Tracing back the origins of Aṣṭāṅgayoga Vinyāsa Yoga mantras

Abstract

The aim of this concise paper is to investigate the original sources of the opening and closing mantras of Aṣṭāṅgayoga Vinyāsa Yoga classes — the system developed by the father of Modern Yoga — Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989), and further advanced by his pupil, the 20th century Yoga Guru, K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009). In addition, I would also like to offer my English translation of the mantras, including full morphological analysis and a word list, which would be conducive to adepts of Yoga in better comprehension of the Sanskrit words and the philosophical ideas that lie underneath the beautifully vibrant sounds of these Sanskrit mantras. As many smooth translations with literary aesthetics already exist, my translation does not aim at offering a better one, rather on the contrary, it may seem slightly rough, at the first sight. However, the attempt is to provide a more profound approach in rendition, and hence grasping of the philosophical concepts developed over the time by renown Yoga masters.

Translator’s Note

The principal three sources I have relied on are the critical edition of Yogatārāvalī by Indian scholars Śaṅkarācārya and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya (1987) that serve as a source for the first opening mantra verse and the two websites: Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Germany (Steiner and Liersch, n.d.) as well as Ashtanga Yoga Shala NYC (Ashtanga Yoga Shala NYC, n.d.).

The translation produced is as literal and as grammatically and stylistically possible in English language. In order to make the text and its context more comprehensible for the contemporary reader, I have used square brackets to fill in the grammatically necessary elements for a smoother reading in English; or else, inserted other relevant information that has been omitted by the author, and yet meant implicitly. Similarly, parts of speech that have been implied in a concise manner in Sanskrit, but not expressively stated, I have deciphered, and thus written them in square brackets.

Aṣṭāṅgayoga Opening Mantra

The first stanza of this mantra is originally mentioned in a short Sanskrit text titled Yogatārāvalī ("A String of Stars on Yoga" as translated by Jason Birch) on yoga dated ca. 12-15th century CE. It comprises only 29 (number of verses differ from 28 to 30 in manuscripts) verses covering both Haṭhayoga and Rājayoga. Although the traditional view is to ascribe this work to the famous Advaita teacher Adi Śaṅkarācārya, who lived ca. 8th century CE, the scholarly opinion is that the author was most likely some Yoga Guru eponymous to the renown Advaita teacher based on the fact that such technical yoga terms as Haṭha and Rāja Yoga were not found in the earlier texts. This mantra typically opens the Aṣṭāṅgayoga classes following Pattabhi Jois Yoga system (Bhattacharya, 1987: 3; Birch, 2015: 8).

I venerate the Guru’s lotus-like feet, which have revealed the knowledge of inherent delight of one’s self, unparalleled [the feet], seeking the cure from venom for the aversion of the delusion [that is] a poison [resulting from] metempsychosis.

Other translations:

1. “I pay homage to the gurus’ lotus feet, which have revealed the knowledge of the bliss of one’s own self. Unsurpassed, [these lotus-feet] act like toxicologists for curing the delusion that is the poison [known as] transmigration." (Birch, 2015: 4)
2. “I salute the lotus-feet of my guru that have experienced the knowledge and bliss of Atman, and that serve as a doctor for removing the delusion of people caused by the poison of samsara.” (Narasimhananda, 2019: 1)

The attempt to trace the original source of the second verse of the opening mantra has not yielded any substantial results. Hence, the avenues for new findings are still open… Initially, I found some leads pointing to one of the works titled "Yoga Rahasya," (‘Mystery of Yoga’) which was written by the influential Yoga master of the 20th century, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989). The treatise, however, is attributed by Krishnamacharya to Nāthamuni, a great tenth-century yogin. The hagiographical treatise Prapannāmṛta narrates that initially Nāthamuni was a devotee of Śiva, however, after an encounter with a saint Mahārya, who initiated him into Vaiṣṇavism and taught him Aṣṭāṅgayoga, he then wrote many works in Tamil on Vaiṣṇavism (Dasgupta, 1991: 94–96). T.K.V. Desikachar, Krishnamacharya’s son, asserts their family to be the descendants of Nāthamuni. He was “[…] a South Indian sage who, like so many Indian teachers, did not belong to the monastic tradition but was fully involved with family life. His work, which is supposed to have originally consisted of twelve chapters, was handed down by word of mouth. Four of these chapters are known to us through Shrī T. Krishnamacharya, who dictated them to his son and pupil T. K. V. Desikachar”(Desikachar, 1999: xv; 231).

