Oṁkāra(ॐ) Śloka
ॐकारं बिंदुसंयुक्तं नित्यं ध्यायंति योगिनः ।
Oṁkāra bindu saṁyuktam
Nityam dhyāyanti yoginaḥ
कामदं मोक्षदं चैव ॐकाराय नमो नमः ॥
Kāmadam mokśadam caiva
Oṁkārāya namo namaḥ
Traduction :
Oṁ (ॐ) la vibration qui demeure et résonne dans le cœur,
La vibration qui permet aux yogis de rester en dhyāna,
La vibration qui permet de jouir de ses désirs et de s’en libérer,
Mes salutations à cette vibration, Oṁ (ॐ).
Translation:
Oṁ (ॐ) the vibration that rests and resonates in the heart,
The vibration that keeps the yogis in meditation,
The vibration that grants all desires and liberates us from them,
My salutations to Oṁkara (ॐ).
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Patañjali Śloka
योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां ।
Yogena cittasya padena vācāṁ।
मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन ॥
Malam śarīrasya ca vaidyakena॥
योऽपाकरोत्तमं प्रवरं मुनीनां ।
Yopākarottam pravaram munīnāṁ।
पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि ॥
Patañjalim prānjalirānato’smi॥
Translation & explanation:
We offer our Namaskāra with folded hands to the great teacher, the one and only Sage (muni) Patañjali who gave us Āyurveda (malam) to purify our body (śarīra); grammar (padena) to purify our speech (vāca) and Yoga to purify our consciousness (citta).
The second part of the śloka, is full of symbolism. It describes Patañjali’s form in order for those who understand the meaning (artha) and feeling (bhavana) of the symbol to be able to invoke Patañjali for their abhyāsa. It describes Patañjali as having a bright face, whose upper body is of a human and lower body is that of a snake coiled three-and-a-half times, that represents Adisesa (from Hindu Mythology). He has four arms, three of which hold a conch, a disc and a knife. The conch represents space, the disc – time and the knife represents intelligence that cuts through the thick layers of ignorance and arrogance. The fourth hand is turned upwards to bless the “seeker”, the ardent student. Above him is the hood of a thousand headed cobra.
आबहु पुरुषाकारं।
ābāhu puruśākāram
शङ्खचक्रासि धारिणं॥
sankha cakrāsi dhārinam
सहस्र शीरसं श्वेतं।
sahasra śirasam svetam
प्रनमामि पतञ्जलिम्॥
Praṇamāmi Patañjalim
Note: The meaning has been extracted from Arunji’s book Experiment and Experience on the Chair, The Yoga Way with certain additions.
* * * * *
Gayatri Mantra
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
Oṁ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
Tat savitur-vareṇyam
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
Bhargo devasya dhīmahi
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ||
Translation:
We meditate upon the highest brilliance
On the source of life
That it may propel our minds
From the temporal world to the subtle.