Meaning of the Invocation

From an interview with Geeta Iyengar

[Note: This commentary has circulated widely in yoga circles and may have been edited along the way, but I believe this to be the correct citation: This explanation of the invocation to Patanjali is adapted from an interview given by Geeta at RIMYI in 1992 during the Canada intensive. The interview was conducted by Margo Kitchen and videotaped by Heather Malek.  It was transcribed and edited by Judith M. in consultation with Marline Miller, and adapted by Francis Ricks.]

The Invocation to Patanjali (Full Text)

 yogena cittasya padena vacam
malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena
yopakarottam pravaram muninam
patanjalim pranjalir anato’smi

abahu purusakaram
sankha cakrasi dharinam
sahasra sirasam svetam
pranamami patanjalim

 [Geeta’s Commentary:] The two slokas (verses) that we chant to invoke Lord Patanjali begin the Bhojavritti, Bhoja’s commentary or Yoga Sutras. It says, first of all, that Lord Patanjali is considered to be the incarnation of Adishesha, which is the seat for the Lord Vishnu, the very creator of this world. It is said he took birth three different times giving three different sciences for people to improve themselves.The first is yoga.

 yogena cittasya padena vacam

 To purify the mind (citta), purify the consciousness, Patanjali gave the science of yoga (yogena) to us. To purify our use of words (pada) and speech (vaca), he gave commentary on grammar to us so that our use of words and way of speaking is clarified, distinct and pure

malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena

To remove the impurities (malam) of the body (sarira), he gave us the science of medicine (vaidyakena).

yopakarottam pravaram muninam

Let me go near the one who has given these things to us.

patanjalim pranjalir anato’smi

Let me bow down my head with my folded hands to Lord Patanjali.

Then, after knowing the work of this Lord, the second stanza says what Lord Patanjali looks like. To do meditation first the form has to be in front of our eyes.

 abahu purusakaram

 From the hand up to the head he has the shape (karam) of a human (purusa.)

 sankha cakarasi dharinam

In his hand he is holding the conch (sankha) and the disc (cakra.)

 sahasra sirasam svetam

On top of his head (sirasam) he has got a thousand (sahasra) hoods of cobra, because he is the incarnation of Adishesha, the greatest cobra. Svetam means white.

 pranamami patanjalim

          I bow down to that Patanjali

[Geeta Iyengar’s comments]

 We chant so that at the very beginning that feeling of sanctification comes from inside, with the feeling of surrendering oneself, because nothing can be learned in this world unless you have the humility to learn. So the moment you think of the Lord at the beginning of doing a practice, you know that you are very small in front of that greatest soul. Once that is understood then the other problems which always arise while practicing, mainly concerned with the ego, will be affected. You know that you are “coming down” to learn something, and that you can’t learn anything unless you come down: if you think you are on the top and you know everything, then you are not a learner at all. In that sense, the chanting helps. We decide to chant these two slokas from the very beginning. When Guruji asked us to practice yoga we stayed with this recitation. But we didn’t do it in the classes because when people came as beginners, they had this idea that it is a religious prayer of concern only to Hindus. It took people a little while to understand. Whenever we had some public program, celebration such as Divali or Guruji’s birthday, we would recite the prayers. People started taking interest and asking us what the prayers mean. When it was understood, everybody accepted it. For several years now we have been chanting these prayers before the classes.

Reflective Asana and Pranayama 7

         Standings [Upavistha Sthiti]

Back Extensions[Purva Pratana Sthiti]

Pranayama

 “Body breath and Mind in Perfect Oneness”

Concepts

     Invocation to Patanjali (Introduce & Chant)

     Viloma I Pranayama

Sitting/Centering (Virasana/Sukhasana if needed)

Sitting (Touch/Breathe/Resonance)

          Invocation to Patanjali (introduction)

          OM/Body, Breath & Mind

Asana

Adho Mukha Svanasana/Plank/Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

         (ekapada, according to ability)

Setu Banda/Supta Pavane Muktasana exercise (3 levels of block)

          Hold one knee to chest (Ardha Supta Pavane Mukhtasana), other leg to vertical, 60

                     & 30 degrees/altenate legs. Then both on floor, knees bent, straighten as

                    able. (flat surface of block/lateral; 2nd surface/lateral; 3rd surface if able,

                     “horizontal to sacrum)

Vinyasana: (find chest opening, partial back extension)

     Prasarita Padottanasana (use hands to pull in lower leg, open back thighs) ->

          Virabhadrasana II (to rt) -> Prasarita Padottanasana -> Virabhadrasasa

          II (to left).  Repeat sequence, substituting Virabhadrasana III.

