In the tradition of Iyengar Yoga, at the beginning of yoga class we often chant the invocation to Patanjali at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute, Pune.
In chanting we are paying respect to the teachings which have been handed down over centuries and we feel the vibration of the sounds in our body to begin to tune into ourselves.
According to history, Patanjali may have lived somewhere between 500 and 200B.C. According to legends Patanjali was born of his own will, like other saints and prophets like Jesus Christ and Lord Krishna were born in the same manner. He did not have a natural human birth.
He was the incarnation of Adishesha, a great King Cobra whose body is the seat of Lord Vishnu.
Patanjali is know for codifying the Yoga Sutras, 196 Aphorisms in Sanskrit, from which the modern practice of yoga is derived. Previously these teachings had been handed down orally.
The video below is my edition of B.K.S. Iyengar chanting the Invocation to Patanjali during his first and last visit to China in 2011, There were about thousand of people attending the 2011 China -India Yoga Summit and I was luck enough to be there experiencing his great teachings.
