Patañjali Quotes

Patañjali is a proper Indian name. Several important ancient Sanskrit works are ascribed to one or more authors of this name, and a great deal of scholarship has been devoted over the last century or so to the issue of disambiguation.

Amongst the more important authors called Patañjali are:

The author of the Mahābhāṣya, an ancient treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics, based on the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini. This Patañjali's life is dated to mid 2nd century BCE by both Western and Indian scholars. This text was titled as a bhasya or "commentary" on Katyayana-Panini's work by Patanjali, but is so revered in the Hindu traditions that it is widely known simply as Maha-bhasya or "Great commentary". So vigorous, well reasoned and vast is his text, that this Patanjali has been the authority as the last grammarian of classical Sanskrit for 2,000 years, with Panini and Katyayana preceding him. Their ideas on structure, grammar and philosophy of language have also influenced scholars in other Indian religions such as Buddhism and Jainism.

The compiler of the Yoga sūtras, a text on Yoga theory and practice, and a notable scholar of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. He is variously estimated to have lived between 5th century BCE to 4th century CE, with more scholars accepting dates between 2nd and 4th century CE. The Yogasutras is one of the most important texts in the Hindu tradition and the foundation of classical Yoga. It is the Indian Yoga text that was most translated in its medieval era into forty Indian languages. Also, the third chapter is the basis for the TM-Sidhis.

The author of a medical text called Patanjalatantra. He is cited and this text is quoted in many medieval health sciences-related texts, and Patanjali is called a medical authority in a number of Sanskrit texts such as Yogaratnakara, Yogaratnasamuccaya and Padarthavijnana. There is a fourth Hindu scholar also named Patanjali, who likely lived in 8th-century CE and wrote a commentary on Charaka Samhita and this text is called Carakavarttika. According to some modern era Indian scholars such as P.V. Sharma, the two medical scholars named Patanjali may be the same person, but completely different person than the Patanjali who wrote the Sanskrit grammar classic Mahabhasya.

Patanjali is one of the 18 siddhars in the Tamil siddha tradition.

✵ 200 BC – 150 BC
Patañjali photo
Patañjali: 44   quotes 17   likes

Famous Patañjali Quotes

“For those who have an intense urge for Spirit and wisdom, it sits
near them, waiting.”

Source: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

“Everything is sorrow for the wise.”

Source: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Patañjali Quotes about peace

“By meditation upon Light and upon Radiance, knowledge of the Spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“The peace of the chitta is also brought about by the regulation of the prana or life breath.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“The peace of the chitta (or mind stuff) can be brought about through the practice of sympathy, tenderness, steadiness of purpose, and dispassion in regard to pleasure or pain, or towards all forms of good or evil.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

Patañjali Quotes about life

“The Word of Ishvara is AUM (or OM). This is the Pranava.
II. The Sacred Word. This is the Word of Glory, the AUM. This is the Pranava, the sound of conscious Life itself as It is breathed forth into all forms...”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect: a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.”

Patanjali, in "Being Consciousness Bliss: A Seeker's Guide", p. 205.

“Pain, despair, misplaced bodily activity and wrong direction (or control) of the life currents are the results of the obstacles in the lower psychic nature.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

Patañjali Quotes

“Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind. Then there is abiding in the Seer's own form.”

Patanjali, in “Yoga and You” [citation needed]
Source: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

“Liberation of the seer is the result of the dissassociation of the seer and the seen.”

§ 2.25
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

“Egoism is the identification of the power that knows with the instruments of knowing.”

§ 2.6
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

“Supreme happiness is gained via contentment.”

§ 2.42
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

“By study comes communion with the Lord in the Form most admired.”

§ 2.44
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

“Desirelessness towards the seen and the unseen gives the consciousness of mastery.”

§ 1.15
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

“Stirum sukham asanam. Meaning: Seated posture should be steady and comfortable.”

Patanjali, in “The Little Red Book of Yoga Wisdom”, p. 134.

“The mind can be trained to steadiness through those forms of concentration which have relation to the sense perceptions.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“To overcome the obstacles and their accompaniments, the intense application of the will to some one truth (or principle) is required.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“Through the sounding of the Word and through reflection upon its meaning, the Way is found.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect : a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“The chitta is stabilized and rendered free from illusion as the lower nature is purified and no longer indulged.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect: a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“From this comes the realisation of the Self (the soul) and the removal of all obstacles.”

The Light of the Soul: Its Science and Effect: a paraphrase of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with commentary by Alice A. Bailey, (1927)

“One becomes firmly established in practice only after attending to it for a long time, without interruption and with an attitude of devotion.”

Patanjali in Ashtanga Yoga Sutra I.14, in Ashtanga Yoga: Practice & Philosophy http://books.google.co.in/books?id=f9ygWu2xM3QC&pg=PA154, p. 154.

“Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.”

Patanjali, in Being Consciousness Bliss: A Seeker's Guide http://books.google.co.in/books?id=AEo58-ihNygC&pg=PA205, p. 205.

“The wisdom obtained in the higher states of consciousness is different from that obtained by inference and testimony as it refers to particulars.”

Patanjali, in Hinduism http://books.google.co.in/books?id=GmQ_yp4vVhsC&pg=PA63, p. 63.

“The posture assumed must be steady and easy.”

Patanjali, in “The Little Red Book of Yoga Wisdom”, p. 133.

“The Yoga of action, leading to union with the soul is fiery aspiration, spiritual reading and devotion to Ishvara.”

Patanjali, in “The Little Red Book of Yoga Wisdom], p. 24.

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