the Vedic texts and Hindu epics.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Patanjali
Peace can be reached through meditation on the knowledge which dreams give. Peace can also be reached through concentration upon that which is dearest to the heart.
—Patanjali
Where the heart is full of kindness which seeks no injury to another, either in act or thought or wish, this full love creates an atmosphere of harmony, whose benign power touches with healing all who come within its influence. Peace in the heart radiates peace to other hearts, even more surely than contention breeds contention.
—Patanjali
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than youever dreamed yourself to be.
—Patanjali
When a man becomes steadfast in his abstention from harming others, then all living creatures will cease to feel enmity in his presence.
—Patanjali
In deep meditation the flow of concentration is continuous like the flow of oil.
—Patanjali
By meditation upon light and upon radiance, knowledge of the spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved.
—Patanjali
Progress in meditation comes swiftly for those who try their hardest.
—Patanjali
Topics: Progress
Yoga is restraining the mind from taking various forms.
—Patanjali
Knowledge born of the finest discrimination takes us to the farthest shore. It is intuitive, omniscient, and beyond all divisions of time and space.
—Patanjali
By meditation upon light and upon radiance, knowledge of the spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved.
—Patanjali
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