Ashtanga Yoga Opening and Closing Mantras
Traditionally, every Ashtanga Yoga Practice starts with chanting the Opening Mantra and ends with the Closing Mantra. Get to know the text and basic translation and meaning of these Ashtanga Yoga Chants.
Table of Contents
Text, Translation and meaning of the Ashtanga Yoga Mantras.
Mantras in Ashtanga Yoga
The chants at the beginning and end of each practice support us in setting our minds to focus on the present moment. The opening mantra expresses respect for the teachings, the transformative potential of the practice and helps us to bring our minds to the present moment. The closing mantra wishes for peace, prosperity and happiness for all beings, which complies with the main intention of yoga practice, which is to end suffering and gain freedom.
Because of its dependency on cultural, philosophical, religious, scientific and linguistic frameworks, every translation of Sanskrit texts, but also in general, is to a certain extent necessarily also an interpretation shaped by one's own background.
To comprehensively understand the translations and meanings of these Ashtanga Yoga mantras, an extensive study of Sanskrit and the mentioned related frameworks as well as the comparison of different translations and guidance by different scholars would be necessary.
In the following article, we share a part of what we have understood and learned so far from our teachers and in our self studies. Please bear in mind that there are different editorial transcriptions and traditions, which are an ongoing subject of study and always leave room for further perspectives and learning.
The meaning of om
ōṃ
The sound of Iśvara
Iśvara is an incorruptible form of pure awareness, which is independent of cause and effect. Commonly also translated as god, we prefer to refer to Iśvara as pure awareness. Whereas God is typically regarded as a supreme being, pure awareness is not represented by a specific form of being. Instead, it exists beyond time, omnipresent and distinct from the world that we perceive through our senses. In Patanjali’s yoga sutra 1.28, Patanjali says that through repetition of chanting om, its meaning will become clear.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra
I.24
klēśa-karma-vipākāśayair aparāmṛṣṭaḥ puruṣa-viśēṣa īśvaraḥ
Iśvara is pure awareness; distinct, incorruptible, independent of cause and effect and free of latent impressions.I.25
tatra niratiśayaṃ sarvajña-bījam
Its independence makes it an incomparable source of omniscience.I.26
sa ēṣa pūrvēṣāmapi guruḥ kālēnānavacchēdāt
Existing beyond time, Iśvara was also the ideal of the wise.I.27
tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ
Iśvara is represented by the sound om.I.28
taj-japas tad-artha-bhāvanam
Repetition reveals its meaning.
Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra
ōṃ
vandē gurūṇāṃ caraṇāravindē
sandarśita-svātma-sukhāvabōdhē
niḥśrēyasē jāṅgalikāyamānē
saṃsāra-hālāhala-mōhaśāntyai
ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ
śaṅkha-cakrāsi-dhāriṇam
sahasra-śirasaṃ śvētaṃ
praṇamāmi patañjalim
ōṃ
There are many ways of intonation and pronunciation practiced by different teachers and traditions of chanting. For reference, you can listen to our chant of the Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra, recorded during our annual Italy Retreat.
Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra Translation
We chose the following translation of the Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra according to the Sharath Yoga Centre in Mysore, which is widely acknowledged and respected.
ōṃ
vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
I bow to the lotus feet of Gurus
sandarśita svātma sukhāvabodhe
The awakening happiness of one’s own Self-revealed,
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne
Beyond better, acting like the Jungle physician,
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
One thousand heads white,
praṇamāmi patañjalim
To Patanjali, I salute.
ōṃ
The meaning of the Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra
vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
I bow to the lotus feet of Gurus
The opening verse articulates gratitude for all the teachers who passed on the teachings of yoga.
vande - I praise
gurūṇāṁ - Gurus / the lineage of all teachers
caraṇāravinde - lotus feet
sandarśita svātma sukhāvabodhe
The awakening happiness of one’s own Self-revealed,
The second verse explains that the gurus we bow down to support us in understanding that happiness is inside every being and does not need to be looked for in the outside world.
sandarśita - shown
svātma - one’s true nature
sukhā - happiness
āvabodhe - awaking
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne
Beyond better, acting like the Jungle physician,
Stopping to look for happiness in outside objects, is the precondition for experiencing freedom. The comparison with the jungles physician as one who creates healing from the inside, emphasises that we own all the tools to discover our own happiness.
niḥśreyase - Beyond better
jāṅgalikāyamāne - Jungle doctor
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.
To experience happiness, we have to change the way we see things. Through the practice of yoga we can remove the conditioning of our minds, so that we can see things the way they are and not through the filter of our experiences.
saṁsāra - repetitive cycle / conditioned existence
hālāhala - poison
moha - delusion of mind
śāntyai - alleviation of pain
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
One of those gurus, also translated as “removers of darkness” who explains to us how to use everything that is inside us, to experience happiness and freedom, instead of suffering, is Patanjali. Pantajali is described in the second part of the Ashtanga Yoga Opening Mantra, and as this verse states, from toe to shoulders, he manifests in the form of a human being.
ābāhu - few
puruṣā - men
akāraṁ - appearance
śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
In this form he holds a conch, a discus and a sword which are to be understood as metaphors. The typical Indian conch which is referred to here is white and hollow, characteristics which suggest its purity, creates the sound OM and is used in Indian religious ceremonies. In the context of the opening mantra it represents the call for purity.
The discus or wheel of time represents the abilities to untangle and cut off the conditionings and tangles in the mind which we collected and created in our past lifetime.
At last the sword, as the strongest tool, allows us to cut through inherited and primordial conditionings, which are the most difficult to let go of.
Together the conch, discus, and sword are our inner tools, the resolution of delusion.
śaṅkha - Conch Shell
cakrā - disc
āsi - sword
dhāriṇam - Holding
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
One thousand heads white,
Pantanjali has 1000 white or transparent heads. With white (light) or transparency being the colour of purity, Pantajali’s manifestation represents purity and brings light and clarity into the practitioner's mind, which allows letting go of fears and anxiety. The heads are a metaphor for the complexity and different roles of each human being and their past, present and future. At the same time, they represent the comprehensive knowledge of the yoga sutras.
sahasra - a thousand
śirasaṁ - heads
śvetaṁ - white
praṇamāmi patañjalim
To Patanjali, I salute.
The closing verse completes the Ashtanga Yoga Opening mantra by bowing down to Pantanjali as the representation of the devotion to purity.
praṇamāmi - bow
patañjalim - patanjali
Ashtanga Yoga Closing Mantra
ōṃ
svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ
nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ
gobrāmaṇebhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṁ
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu
ōṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
There are many ways of intonation and pronunciation practiced by different teachers and traditions of chanting. For reference, you can listen to our chant of the Ashtanga Yoga Closing Mantra, recorded during our annual Italy Retreat.
Ashtanga Yoga Closing Mantra Translation and Meaning
As for the opening chant, we chose a translation of the Ashtanga Yoga Closing Mantra in accordance with the Sharath Yoga Centre in Mysore.
ōṃ
The sound of Isvara (pure awareness)
svasti prajābhyaḥ
May all be well with mankind.
paripālayantāṁ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ
May the leaders of the earth protect in every way by keeping to the right path.
gobrāmaṇebhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṁ
May there be goodness for all those who know the earth to be sacred.
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu
May all the worlds be happy.
ōṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
Om peace, peace, peace.
Full the full explanation of the sound ōṃ, you can go back up this page to here.
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