Wall & ropes

          Back extensions (variations)

                      High rope, body diagonal, life chest (variation of ropes 2),

                       Feet 3’ from, or at, wall depending on ability

                       Low rope above hips, knees toward wall, on bolster @ wall)

          Hold high rope, then low rope, then w/o (depending on

                    ability)

          Virabhadrasana I (holding high rope)

Salabhasana

     bolster, holding belt behind

     no bolster (holding belt, raising legs; no belt, full pose)

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Adho Mukha Virasana

Review: Standings Center of Room (compare to previous VII, Vi)

Virabhadrasana II

Virabhadrasana I

Sitting (on bolster or blankets)

     TMP vinyasana

          (TMP)Trianga Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana [dandasana for knee

          problems)

     Marichyasana I

    Marichyasana III

Pranayama (convention setup – 2 vertical blankets/head support)

     Ujaii I/II

      Viloma I (kumbaka/pause on exhalation)

Savasana

Sitting/Centering

          OM Shantih

 “Body breath and mind in perfect oneness

I send my heart along with this bell”

Reflective Asana & Pranayama

The Invocation to Patanjali

These comments and discussion accompany the class “Reflective Asana & Pranayama.”  For translation and commentary from a widely-circulated interview with Geeta Iyengar, see the “The Invocation to Patanjali: Translation and   Comments from Geeta Iyengar.”

 The Invocation to Patanjali is centuries old and is chanted in many yoga traditions including that of B. K. S. Iyengar.  It is not a prayer, but an “invocation” that honors the Patanjali who codified the practice of yoga in 196 aphorisms or sutras.  As Bryant points out, Patanjali produced the “first systematized treatment” on yoga (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 2009: xxiv)

 There is debate as to whether the sutras are theistic and invoke a particular deity, but most translations allow the use of a non-specific “higher power” rather than a particular entity.  As Bryant says, Patanjali’s sutras do not constitute “an overtly sectarian text in the sense of prioritizing a specific deity or promoting a particular type of worship…therefore…it can be and has been appropriate and reconfigured by followers of different schools and traditions…” (p. xviii)

Regardless of the various meanings that may be given by different yoga traditions, many primarily see the invocation as a secular invocation of the spirit of yoga, a commitment to practice, and an affirmation of the yoga community.

Text of the Invocation

The transliteration: the Sanskrit sounds in English

Yogena cittasya padena vacam

Malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena

Yopakarottam pravaram muninam

Patanjalim

Pranjalir anato’smi

 Abahu purusakam

 Sankhacakrasi dharinam

 Sahasra sirasam svetam

 Pranamami patanjalim

 Hari Om

 The first verse or stanza (sloka in Sanskrit) describes the contributions of sage Patanjali to the art and science of yoga, including the yoga sutras which codify in 196 aphorisms (sutras) the practice of classic yoga. 

 The second sloka is a statement of the symbolic appearance of Patanjali as portrayed in statues in Mr. Iyengars Pune center and elsewhere — holding a conch shell and disc, sheltered by a cobra of a thousand hoods.  Practitioners for whom this imagery does not resonate may wish to focus simply on the sounds and resonance of the invocation. 

 The sutras do not constitute a religious text but a concise presentation of the practice of yoga.  Its origins are understood to be 2000 to 2500 years ago often estimated to be about 150-200 BCE), as much as a half century before the origins of Christianity and about the same time as the origins of Buddhism. 

According to Kofi Busia (www.kofibusia.com/ptanjali/patanjali.php), Patanjali may have lived as early as the 4^th century BCE or as late as the 6^th century CE.  He estimates that around 250 BCE seems the most likely period of the life of the historical Patanjali, but that other contributors may have made additions later in the tradition of Patanjali’s name.

