One of the ways we can show our respect for the traditional teachings and cultural origins of yoga is to explore the meaning of the verses we chant to begin our practice.

When I first started practising Ashtanga I felt awkward and uncomfortable chanting out loud, in a language I didn’t understand and struggled to get my mouth around. I even harboured a vague feeling I might be chanting in worship of gods I knew nothing about. So I simply didn’t chant.

As a teacher my experience is that chanting in Sanskrit can definitely put some people off joining class. It’s unfamiliar and may even be intimidating and press buttons we didn’t know we had.

But what I found really helpful was looking at the meaning behind the verses. Not the literal translations which can be a bit vague or even make no sense at all! But starting to see and understand the symbolism and metaphors used, and how the meanings then become more universal.

So while I still feel really awkward chanting out loud I can at least bring to mind the intention and spirit behind the words!

vande gurūṇām caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātmasukhāvabodhe
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai
ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ
śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam
sahasra śirasaṃ śvetaṃ
praṇamāmi patañjalim

This chant is traditionally done at the beginning of the Ashtanga practice.

We chant these verses before every practice to offer up our thanks and to help focus the energy of our body and mind. The opening chant is a blessing of gratitude offered to the lineage of teachers and their students who have enabled this ancient practice to survive through thousands of years so that we can experience its benefits today.

The recitation of these verses is believed to cleanse the energy of the space we have chosen to practice yoga, as well as preparing the mind, body and emotions for the forthcoming Ashtanga sequence.

Origin of the Verses

The verses come from two different sources. The first two lines come from the Yoga Tārāvalī and the second two lines from a traditional prayer to Patañjali. Patañjali is thought to be the author of a number of Sanskrit works. The most well known is the classic yoga text, The Yoga Sutras.

The Yoga Tārāvalī is a Hatha Yoga text written by Adi Sankara and thought to originate in the 14th century. It’s said to have been one of Krishnamacharya’s favorites.

The origins of the prayer to Patañjali appears to be unknown.

What do they mean?

Put simply by chanting these verses we’re offering our thanks to our teachers, our teacher’s teachers and all those teachers before them whose dedication and practice allow us to share in this practice today. We are showing our humility and offering our gratitude and respect.

We are also inviting the possibility of finding some clarity and insight through our consistent practice.

Reciting these verses helps us focus and settle into a good frame of mind for practice. The sound vibrations are also said to cleanse the space as well as prepare the body and mind for the practice ahead. Chanting verses such as these also helps us begin to regulate the breath and establish a steady rhythm.

Even if you’re not sure about chanting, holding these intentions in your mind as you listen to others chanting these verses can make a huge difference to your experience of the practice.

Sanskrit

As yoga practitioners and teachers it’s really important we understand and honour yoga’s roots but Sanskrit is a very nuanced language. Often there’s no direct translation into our more limited language and that means each line can be interpreted in several different ways and it can even appear that the translations don’t make much sense.

I had been chanting the opening mantra for a long time without really understanding the meaning behind it.

At first glance a conch, a divine serpent and a jungle physician don’t seem to have much to offer us in our modern world. But, if we dig a little deeper to unpick and begin to understand the symbolism, metaphors and analogies used we can come closer to capturing the true essence of the verses.

I’m delighted that long time friend of MCY James Boag agreed to enrich my offering here with his own insight. As some of you know already, he has a Masters degree in Sanskrit which allows him to translate from the source text rather than relying on translations and he’s a master at taking those rich, practical teachings and explaining them in a way we can more easily understand without losing the richness and subtlety of the original text.

I’ve used his word by word translation here to start to translate each line and he’s also recorded brief introductions to the meaning encoded in the beautiful mantra of the first verse and the invocation to Patañjali which makes up the second verse. You can find them both below.

Exploring the First Verse

Om

vande gurūṇām caraṇāravinde

vande I worship, praise, venerate, extol, bow to, prostrate to, offer myself to, orient towards with reverence, show homage to, salute with reverence

gurūṇām of the the guru-s (the collective / plurality of guru-s)

caraṇāravinde to the (two) lotus feet

I bow to the lotus feet of the guru-s, all of those people, places and experiences that help me expand my understanding of myself and the reality of my existence.

Bowing is a recognised way of showing our gratitude, humility and respect. A guru is understood to be a person, place or experience with sufficient weight or influence to shift our state of awareness to bring more clarity, harmony and a greater understanding. Here we can be acknowledging all of the teachers who have shared the teachings of yoga over the years.

In invoking this attitude of deep respect we are accepting that we don’t know and showing our willingness and openness to learn.