Unfortunately, a close study of the Yoga Rahasya , yielded no positive result, namely, the second verse was not found there. The second verse praises the father of Yoga — Patañjali as an incarnation of Ādi Śeṣa — “a celebrated mythological thousand-headed serpent regarded as the emblem of eternity, whence he is also called Ananta. Krishnamacharya explicitly invites a yoga practitioner to recite a mantra to Ādi Śeṣa aka Patañjali daily, before practicing yoga in order to foster acquiring āsana siddhi (‘accomplishment of postures’), leading to healthier body, conquering the senses, and making the prāṇa vāyu (‘the wind of breath of life’) appear directly in the suṣumṇā nāḍi (‘passage of breath canal’) in his other work titled “Yoga Makaranda” meaning ‘Nectar of Yoga’. However, the mantra text differs from the K. Pattabhi Jois’s variant [4]¹. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention that the famous 11th century grammarian Kaiyata, who wrote a commentary on Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya was fully aware of the myth of Patañjali being an incarnation of Śeṣa nāga (‘serpent’) (Deshpande, 1997: 449). At this point it is necessary to elucidate on the distinction of three eponymous and yet different native Indian scholars named — Patañjali. The grammarian, the author of the great commentary on grammar “ Mahābhāṣya” lived ca. 150 BCE, the author of Yoga Sūtras most likely lived ca. 400 CE, whereas not much is known about the dates of the compiler of a medical treatise. And yet, in the native Indian tradition all three great scholars were fused into one great savant around 10th century CE (Bühnemann, 2018: 580).

Before Krishnamacharya, similar prescription for the Yoga adept to bow down to the king of divine serpents Ananta at the beginning of yogapractice was already noted in Brahmānanda’s commentaryJyotsnā 2.48 on the Haṭhayogapradīpikā in order to ensure success in practicing āsanas ‘postures’. Based on the study of Patañjali’s iconography by Gudrun Bühnemann, initially iconography of Patañjali represented him as a two-armed half-human half-serpentine devotee of Śiva in the tradition of the Naṭarāja Temple at Cidambaram in Tamilnadu, South India, which eventually developed as a four-armed manifestation of Ādiṣeśa or Ananta or Viṣṇu in the tradition of Krishnamacharya who himself was a Vaiṣṇava. Likewise, Patañjali is also associated with the sacred syllable oṃ or praṇava as an accomplished being (siddha), absorbed in meditation (Ibid.: 577–578).

To [him] whose shape is human from the arms [downwards]

To [him] who’s holding a conch-shell, discus and a sword

To [him] whose thousand heads [5] are bright

I bow down before Patañjali

Closing mantra of Aṣṭāṅgayoga

Perhaps the earliest mention of this mantra, nowadays so popular among the Aṣṭāṅgayoga practitioners, can be found in the inscriptions of the rulers of the Sangama dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire founded in the 14th century by two brothers — Harihara I (also called Vira Harihara or Hakka Raya) and Bukka Raya I. They ruled from 1336 A.D. to 1485 A.D. The famous stanza was eventually adopted by the native scholars and practitioners of Yoga. In particular, the respective two verses form the opening lines of the 29 verses in Citradurga inscription of Devarāya I, which can be dated following the Śaka era calendar 1334, in the year of Khara [6], in the month of Kārttika [7] śuklapakṣa 15 [8], Vaḍḍavāra [9]. This dating corresponds to the Gregorian calendar 1411 A. D. October 31, Saturday. The inscription [10] is written in Kannada language and Kannada script, The stone slab was found in Citradurga, Chitradurga Taluk, Chitradurga District. It is set up to the north of Hiḍiṃbeśvara Temple on the hill (Ritti et al., 2004: 1022). See image No. 3 depicting one of the stone slabs found in the area.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, however, the great master of Yoga T. Krishnamacarya was also born in the remote village of Muchukundapuram in former Mysory state, the contemporary name of which is Chitradurga district (Mohan and Mohan, 2010: 9). The coincidence of these two facts is too obvious, namely, the location of the inscription and the birth-place of T. Krishnamacarya. It, therefore, leads to a preliminary conclusion that Krishnamacarya must have eventually incorporated that verse from the inscription of Devarāya I into his closing mantra of Aṣṭāṅgayoga Vinyāsa practice.