 The invocation has different meanings for all of us.  To me it is a reminder of the statue in the Iyengar center in Pune, and of the tradition of practice as we sang the invocation in Mr. Iyengar’s studio.  It links me to the tradition of yoga as taught by Mr. Iyengar and based in the sutras of Panjali. 

Above all, the invocation provides a

     Moment of centering and expression of community

      A time to prepare the mind for practice

       An expression of gratitude for the art and science of yoga

Reflective Asana and Pranayama 6

         (Standings/Forward Extensions/Pranayama)

     “Body breath and Mind in Perfect Oneness”

Concepts

          “Body as a container for the breath”

          Virasana (find personal support/review last week)

Sitting  (Touch/Breathe/Resonance)

          Preliminary Udiyyana Banda

Asana

         Cat/Cow -> “Pointer” pose (mild Udiyyana Banda action in stomach)

Dandasana (thighs down, lift chest, passive abdomen

Konasana

Paripurna Navasana

Bolster/belt support

Bolster/drop belt

Without bolster (full pose with variations of belt support)

AMS (find belly/chest action). Chest to thighs, Hips up, thighs back (to deepen

          abdomen)-> Plank (3x)

Bent leg (lunge) exercise

          Kneeling on one leg, one leg forward, open front of rear thigh (hands on

                    blocks)

          Variation: raise arms (kneeling Virabhadrasana I)

Standing (stepping back from blocks)

          Virabhadrasana I

          Parsvottanasana (to blocks, then deepen)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (hands on blocks, then w/o)

Tadasana/Utthanasana

Padangusthasana (with belt as needed)

Surya Namaskar (repeat 2-3x)

          Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

Utkasana

Utthanasana, (step back to …)

Lunge (as in Virabhadrasana I/Lunge exercise above), (step other leg back to…)

Adho Mukha Svanasana, (forward to..)

Uttanasana,

          Urdhva Hastasana, Tadasana

Virabhadrasana I

Transition & Pranayama

Rope Sirsasana (observe abdomen/breath profile/compare to Udiyyana Banda)

Panjarasana/”Bishimasana”

          @ wood blocks, 2 bolsters, blankets for block cushioning/adjustment

          Ujayyi I

Pranayama/Savasana Set-Up

          Ujayyi 2 (extend exhalation; compare to shallower “meditation” breath”)

Savasana/Close

         Om Shantih Shantih Shantih

“Body breath and mind in perfect oneness

I send my heart along with this bell”

Reflective Asana & Pranayama (4) Class Discussion

Vrittis

The mind is always active.  Yoga has practices to still and focus that activity (yoga citta vrtta nirodha, Sutra I, 2).  In Iyengar yoga, and hatha yoga in general, the body and mind are prepared through asana and pranayama.  Buddhist practice, by contrast, contains less focus on preparation of the body, and more on the practices of meditative concentration and insight.

Because of the action of the vrttis, even when perception is stilled, imagination/delusion, and memory can fill the mind.

One term used for the content of the mind is pratyaya.  Centering techniques help reduce dispersion and the “monkey mind,” making the pratyaya more restful and focused. 

In yoga practice the mind can be directed to instructions, body movement and alignment, inner movement of energy (prana).  In sitting, three common techniques are touch (mudra, body alignment), resonance (e.g., OM, chanting, mantra), and the breath.  Yoga breath practice in Savasana and sitting or supine Ujayyi I, but yoga diverges in its extensive practices of manipulating and controlling breath.

Many historically-known pranayama techniques are rarely practiced, and never by beginners.  There are some contraindications for the more advanced practices and all but the most basic practices of breath awareness can be approached (with a teacher) in safety by most practitioners.

Focusing and the mind: Much yoga experience, and recent scientific research on meditators, suggest that brain activity can be modified by practice.  See the work by University of Wisconsin researcher Richard J. Davidson, with co-author Sharon Begley: The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live–and How You Can Change Them.  New York: Hudson (Penguin), 2011. 

