Mantra · Reading
Ashtanga opening mantra
The invocation chanted at the start of Ashtanga practice: a salutation to the teachers, then to Patanjali.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे सन्दर्शितस्वात्मसुखावबोधे । निःश्रेयसे जाङ्गलिकायमाने संसारहालाहलमोहशान्त्यै ॥ आबाहुपुरुषाकारं शङ्खचक्रासिधारिणम् । सहस्रशिरसं श्वेतं प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥
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Meaning
I bow to the lotus feet of the teachers, which reveal the joy of awakening to one's own self; which, for the highest good, act like the forest healer, calming the delusion caused by the poison of worldly existence. To Patanjali, human in form up to the arms, holding the conch, the discus and the sword, thousand-headed and radiant white, I bow down.
When it is chanted
Chanted at the start of Ashtanga practice, standing in Samasthiti with the palms together.
Where the text comes from
The first verse is traditionally attributed to the Yoga Taravali; attribution awaits subject review.
Japa
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Related
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, p. 9, mantra list
- Text as commonly chanted; the exact recension, transliteration and translation await subject review