An alternative interpretation is that the supreme guru is actually our yoga practice and we are bowing down to the practice, trusting that it teaches us what we need to know.

A third perspective is highlighted in an article by Anthony Charalampous. He says:

“The traditional way to bow to someone of higher status (like a guru) in the Indian culture is by lying down completely on the floor with our head facing their feet. This is done firstly as a form of respect & humility but also because at the top of the head there is the 7th chakra from which we receive energy.
Also in the feet there are the exits of Ida & Pindala, the two nadis (energy channels). So via this metaphorical action we are hoping to receive some of the energy or knowledge of the guru in order to help us eliminate ignorance & delusion.”

sandarśita svātma sukhāvabodhe

sandarśita seeing well

svātma (sva+ātma) own true self, own soul, own essence

sukha good space, happiness, wellbeing, agreeable state

avabodha becoming aware of, awakening to, becoming recognisant of

This line describes the qualities of the guru-s we are showing our deep respect for - those who have become well established in the awakened, harmonious state of seeing well the essential self. And not only were they able to see well but they were able to help others come to seeing well too.

This is the true goal of yoga - through practice we can find our way to a place inside us where we find stillness, balance, clarity, connection and contentment.

Anthony Charalampous uses a great metaphor from the Indian tradition:

“…we try to see our reflection in a dusty mirror, and by using the wisdom of the internal guru we slowly clean this mirror. At first the dust is so thick that when try to clean it, everything gets smudged but slowly some of the dust layers are removed and we are able to see parts or our own Self/Pure Being which awakes happiness or brings insight into the happiness of pure Being – Self Realisation.”

niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne

niḥśreyase beyond better, without comparison, unsurpassable, tip top, cannot be exceeded, most eminent

jāṅgalikāyamāne jungle doctor, physician, healer

This line continues to describe why we are venerating these guru-s.

The jungle physician, the doctor of the jungle, is one who is skilled in healing or curing and working with the forces of nature. So referring to the guru-s / practice as a jungle physician refers to the idea that practice can heal or cure us from physical pain and even unhelpful emotional and mental patterns of behaviour, thereby helping us remain steady in the midst of the unpredictable challenges and chaos of life.

saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai

saṁsāra worldly existence

hālāhala potentially deadly poison

moha delusion

śantyai for the purpose of pacifying, harmonising

This line further describes the guru-s we are honouring and why. It’s essentially telling us more about what the practice can do for us.

saṁsāra refers to the cycle or the flow of birth, death and rebirth but it can also refer to the constant wandering and circling of our minds, emotions and behaviour. When we are unaware of this happening we suffer (in the sense that it causes our understanding to be limited or confused and our ability to see clearly is compromised).

The guru-s are unsurpassable because they know how to pacify, overcome and harmonise this potentially deadly poison of our worldly existence. Through their own deep understanding they are able to share teachings to help others free themselves from confusion/delusion and come to an understanding of their own true self and the wholeness of existence.

While hālāhala means a poisonous herb Richard Freeman suggests that hala is also a turning wheel, and hālāhala is a wheel turning inside another wheel which is pretty much what our mind does all the time.

When we practice we can begin to see what’s really going on and we no longer act from a place of ignorance. It’s said the practice is like a mirror, helping us see our unconscious patterns of behaviour. When we see these behaviours more clearly we have the option to deal with them, so perhaps instead of reacting without thinking we respond with more skill and intelligence.

Exploring the Second Verse

ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ

ābāhu from the arms/shoulders

puruṣākāraṃ having human form

This line describes the form Patanjali inhabits in this chant - it gives us a picture of him - and each element described is richly symbolic.

He has human upper body and arms and his lower body is in his snake form. Note his human upper body has four arms! Patanjali is said to be Ananta, the divine serpent on which Vishnu rested after creating the universe.

śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam

dhāriṇam holding

śaṅkhacakrāsi conch, discus and sword

He is holding a conch shell, a discus and a sword.

In this form Patañjali has four arms and is holding three objects, each of which is deliberate and has significance. It’s understood that his fourth hand is in the gesture of abhaya mudra, the sign of ‘have no fear’ - a mudra of peacefulness.

In one hand he is holding a conch shell which represents divine sound. It’s also a shell that can be used as a horn and the sound is said to call people to practice and help awaken them to the spiritual world. In her article Melanie Cooper suggests:

“It symbolises people’s ability to listen and to be present with their life and people around them. It can also be seen as the state of alertness, attentiveness and readiness to face obstacles, which are part of the practice of yoga.”