Both yoga experience and scientific research hold out the hope that continued can not only refine the body but refine the personality.  Over the course of a lifetime of practice, the body will change in its capability, but the ”personality” (however we understand it) can change as well.  Both physical and mental/spiritual practice can become more refined, becoming more sattvic.   

 A senior yoga teacher told me that Mr. Iyengar (now in his mid-90’s) described his practice as having become more sattvic with the years.  Those who have seen his practice and teaching in recent years have told of this merging of tapas (zeal, determination) and sattva (clarity, lightness), even as the rajasic practice of his younger years has changed.  This can be the model of practice for all of us — long-term changes, such as those due to aging, or shorter-term changes based on illness or transitory factors, may make a change in practice necessary, but that practice can nevertheless be done with determination, zeal, and consistency.  Geeta Iyengar once said, reflecting on physical limitations: “When you can’t do asana, do pranayama!”  Along the way of a life-time practice the asanas may change, and we may need greater or lesser support in the postures, but there are asanas for every condition.  Rhetorically, when you can’t do asana for some reasons, there are other practices such as pranayama you can do.

Discussion: Tapas and Rajas

Rajas is one of the three gunas, or elements in classical yoga theory (derived from Sankyha philosophy).  It is the element of action, motion, energy (positively), but also .  It is contrasted with sattva (lightness, clarity, peacefulness) and tamas (the earth element, inertia).

Asana is often pursued with rajas, particularly in the early stages of acquiring a new posture, but may become more peaceful (sattvic) with more practice.  Mr. Iyengar calls this “repose in the pose,” even though the posture must often be acquired through sweat and what Geeta Iyengar calls “donkey work.”

Tapas is one of the five Niyamas (the 2^nd limb of classical yoga) and refers to such notions as zeal, determination, will, determination.  We often associate tapas with the high energy of rajas, but that zeal and determination    can also apply to sattvic performance of asana, pranayama and even meditation.  Tapas is determination and zeal, and it can be manifested in both rajasic and sattvic activity.  (That is, you can pursue asana with tapas and rajas, through the development is to  unit tapas and sattva.  Meditation is not pursued well with rajas (too much adrenaline), but the continued practice implied by tapas is vital.  For both  asana and pranayama (and meditation), tamas is the groundedness of the earth element.  The practice needs the groundedness of tamas, but too much tamas makes the practice lethargic.

                                           Reflective Asana and Pranayama 4

                                      “Body breath and Mind in Perfect Oneness”

Concepts Vrttis (fluctuations of the mind)

          Direct perception (right knowledge)

         Wrong knowledge (misperception)

         Imagination/delusion

         Sleep

         Memory

      We are generally aware of perception and misperception (accurate and inaccurate knowledge0 as fluctuations of the mind, but even when we manage to limit our perception or attention to outside factors, the mind continued to operate.  We can imagine things that do not exist, or speculate about things that might exist in the future.  We do his when we  focus on worries, fears, plans, or otherwise occupy ourselves with things that do not actually exist in the moment.  (Leaving sleep aside for the moment), Memory is a storehouse of past events (whether real, imagined, or misremembered) and can fully occupy us as well, even though there is no immediate external input.

The problem is not that any of these fluctuations is inherently wrong, or does not have an important place in our lives.  These fluctuations are a normal part of the functioning of our minds.  The question is whether they are helpful or unhelpful, disciplined or undisciplined, productive or nonproductive, or appropriate to our current intention.  For example, when doing asana do we wish to allow the mind to range over some action in the past or future, or do we wish to focus it on the immediate action before us?

An unconstrained and dispersed mind is unlikely to be helpful for our current intention.  A well-known quote from the Buddha says that 

Whatever harm an enemy may
do to an enemy, or a hater to a
hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on
oneself a greater harm.

Neither mother, father, nor any
other relative can do one greater
good than one’s own well-directed
mind.

Common Means in Yoga Practice for Restraining/Directing the Mind

     Put another way, bringing the mind into the present moment and concentrating the attention. 

