vande gurūṇāṃ caraṇāravinde sandarśita svātma sukhāvabodhe ।
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne saṃsara hālāhala mohaśāntyai ॥

ābāhu puruśākāraṃ śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam ।
sahasra śirsamaṃ śvetamaṃ praṇamāmi patañjalim ॥

 

वन्दे : Vande : I Praise

गुरुणां : Gurunam : The plurality of all teachers

चरण : Carana : Feet / Root

अरविन्द : Aravinda : Lotus Flower

सन्दर्शित : Sandarsita : Shown / represented

स्वात्म : Svatma : Sva Atma : Own self / True nature

सुख : Sukha : Pleasant or joy

अवबोधे : Avabodhe : Avabuddhyate :  To become aware of / to inform or explain

निःश्रेयस : Nishreyase : Best

जाङल् : Jangal : Jungle

कय​ : Kaya : Every one

अमनि: Amani : Way or road

संसार : Samsara : Cycle of worldly existence

हलाहल : Haalaahala : Deadly poison

मोह : Moha : Delusion

शान्तयति { शान्तय् } : Shantiyai : Pacify

अबहु : Abahu : Few

पुरुष : Purusha : Men

आकर : Akaram : Of multitudes

शङ्ख : Shanka : Conch Shell

चक्र : Chakra : Disc or wheel

असि : Asi : Sword

दारि : Dari : To tear asunder. Darinam is the “plural” case, meaning an uncounted/uncountable number.

सहस्र : Sahasra : Thousand

शीर्ष : Sirsam : Heads

श्वेत : Sveta : White

प्रणाम : Pranama : Bow or respectful salutation

मीनाति { मी } : Minati { Mi } : To make

पतञ्जलि : Patanjalim : to Physicians / Philosophers (the name has become a title)

 

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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 (vacca), he gave a 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 any meditation first the form has to be in front of the eyes.

 

abahu purusakaram

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

 

sankha carkrasi dharinam

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

 

sahasra sirasam svetam

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

 

pranamami patanjalim

I bow down to Patanjali

 

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To the noblest of sages, Patanjali, who gave us yoga for serenity of mind, grammar for purity of speech and medicine for the perfection of the body, I salute. I salute before Patanjali whose upper body has a human form, whose arms hold a conch, and disc and a sword, who is crowned by a thousand headed cobra. Oh incarnation of Adisesa my humble salutations to thee.