The Legendary Life of Patanjali and the Origins of the Sutras

In our practice of Yoga we honour Patanjali. We honour him because he gave us the written framework.
Where to start and where we could get to if we had the persistence and perseverance.
This framework is called” The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” Patanjali is thought to have lived
three thousand years ago in India.
“He gave Yoga for serenity of mind, grammar for purity of speech and medicine for perfection of the body” as chanted in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali’s Invocation.
The Invocation is chanted daily by practitioners of Iyengar Yoga to show gratitude of the work of Patanjali.
The health system referred to in the invocation is Ayurveda.

He gave us this guidance in his work “ The Yoga Sutras”. These Yoga Sutras have been translated from the ancient language of Sanskrit in to modern day languages because they are so relevant to us in the modern world we now live in. People now search for philosophical guidance in the way we live our life and conduct our work and bring up our children.
It is interesting to think that sages and philosophers of the time knew intellectual, spiritual, emotional knowledge thousands of years ago. Patanjali was definitely one of these philosophers. This knowledge was lost in times of war and politics but has in modern times resurfaced as a guide to better living, personal growth and enlightenment.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are a significant guide for obtaining perfect physical and mental health, an intelligent mind, humility, wisdom and enlightenment.
Through following and understanding the sutras we are asked to cleanse the body through the eating of nourishing food, not poisoning our system with drugs or stimulants. We are asked to make
our body fit by the practice of asana in order to follow the eight limbs of yoga, we are asked to study philosophic ideas and live a modest life.

The eight Limbs of Yoga are:

• Yama (Restraint)
• Niyama (Binding observance)
• Pranayama (Breath Control)
• Pratyahara (Sense withdrawal)
• Dharana (Concentration)
• Dhyana (Contemplation)and
• Samadhi  (A perfect meditative absorption)