         In asana, directed attention through instructions; then internalized instructions and directed awareness/”intelligence” to the actions of the posture.  Bringing the posture from  the outside to the inside (involution), then from the inside to the outside (evolution)

     In pranayama and other sitting practice (e.g., dharana, dhyana) some helpful practices are the use of touch (posture, supports, or even mudra), resonance (OM, chanting — as in the Invocation to Patanjali), and breath awareness.

 Practice

Sitting

Sukhasana

Touch (support thighs, ground sitting bones, compact hips, lift spine, raise side ribs & narrow waist, lift chest and support with shoulder blades, turn humerus bones outward to open armpit chest)

Breath

       Resonance (chanting of OM)

Sukhasana variations

Parsva, Parivrtti (observe abdomen/chest/breath in transition)

Dandasana (groins)

Paripurna Navasana (variations according to ability, begin with bolster support)

Asanas

Tadasana Inward rotation of front thighs (broadening of back of thigh)

         Block between thighs (pressing inner thighs back)

Uttanasana

 Adho Mukha Svanasana (looped belt, sacrum & under inner thighs)

With partner, hold when support released

Center (w/o support), recreate action of thighs, extension of torso, opening of abdomen

Marichyasana I, III (1/2 counter)/deepen groins,

Utthita Hasta Padasana & Parsva Variation

     Ropes, then with belt/facing center (according to ability)

Parivrtta Asanas (wall support)

Parivrtta Trikonasana

Parivrtta Parsvakonasana

Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana

Transition: Setu Banda (on T-bolsters)

Pranayama

Concepts:

Puraka (inhalation)

Rechaka (exhalation)

Kumbhaka (retention/pause)

Ujayyi I, II

Savasana

OM, Shantih

                                                Asana and Sheaths (koshas) of the body

                                                      Quotations about Practice from

                                B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on Life [LOL] & Light on Yoga [LOY]

B. K. S. Iyengar’s book Light on Life uses the sheaths of the body (the five koshas) to organize the chapters.  He describes the koshas in his commentary to Yoga Sutra 1.2, yoga cita vrtti nirodha (Yoga stills the fluctuations of the mind.).  We can use the koshas as a way to understand the process of involution (the movement of attention from the external sheath to the internal sheath), and to view progress in the eight limbs of yoga (particularly from the third to the fourth limbs, asana and pranayama.  

Koshas (sheaths of the body): from B.K.S. Iyengar’s  commentary on Sutra 1,2, LOY]

          Annamaya kosha (physical body)

          Pranayamaya kosha (energetic/subtle/physiological body)

          Manamaya kosha (mind)

          Vijnanamaya kosha (wisdom/discriminating intelligence)

          Anandamaya kosha (spiritual body)

The process of involution (penetration from the external to internal sheaths) in practice

“What I teach is spiritual practice in action…I use the body to discipline the mind to reach the soul.  [LOL, p. 62]

“We begin at the level of the physical body, the aspect of ourselves that is more concrete and accessible to all of us… [LOL, p. 22]

“ …one must do asana not merely as a physical exercise but as a means to understand and then integrate our body with our breath, with our mind, with our intelligence, with our consciousness, with our conscience, and with our core.” [LOL, p. 23, ital. added]

“…in asana you must align and harmonize the physical body and all the layers of the subtle emotional, mental, and spiritual body.” [LOL, p. 27]

  “In asana and pranayama practice, we should have the impression we are working on the outer to get closer to the inner reality of our existence…We work from the periphery to the core.” [LOL, p. 61]

“Of the two aspects of asana, exertion of our body and penetration of our mind, the latter is eventually more important. Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.” [LOL, p. 45]

Eventually, he says, the process can be reversed so that the posture can emerge from the inner to the outer sheaths of the body, a process of evolution of the posture from your center.