स्वस्तिप्रजाभ्यःपरिपालयंतां, न्यायेनमार्गेणमहींमहीशाः।

svastiprajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ

गोब्राह्मणेभ्यःशुभमस्तुनित्यं, लोकाःसमस्ताःसुखिनोभवंतु॥

gobrāhmaṇēbhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṁ lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhinobhavantu

ॐशान्तिःशान्तिःशान्तिः|

om̐ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ

go-brāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṃ lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhinaḥ bhavantu

om̐ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

May there be wellbeing to the people

May the mighty ones [rulers] protect the earth in the right manner

May there be always prosperity for cows and Brahmans

May all the people be happy [or alternatively: may all the worlds with their inhabitants be happy]

OṂ. Peace! Peace! Peace! [11] [or alternatively: may the three kinds of pain be averted].

Endnotes

[1] Other manuscripts have janasya ye instead, which according to Jason Birch is more orginal reading, namely, ‘which for people’.

[2] Hālāhala — a very poisonous plant mentioned in numerous Ancient Indian medical treateses. Its contemporary Latin name is given in the Sri Lankan Materia medica, namely, Aconitum ferox. It grows in India, in the temperate sub-alpine regions of Himalaya extending from Sikkim to Garhwal, flowers in July and August. The root is used in the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the throat, lungs, intestines, joints, etc., leprosy, fever, cholera and rheumatism. Externally, a paste of it is applied in the form of a plaster on the skin for neuralgia, boils, etc. (Jayaweera, 1982: 235–236). See image No. 1.

[3] I am very grateful to Dr. Jason Birch who sent me the full text of “Yoga Rahasya” text.

[4] The mantra text is following: Jīvamaṇi bhrājatphaṇā sahasra vidhdhṛt (sic., vidhṛta) viśvaṃ Bharāmaṇḍalāya anantāya nāgarājāya namaḥ (Krishnamacharya, 2006: 25).

[A shining thousand-hooded serpent carrying the entire world is a gem of life [breath of life]. I bow down before the bearer of the globe, before the eternal king of serpents]. (Author’s translation).

[5] Here is an allusion of Patañjali as incarnation of Ādi Śeṣa— “a celebrated mythological thousand-headed serpent regarded as the emblem of eternity, whence he is also called An-anta, ‘the infinite’; in the Viṣṇu-Purāṇa he and the serpents Vāsuki and Takṣaka are described as sons of Kadru […]; the thousand headed Śeṣa is sometimes represented as forming the couch and canopy of Viṣṇu whilst sleeping during the intervals of creation, sometimes as supporting the seven Pātālas with the seven regions above them and therefore the entire world […]” (Monier-Williams, 1899). See Image No. 2.

[6] Khara — name of the 25th year of the sixty years' Bṛhaspati (the planet Jupiter) cycle (Monier-Williams, 1899).

[7] Kārttika — name of a month corresponding to part of October and November; the twelfth month of the year, when the full moon is near the Pleiades (Ibid.).

[8] Śuklapakṣa— the light halfof a month; the 15 days of the moon's increase (Ibid.).

[9] Perhaps regional spelling for the Sanskrit — váḍabā, f. — ‘a female horse’, ‘mare’; ‘a particular constellation represented by a horse's head’ (Ibid.).

[10] The original inscription:

Svasti prajābhya[ḥ] paripālayaṃntāṃ nyāyēna mārggēṇa mahīṃ(n)mahīśā [|*] gō-brāṃmāṇebhyaḥ subham-astu nityaṃ lokās-samastāḥ sukhino bhavaṃtu || (Ritti et al., 2004: 1022).

[11] According to Shankara’s commentary on Taittirīya Upanishad “the word ‘peace’ is thrice-repeated for the purpose of destroying the three fold obstacles to the acquirement of knowledge, viz. from one's Self, from the living beings and from the Devas.” (Sastri, 1923: 62)

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