In another hand he holds the sword of discrimination which represents our ability to cut through the confusion of our minds so that we can see things as they really are. In the physical realm it can represent the spine.

In his third hand, Patañjali holds the wheel/discus of light which represents infinite time and is even said to symbolise mastery over time. Melanie Cooper relates this to our practice beautifully:

“One effect of practicing yoga is to bring our awareness into the present moment. When we are fully present, we do not notice time. In this state we are fully aware and engaged with life.”

sahasra śirasaṃ śvetaṃ

sahasra a thousand (a great number)

śirasaṃ heads / headed / hooded

śvetaṃ brilliant white

This line describes Patañjali as having a thousand brilliant white serpent heads (as the divine serpent Ananta). James translates it much more poetically with Patañjali seated under an umbrella of brilliant white cobra heads/lotus flowers, serpent heads that resemble lotus flowers.

This line is saying Patañjali as the divine serpent Ananta has countless heads (Ananta represents infinity) each of which is radiant white. A possible interpretation is that although we seem to be separate (the heads) we’re all part of the one whole.

praṇamāmi patañjalim

pranamami pra + nam = bow/prostrate, orient towards with reverence, devotion praṇamāmi - 1st person, I bow/prostrate

patanjalim to Patañjali

I prostrate before / bow towards Patañjali.

The common translation of prostrate confers more than bowing, that we are laying down with reverence and humility before the form of Patañjali or before the practice of yoga itself. As a mahāṛṣi (great seer) in the yoga tradition, Patañjali not only represents one who is enlightened and sees the truth of reality for him/her self but also demonstrates the capacity to teach that truth to other people and help them move towards realisation.

In reciting this chant we’re trying to embody the qualities of Patañjali as an enlightened being as well as find humility before our practice. In this process we may begin to experience our true self.

Om

Do I have to chant?

When you’re new to yoga or to Ashtanga it can feel a little uncomfortable to chant in an unknown language. It’s perfectly okay to listen and try to be present with the rest of the class. It can be helpful to bring to mind the meaning or intentions behind the chant and over time, as it becomes a bit more familiar, you might feel ready to join in.

Learning the opening chant

I won’t lie, chanting is definitely easier when you’re in a room full of people who all know the words and the tune!

Until we can do that again this call and response recording from our regular Sunday class and the verses written out as they sound when said out loud will help you get started:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OPENING CHANT AUDIO

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PHONETIC VERSES PDF

You can play the recording and read from the phonetic version at the same time. When I was learning I found it easier to chant along to a recording in the car - it felt less embarrassing than by myself in an empty room!

A Note About Why We Chant

As some of you already know I studied with Richard Freeman in Boulder, Colorado in summer 2018. Chanting was woven into every practice, every session, every day. He talks beautifully about why chanting is an important element in the practice of yoga…

“Chanting and mantra recitation have accompanied yoga practice for thousands of years. Chanting is of course both the in-toning of the rich vibratory sounds and the simultaneous listening to them. The concentrated in-toning of sound vibrates all along the axis of the body from the perineum up through the head, giving access to subtle and deep sensation and feeling. The deep listening naturally suspends the normal movement of the discursive mind and allows contemplation of the patterns of sensation, emotion, and imagination.”

He goes on to explain why it’s important to appreciate the meaning of the chants too:

“Chants have meanings, which are to be contemplated. Some express a truth directly; others use images, metaphors, and myths; while still others are deliberately free of meaning or reference to anything except the whole of reality. The meanings are designed to return the chanter to the direct experience of the sound vibration, making the experience of that sound and eventually all sound and all forms and patterns of vibration sacred.”

In her article about the Ashtanga Opening Chant, MCY friend Alexia Koletsou, was surprised to find there were some academic studies about the benefits of chanting:

A 2006 study examined the effects of Vedic chanting on the hemispheres of the brain. The researchers found that “chanting influences both the hemispheres of the brain resulting in good memory and attention”. Furthermore, the authors also added that: “The frequencies and the sympathetic overtones generated by mantras, which have a vibration pattern of their own, influence our sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, which are spread in a fine network around our internal organs.”

One further study carried out in 2008 examined the effect of chanting OM. It is no surprise why this was chosen as this basic mantra is known in Hinduism as the ‘Pranava mantra’, the source of all mantras. The researchers found that: “steadiness in the mind is achieved by chanting OM, hence proves the mind is calm and peace to the human subject.”

Want to explore further?

Here’s a few videos from James discussing the meaning the opening chant…

JUDI X

PS If you’ve found this post of interest please share as other people you know may find it interesting too…

Understanding the Ashtanga Opening Chant