“The goal of all asana practice is doing them [the postures] from the core of your being and extending out dynamically through to the periphery of your body.” [LOL, p. 33]

                                           Reflective Asana and Pranayama 3

                                      “Body breath and Mind in Perfect Oneness”

Concepts

         Sutra I, 2. Yoga citta vrtti nirodha

                    (chanted: yoga chitta vrtti nirodaha)

           Involution (going deeper)

           From Asana to Pranayama (3^rd to 4^th limbs of classic yoga)

                   See quotations from B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on LIfe, in related post

           Focusing Practices (for stilling the fluctuations of the mind)

                  Breath

                       “belly” and “chest” breath

                        Rate, depth, volume

                Touch (e.g., finger tips in Jñana mudra)

                 Resonance (e.g., chanting of invocation, sutras, OM)

                        Resonance and pranayama

                        Sibilant Ujjayi sound (back of throat)

Practice: Back Extensions

Sitting/Sukhasana (as in classes 1 & 2)

Chanting

Yoga citta vritti nirodha

OM (A-U-M)

Resonances (throat, head, nasal band)

Tadasana/AMS/Utthanasana (Observe abdomen, chest/breath profile)

Virabhadrasana II, Virabhadrasana III (find back extension in VIII)

Breath in Back Extensions (find belly and chest breath)

Bhujanghasana on ropes

Ropes 1 version (various distances from wall)

Ropes 2 version (emphasize Bhujanghasana work)

Abdominal/chest breath

Back Extensions on Floor

Ground pelvis, tailbone in/sacrum-coccyx ), open chest

Abdominal work (find belly and chest breath)

Chest on Bolster

Bhujangasa

Salubhasana

Chest on bolster, extend arms

Full pose w/o imaginary bolster)

Dhanurasana

Virabhadrasana III (compare to first)

Salamba Sarvangasa (wall)

Free breath (extra blanket, extend torso & legs)

       OM resonance (vishuddi chakra/clear upper chest & breath)

        Feet to wall (mild beginning drop-backs)

Savasana (full pranayama setup)

       Ujayyi I, II (Note resonance, sibilant Ujjayi sound)

       Return to Savasana breath (shallow/belly)

Sitting

       OM/Shantih

       Bell (“Body, breath, and mind I send my heart along with this bell”)

                                                   Reflective Asana and Pranayama (2)

             “Body Breath and Mind in Perfect Oneness”

Some Concepts

Limbs of classical yoga

Sutra I,2 (Yoga citta vrtta nirodha)

Sheaths of the body (koshas), involution, “meditation in action”

Reference: B.K.S Iyengar’s discussion of koshas in his commentary on Sutra

                    1.2 [LOS].  For more, see Mr. Iyengar’s book Light on Life [LOL] which

                    is organized according to the concept of koshas.  See especially

            Chapters  2 [“Stability-The Physical Body (Asana) and 3 [“Vitality-The Energy

           Body (Prana)]

Practice (Based on Standing forward extensions)

Sitting (Supported sukhasana as in class 1)

          Unsupported sukhasana (keeping actions)

                    Neutral sacrum, lift chest/long waist, compact hips, life spine,

                    Hands facing up (Jnana mudra opt.) to support outward rotation

                              of shoulders

Tadasana/Urdha Hastasana/Ardha Utthanasana (blocks)

Padangusthasana

(emphasize stable base, triangle of feet, lengthening of torso)

          Variations (belt around metatarsals, or hand grip when possible)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (from external to internal support)

          Preliminary

          Supported

(partner holds belt on top thighs from behind)

Hold extension as partner slowly releases

          AMS (facing wall)

                    Shorter dog, hands on blocks to bring thighs back

          AMS (heels on wall) -> ekapada (foot up wall

Vrksasana

Utthitta Hasta Padangusthasanas

(variations: hand to wall, belt on foot; reduce wall support, and/or hold

toe, for seasoned practitioners)

          Utthitta

          Parsva

          Vinyasa of above, attention to breath in transitions/concentration

Viparita Karana (as in class 1, support higher as possible)

          Review of involution, “inverted lake” and movement from physical

          sheath (annamaya kosha) to physiological sheath/energetic body

          (pranamaya kosha)                            

 Savasana (introductory pranayama set-up)

          Ujayyi I

          Ujayyi II (introduction)

Closing: Sukhasana/OM Shantih

Next

Concepts

Review and chanting of Sutra I, 2  (yoga citta vritti nirodha)

Use of resonance for concentration and focusing (study of OM)

Practice: Breath in Back Extensions